Revel Recap: November 29 - December 3, 2021
Spark Studio
Mindfulness
After catching up on how we spent our long weekend, we started our Monday Meditation with a mindful activity called Bubble Burst. This activity helps with our observation and focusing skills. The screen filled with bubbles of all different types, and we followed specific ones with our eyes. We tried to pay close attention to one without becoming distracted by the others. The learners enjoyed this activity and requested that we repeat it at the end of the day. On Tuesday, we followed step-by-step instructions to complete a directed drawing of a snowman in anticipation of the snow! We all enjoyed our Wednesday food-themed yoga, following the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! On Thursday, we coloured pizza slices and Friday, we ended our week practicing gratitude by writing in our journals.
Quest
In this session, we are excited to begin our Cooking Quest! We started our inquiry by talking about our favourite foods. We then learned about the three different food groups: fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods and proteins. After reviewing the types of food found in these categories, we talked about our favourite foods found in each group. Sparks then completed a healthy meal with one item from each group on our paper. After drawing their plate, each Spark presented their meal to the group. It made us all hungry talking about all this food! Later in the week, we reviewed our food groups by colouring the pictures and seeing if we could paste them in the food group it belongs!
On Tuesday, we thought about what job we could have if we loved to be in the kitchens, such as a chef or a baker. We also talked about how we help our families in the kitchen and what we like to cook. We then learned a little more about chefs, such as what they wear, where they work, and what utensils they use. We were then ready to become chefs and head to our kitchen! We talked about what we do before we cook, such as washing our hands and our work area, getting the recipe ready, properly using a few cooking utensils, and ensuring oven safety. This week, we made overnight oats and naan bread pizzas! Yum, we enjoyed making and then eating them both!
Wednesday, we read Little Chef and then used plasticine to imagine and create a meal on a paper plate! On Thursday, we read a book about a frog who goes to a restaurant with his family. We talked about our own restaurant experiences before decorating our cardboard restaurant. While we designed, we discussed what role we wanted to have, such as host, chef, dishwasher, or server. We also began to develop our menu, featuring cupcakes, pogos, hot dogs, nachos, ice cream, and waffles!
Throughout the week, we also read Eating the Alphabet and worked together to brainstorm food for each letter of the alphabet. We also enjoyed food-themed body breaks. We played a couple of versions of “This or That,” with the Sparks having to choose which food item they preferred. Once they picked one, they had to complete an exercise for that food! We enjoyed the high-energy game, getting us up and active!
French
This week, the Sparks focused on the letter N. On Monday, we looked at some French words that begin with N : nuage, nuit, nez, noir and Noël! Then, we watched an episode of Mouk about Noël in Madagascar. We worked on our letter N sheet on Tuesday and read two short stories about celebrating Christmas. Finally, on Wednesday and Thursday, we celebrated the snow, or neige, with activities around winter clothing. First, we watched a video to learn the names of different winter clothes and accessories. Then we followed the instructions on a worksheet to colour a sweater, a toque, mittens, skates, a scarf and earmuffs.
Additional Highlights
As we move into the holiday season, we have been talking about how we can spread kindness and help others. We learned about Toy Mountain and the Holiday Food Drive and discussed how these initiatives help others in our community by bringing items in to donate. The Sparks visited the other studios this week to share the toy and food drive information and are very excited to see the boxes filling up! We have also started a Kindness Countdown to the Holidays. Each day a learner selects a heart to decorate. We write the date, how many days until the holidays, and complete the act of kindness written on it to complete at school or home. Some of the kindness acts this week included giving somebody a huge hug, helping someone clean up, setting the table for dinner and reading someone a book. We are also reading The 12 Days of Kindness By Jenna Lettice. This book celebrates 12 days of joy and has ideas for other acts of kindness for us to complete. This week we made thank you cards for our local firefighters, bracelets and necklaces to hand out around Revel to the guides and learners, and high five cards that will be delivered to health care workers and residents in a retirement home.
