Revel Recap: February 8 - 12, 2021
Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Chinese New Year!
Spark Studio
Mindfulness & Launch
The Sparks were very excited about Valentine’s Day so we used our first-morning mindfulness and launch to discuss the upcoming holiday. We re-read our Love affirmation card, which states; “I am love. I am compassionate. I am kind. I give love, I receive love, I embody love. I am love.” From there we discussed that Valentine’s Day is all about love. We answered the questions, “How do we show love? Did you receive love today? What makes you feel loved?” We also talked about to whom we show love, such as our family, friends, and pets. We also posed the question, how can we show love to ourselves? We came up with saying kind things to ourselves or taking breaks when we need them. It was a rich conversation as the Sparks had a lot to share on the topic of love. Going around the circle we shared an “I feel love when..” statement. We later turned these beautiful words into pictures we shared in our window! Tuesday and Thursday we completed our mindful colouring while listening to some instrumental music. It’s always such a calming way to start our days. On Wednesday we reviewed several of our favourite yoga poses. Our sequence included: tree, airplane, warrior, dancer, down dog, boat, cat, cobra, and ending with rock pose. We focused on keeping our balance during these poses and holding the poses for 5-10 seconds. On Friday morning, we spent some time writing on each other’s Valentine’s hearts. The Sparks were very thoughtful in their comments for each other and the completed hearts are such a joy to read! Every day this week we drew our school day to a close with a story meditation, which helped us to relax, focus on our breathing, and gather our thoughts from the day. We then got up and had a dance party, a fun way to end our day together!
Quest
We started the final week of our Human Body Quest, discussing how we can take care of our teeth. We learned how many teeth we have as children and adults, what teeth do, and how important it is to take care of them. Multiple Sparks discussed how many of them have a timer that helps them to brush their teeth for the recommended two minutes. We spoke about flossing, how many times a day we should brush our teeth, what we can eat to help keep our teeth healthy, and how important it is to visit the dentist. The Sparks shared their own experiences and then we worked on a sequencing sheet, where we learned about what happens at the dentist by putting the pictures in the correct order. We then had fun looking through magazines and created smile collages! During our read-aloud, we read some fun facts about the human body and we reviewed all the amazing things we have learned about the body this session. They all received their Human Body Quest badge on Friday, which they proudly displayed on their banners! The Sparks also received a Growth Mindset badge to represent our commitment to the development of this mindset as well as a badge to honour their participation and hard work during Online Learning! They worked so hard this session and we are very proud of them!
French
This week in the Spark studio we had a great time playing a variety of games! Mme Talina and Mme Marie hid a bunch of little animal figurines around the room and the Sparks had to find them. Once all of the animals were found, we came back to the circle and they had to listen to one of us say the animal out loud to then find the correct word written on the board. We also played another round of Cache et Trouve and this time the Sparks were so quick at finding the objects and shouting “trouvé” that it was a pretty tight race between the teams. Once all the cards were found, each team counted out the number of cards they won in French.
Additional Highlights
Our read aloud this week focused on both the upcoming holidays of Valentine’s Day and Chinese or Lunar New Year. We learned so much about these holidays through our readings which sparked questions for our discussions afterwards. After reading about the lion and dragon dance the Sparks we were so excited to watch these dances and costumes come to life in a video of a Chinese (Lunar) New Year parade. We compared our holiday traditions to the ones we read about and saw that there were many similarities, including gathering with family, sharing meals, giving gifts, getting dressed up, and putting up decorations. We linked our understanding of this holiday by completing a dragon puppet, putting on music, and moving our puppets to the song! This week we also completed several Valentine’s themed activities. We made our Valentine cards bags, created hearts on the light table using loose parts, used chalk pastels to decorate our “I feel love.” statements, put paper hearts in a salad spinner with paint to make beautiful designs and made Valentine’s cards for our families!
Another fun activity this week was seeing some amazing animals during the Little Ray’s Reptiles presentation. The sloths were a Spark favourite due to their incredible cuteness factor. We also continued to have fun playing games such as Bingo, Charades, Hide-and-Seek with our Exploration friends, Musical Chairs and acting out the Going on a Lion Hunt action song. A highlight of every session is our trip to the Rebel Buck Store! All of the Sparks had the opportunity to pick something out to celebrate their hard work throughout the session. We also had fun on Valentine’s Day, handing out their cards and enjoying some delicious cookies together!