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
Monday morning, the Rebels learned about the history of hydria and amphora, emphasizing how these Greek vases were made and decorated throughout the evolution of culture and based on the location they were made. As they coloured their designs, learners also could use the Greek alphabet key to try and scribe their name. Tuesday and Thursday, the yogi Rebels focused on the mantra “I am strong,” with both practices focusing on poses that engage the core through dynamic whole-body movement.
Launches
Welcome to our session on Ancient Greece! After hearing the story of Odysseus, Rebels identified the different steps of the Hero’s Journey. With only three weeks left before the holidays, we shared our most significant goals and personal transformations this school year. During Tuesday’s French launch, Rebels talked about how they celebrate the holidays and their favourite things about this time of the year. On Wednesday morning, the Rebels discussed their core skills goals for the year and practiced giving SMART advice based on different scenarios and priorities. Thursday, we had special visitors from the Spark Studio who shared the details of their food and toy drive. During Friday’s Current Events report, the Rebels considered global supply chain issues, recent efforts to protect the white rhino population in Rwanda, how atmospheric rivers contribute to the ongoing flooding in British Columbia, and the many different holidays that take place at this time of year.
French
With winter around the corner, our theme for Session 3 is “Les sports d’hiver!” We began on Tuesday with a video and presentation about winter clothing. We practiced using “je porte” to talk about what clothes we wear in the winter. Then, we practiced the vocabulary of clothes and colours on our computers. On Thursday, we played two rounds of winter-themed “J’ai...Qui a?” and then worked on our reading comprehension. Rebels who finished their work had the opportunity to watch episodes of Mouk about Christmas in Madagascar and snow-kiting in Canada!
Reader/Writer
What can spelling tell us about relationships between words? While spelling may sometimes seem random or unexpected, the study of etymology and morphology helps us to better understand the complex history and meaningful structure of words. Our Aim and Release Rebels will use structured word inquiry better to understand spelling rules and vocabulary in this session. This week we began with an introduction by Gina Cooke, who explains the reasoning for the spelling of “two” and “one.” Rebels then were tasked with completing a page on the Greek roots, anti, and auto before choosing between two research writing projects for the session.
Draw and Anchor Rebels began Session 3 Reader/Writer by making predictions about their novel study book, Hour of the Olympics. After looking at the title, reading the blurb on the back of the book, and previewing the chapter titles, learners made predictions regarding the book’s characters, setting, and plot. We also reviewed alphabetization using a list of vocabulary words from our novel. Rebels then got cozy in the library and began reading Hour of the Olympics with their remaining time.
Math Lab
The focus of Math Lab this session is to please SAY MORE ABOUT THAT! As they work through the guided weekly challenges, Rebels will be encouraged to share their thinking and refine their expression when outlining the use of a tool, strategy or process, and how to provide, critique, and defend reasoning. The Draw and Anchor and Aim and Release groups started with a Computation Station this week, using Base Ten blocks to model operations without using a calculator. In Draw and Anchor, the focus was on modelling regrouping for addition and subtraction of large whole numbers through the exchange of unit cubes, rods and flats. With Aim and Release, we practiced using area models for multiplication and division of decimal amounts. At Station 2, both groups had a Problem of the Week related to perimeter and area on dot paper, challenging them to recall and apply essential measurement skills and relationships from the last session (standard units for Draw/Anchor and formulas for Aim/Release). Great start to the session!
Civilizations
The Rebels continue to tour the Story of the World, this session with a stop at the first cities of India, the Far East (Ancient China), and a final stop in Week 3 in Ancient Africa. Each week, Rebels will work through a mapping activity and earn their badge by participating in group discussions about the details of these early civilizations. This week’s focus was the significance of water systems in relation to settlement patterns, particularly the Indus River Valley. Using the story of the hunter and the quail as a launch point, the Rebels discussed possible reasons for the mysterious abandonment of the citadels of Mohenjo-Daro.
Quest
Welcome to Ancient Greece! In this session, Rebels will explore the mythology, heroic stories, daily life and culture, architecture, societal structure, politics and philosophy of the Greeks. On Monday, we developed a timeline dating back to 800 BCE to co-create our Quest Map, highlighting three weekly themes. In week one, the Rebel Greeks surveyed gods, goddesses and other mythological characters through team trivia and dramatic scripts. On Tuesday, they uncovered how mythology was a way for Greeks to try and explain phenomena of the natural world, with Wednesday and Thursday culminating in five plays performed in pairs in our “amphitheatre.” Next week the Rebels will explore secular daily life in city-states like Athens through choice board activities in oikos, the agora, and the academia.
Physical Development
On Monday, Rebels chose between football on the field, a hike through the woods, or dodgeball in the gym. Learners picked between a hike with Mr. Deagan or a snowball-themed territory game in the gym led by the Exploration Rebels on Wednesday.
Additional Highlights
On Monday, we launched a team KHAN-test and group Lexathon. Every percent earned or unit completed in certain core skill activities is working towards a group celebration at the end of the session! Each Discovery Rebel has shown extra determination this week, motivated to reach a cumulative sessional goal of 200 percent in our math-based work and 540 units in the literacy-based apps. Excellent job so far Rebels, keep it up!
Exploration Studio
Launch
During Monday’s French launch, Rebels talked about how they celebrate the holidays. We shared some of our favourite things about this time of the year and watched a video explaining the origins of Hanukkah. There have been a lot of Rebel-led games that bring the energy up during our launches and closings. Connecting games like Wax Museum, Kahoots, and Werewolf are how learners currently choose to start their days. On Friday, we read a CBC article about Chef Ric, the chef of the Ottawa mission. Chef Ric started his cooking journey very young, shopping and cooking for his mother at the age of 10. Next week, we will be interviewing Ric, asking him about what it is like to be a chef and how he got to where he is now.
Math Lab
We will use our Math Lab time to build our intuition about probability in this session! For our first class, we discussed the difference between games of chance and skill and what makes a game fair. After talking about probability using a simple 50/50 spinner, learners quickly connected chance to the area. Rebels then examined four other spinners and the rules for each game, making predictions about whether the game was fair or not. Groups then tested their predictions by playing the games and gathering data. Lastly, the whole studio came back together to discuss their predictions, results, and fairness conclusions.
French
This week, Exploration Rebels had a big vote to decide on the name of our ghost town. As per the vote, the city is now named Eden! We also confirmed the title of our magazine: Esprit d’Or. We are working hard to finish up our articles, and on Wednesday, our formatting team got started on creating visuals for the magazine. Rebels also started meeting up with Mme Marie to review their workbook progress.
Quest
What a week it has been to kick off our Cooking Quest! The studio was divided into two groups to make cooking in the kitchen more manageable. One group spends half of Quest in the kitchen, while the other group completes small group activities in even smaller groups. There were two cooking days: one spent making sourdough and one grocery shopping. We started the sourdough workshop by taste-testing three different types of bread, including a loaf of sourdough fresh out of the oven Deagan made for the learners, comparing the number of ingredients and levels of processing required. We used all of our senses to compare the loaves of bread. The learners were less enthralled with the bread when they learned about the tiny microbe farts they are eating that give bread sour taste.
The trip to the grocery store centred around grabbing all of the ingredients we will need for our vegetable frying and pickling next week. On our walk to the store, we talked about our estimate for our bill and what it would be like not having access to fresh food. We counted six fast food places on our walk to the store and how that influenced buying decisions.
Meanwhile, there were three activities that the non-cooking groups completed. In the Herbs and Spices group, the Exploration Rebels tested their knowledge of spices by smelling them. They also read about the history of the spice trade, and its impact on the modern world through the colonization of the western hemisphere. In the Climate Change group, the learners graphed the carbon emissions of each food type and learned the impact of eating beef and cheese on the environment. In the Nutrient group, the Rebels sorted foods into what nutrients different foods have and learned how different nutrients impact their bodies.