Next session we will be learning all about building, design and construction as we focus on engineering!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launches
Monday, Wednesday and Friday yoga classes were focused on deep, slow stretches. Rebels explored Downward Dog more in-depth and are practicing being more mindful of their breath being the main guide as they transition through poses. During Monday’s Launch, one of our Rebels told us all about their new business that helps others and gave us a tour of her new website. We love seeing our entrepreneurs in action! We then introduced a week-long MangaHigh Math competition for Rebels who wanted to stretch their math skills. Tuesday’s launch showcased The Kid Should See This, a scientific search engine for amazing videos that link to our Biomimicry unit! Rebels also attempted the Fish Riddle from TedEd, which allowed Rebels to revisit various approaches and exercise their problem-solving skills over the course of the day. As this is the last week of Session 4, Rebels used Wednesday’s Launch to work on their 360 Feedback for the members of their squad, including themselves. Once all of the warm-hearted and tough-minded feedback is entered, Rebels will receive their comments to help reflect on how to make Session 5 even better! Thursday’s current events explored a variety of trending stories this week. A special highlight from Alberta’s news sources brought us the longest (and coldest!) hockey game and Rebels unpacked the results of the Super Bowl and, more importantly, the Pup Bowl. On Friday, during launch and mindfulness, we took part in Revel’s annual tradition of writing a personal comment on a heart for each Rebel in every studio. Watching all of the learners take their time to tell each person something kind is so special, but the look on each learners’ face when they receive their completed heart is beyond heartwarming.
Rebel Readers & Warrior Writers
Draw and Anchor Rebels spent Reader Writer periods this week completing their Animal Report books to wrap up Session 4. Rebels will be bringing their beautiful books home this weekend to showcase their hard work! Feel free to ask your author questions about the animal they chose to study and have your Rebel read their work to you!
Aim and Release Rebels spent their Reader Writer periods completing their Animal LapBook projects and finalizing their badge components for Session 4! Rebels are so proud of the projects they created and will be very excited to show you their completed work. As we move into Session 5, Rebels will be taking their research and diving deeper into Informative Essay writing on the animal that inspired their lap book! Way to go, Rebels!
Rebels utilized Friday’s Reader Writer class as a catch-up period and completed any unfinished work for their badge. Early finishers worked on a variety of enrichment activities such as their Black History Month presentations, February Literacy Challenge Questions or creating a Valentine’s Day Takeout Menu for their loved ones.
Math Lab
To shake things up, the Rebels took part in a week-long MangaHigh Maths Competition! During Math Lab, all Rebels had a solid hour to try out the site including the assigned tasks and games. We’re hoping to earn a spot in the Top 10 to win a prize and of course bragging rights!
Quest
After spending the last five weeks learning about ecosystems and biodiversity, we introduced our Quest focus for Session 5, Biomimicry! On Monday, after brainstorming the biggest problems we are facing as a community, country, and globally, we watched a video about the UN’s 2030 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. We then went over each of the 17 goals and after some further research, Rebels chose the three that interested them the most personally. For Tuesday, we dove into the meaning of biomimicry, first by examining the etymology of the word. We then watched a video that beautifully illustrated how using nature for inspiration, can help us to discover answers to our challenges in design, engineering, and sustainability. In this session our Rebels will be coming up with their own designs using the “MIMIC” design cycle (Motivate, Investigate, Match, Innovate, and Communicate) so to help inspire the Rebels further, we checked out the ideas and presentations of past Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge winners. Rebels then spent the last ten minutes of the class brainstorming potential animals, problems, and solutions that they will want to look into during Session 5. On Wednesday, Rebels had the opportunity to complete any outstanding Quest work, submit their badge, organize their bins, and work on either MangaHigh math or any other work that was a priority to finish. Our last Quest period of the session was spent on a virtual field trip with Little Ray’s Reptiles. We got to see and learn about several of the animals including the sloths, snakes, tortoises, armadillos, and bats! We’re hoping to make an in-person visit when possible!