360 Feedback
Each session, the learners fill out an anonymous survey providing feedback to the learners in their squad. The survey asks every learner questions like “How kind is this learner?” and “How hard does this learner work?” We just finished our second round of reviews after making more specific expectations around the length of each piece of feedback and how each learner needs to give examples to make it a more robust practice.
Launchpad
Welcome to Session 3! This week, Launchpad Rebels continued to work on their core skills goals, including Algebra, Geometry, devouring the book 1984, writing an essay about gender in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, practicing their Spanish, Dutch, and French, and HTML/CSS coding. Learners also took time to work on their World Building, where one added flags to their map while the other spent time further developing the backstory.
Personal Finance - Buy vs. Rent
Life is full of tough decisions that require careful consideration. One of those decisions is whether one should rent or buy a home. Using a case study from the Ivey Business School, Launchpad Rebels will study personal finance concepts and terms, analyze qualitative and quantitative data, and make a recommendation as to whether the person in question should buy or rent their home. This week, learners spent most of their time taking notes on specific terms listed in their Case Prep handout with the help of their pre-reading material “Introduction to Accumulated Value, Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return.” On Thursday, Alex Anderson, CFA, answered our questions regarding the terms and concepts we covered to understand the case study better.
Accounting
After taking a quick pre-test to assess our current understanding of accounting, we learned Accounting Rule #1 - The left side ALWAYS equals the right side (Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity). Rebels also reviewed how to put formulas in Google Sheets while learning about balance sheets, cost of production, and the differences between assets and equity, owner’s equity and notes payable, and original investment and earnings. On Wednesday, Rebels moved on to income statements and tested their understanding using a given scenario. Retained earnings, notes payable vs. accounts payable, and testing out our balance sheets ended our accounting sessions for the week. Way to stick with it, Rebels!
Canadian History
We began our review of early Canadian History with the help of a timeline starting from the first peoples in Canada to the present day. As the learners recently completed the Indigenous Canada course, they are already familiar with multiple turning points and are consuming information with a new perspective and critical lens. After reading about the European explorers beginning with the Vikings, we learned about Cabot, Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, and Henry Hudson. Learners then read about the Fur Trade, New France, the creation of Upper and Lower Canada with the Constitutional Act of 1791, and exploration on the west coast and the Red River settlement. Rebels also began reading our Book Club book, A Short History of Canada by Desmond Morton.
ChemistrY
This week, Rebels focused on Atomic Theory. After reading their text and multiple articles, learners defined several terms before completing a series of practice problems that required research and drawing. They then had to pick three different elements to create 3D models representing each element’s atomic number and structure. Rebels also created a timeline of how the Atomic Model has transformed including, Thomson (Plum Pudding Model), Bohr, Rutherford, and Nuclear models. Lastly, they made a 3D model using one element and representing how that same element would look using each of the above “models,” explaining how each model builds on a previous discovery.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What kind of food would you like to serve at the restaurant you created? Can you tell us what the three food groups are?
Can you tell us about some of the acts of kindness you completed this week?
French: How do you say “Christmas” in French? What other French words do you know that begin with the letter N?
Discovery Studio
How do you feel about your core skills goals for the year? What priorities do you have?
Which Greek character did you play for the amphitheatre performance?
What is a citadel?
French: What are some new words you’ve learned this week?
Exploration Studio
What kind of feedback did your squad provide for you in the 360 reviews?
What were your takeaways from Quest this week?
Would you be interested in keeping a sourdough starter at your house or at school to make more bread?
French: What ways can you make the most out of the workbook to accompany your in-class learning?
Launchpad Studio
What does your intuition tell you is a better housing option? Buy or rent? Why? Why might someone argue in favour of the opposite option you selected?
How have our ideas about atoms changed over the years?