French
For our last week of the session, Rebels focused on finishing up their work to earn their badges. We then played some games of Bananagrams, Guess Who and Heads Up in French to finish things off. The Discovery Rebels never cease to amaze us with their willingness to help one another out so that their fellow Rebels can succeed in reaching their goals.
PE
We wrapped up our final session of Circuit with a full-body class on Monday and a Rebel-Led Circuit on Wednesday led by several of our Rebels! Thank you to all those who signed up to lead the warm-up, cool-down, stretches, and the insanely fun and challenging 3 rounds of full bodywork and Burnout! It was so much fun to see you lead the class! The other Rebels went on snowy hikes this week. These were incredibly fun, as we spent a lot of time sliding down the hills in the forest. On Wednesday, we found a particularly steep section of the forest. Many learners slid down the hills on their knees and took the exhausting trip back up to the top of the mountain.
Exploration Studio
Launch
We continued learning and celebrating Black History Month to start our days through, dance, song and important historical figures. Here are the links to the websites and videos used to lead our launches this week:
Monday: Josiah Henson, the man who inspired the author Harriet Beecher Stowe through his autobiography, to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Tuesday: The hidden messages of hymns through the songs of the Underground Railroad: such as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and Steal Away to Jesus.
Wednesday: The History of African-American Dance and Masaka Kids Africana
Thursday: The history of slavery and The Atlantic Slave Trade (Enslaved Trailer)
Friday: For lunch, we shared some delicious African food from a local restaurant, BBQ Golden Grill !
Quest
This week Rebels finished up their work to earn their Biology Medical Badge. We rehearsed as a studio and shared our work through our virtual Exhibition. A folder will be shared with the families so they can see the amazing Human Body Display drawings and videos. We also watched another episode of the Diagnosis series where “the parents of bright and charming Sadie, 7, seek alternatives to the devastating brain procedure doctors propose to treat her frequent seizures.”
After our Exhibition, we sat down to debrief what we felt went well and what we felt we could improve on for future exhibitions. Rebels mentioned that they had fun playing the diagnosing game and they also liked that we not only shared our academic successes but also the musicians and dancers of the group. Other feedback that was shared was that some Rebels could have had more of an active role in the exhibition, by presenting or helping organize our event.
Big History
In Big History this week, we continued making our tableau vivant and presented them. Three groups presented their tableaus, each taking very different approaches to the process. We learned a lot about the history of the universe and our solar system through these presentations. Next session we are going to talk about creation myths. Each learner is going to write their own myth after learning about the different myths from around the world which deal with the creation of the universe.
Math Lab
To shake things up, the Rebels took part in a week-long MangaHigh Maths Competition! During Math Lab, all Rebels had the choice to either work on their Khan Academy goals or take the hour to work on MangaHigh. We’re hoping to earn a spot in the Top 10 to win a prize and of course bragging rights!
PE
We wrapped up our final session of Circuit with a full-body class on Monday and a Rebel-Led Circuit on Wednesday led by several of our Rebels! Thank you to all those who signed up to lead the warm-up, cool-down, stretches, and the insanely fun and challenging 3 rounds of full bodywork and Burnout! It was so much fun to see you lead the class! The other Rebels went on snowy hikes this week. These were incredibly fun as we spent a lot of time sliding down the hills in the forest. On Wednesday, we found a particularly steep section of the forest. Many learners slid down the hills on their knees and took the exhausting trip back up to the top of the mountain.
Town Hall
This week we held a special Town Hall where three Rebels were celebrated for moving up to a new studio! Congratulations to our new Discovery Rebel, our new Exploration Rebel, and our FIRST Launchpad Rebel!!!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Exploration: What surprised you the most about your 360 reviews? How do you plan to use the feedback you received to improve?
Exploration: What was your favourite African dish from our lunch on Friday?
Discovery: What did you do really well during Session 4? What are you going to improve upon for Session 5?
Discovery: Which UN Global Goals are you most passionate about?
Spark: What makes you feel loved? How do you show your love to others?
Spark: What did you learn about Chinese New Year? How is this holiday celebrated?
Spark: What was your favourite activity/moment this week in the studio?
Upcoming Events & Special Dates:
Family Day: No School: Monday, February, 15th
February Camp: Tuesday, February 16th - Friday, February 19th
Session 5 Begins: Monday, February 22nd
Pink Shirt Day: Wednesday, February 24th