Revel Recap: April 26 - 30, 2021
Special Announcements
Mindfulness and Fitness
We are concerned about the mental and physical health of our families and the community at large. In order to help motivate some of us to take a more active approach to our mindfulness and exercising this month, we will be offering three Learn-To-Be badges for our Rebels AND to their family members who participate!
Daily Yoga - May Challenge: Due to popular demand, Ms. Jenna will now be offering yoga every weekday morning at 9:00 am on her Zoom. All are welcome to join, including parents and siblings! In the folders picked up today there is a May calendar to track your attendance! All Rebels who attend all 15 sessions will not only earn their Yoga Learn-To-Be badge but they will also be entered in a draw to win a special prize!
Fitness Challenge: In our survey, one family suggested a Fitness Challenge to track minutes or distance exercised by each family member. We have created a Fitness Tracking sheet for the next four weeks and all family members who reach the goals they set at the beginning of each week will earn the Learn-To-Be Fitness Badge!
SAVERS: Last year many of our Rebels learned about and benefited from the “Morning Miracle” mindfulness technique, SAVERS (Silence, Affirmation, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing). For those who would like to renew their practice or for those who would like to learn, there is a packet included in the Discovery and Exploration folders from this week’s pick-up. Rebels and their family members who commit to a six-week practice will earn this year’s SAVERS badge.
Parent Book Club
After the success of last year's reading of The Self-Driven Child and the great conversations it led to, we are excited to announce this spring's highly recommended selection; Brave Parenting; A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Raising Emotionally Resilient Children. “How do we build resilient children who can handle life's challenges? As parents today, we often feel that our role is to protect our children from the world: to cushion them when they fall, to lift them over obstacles, and to remove sharp rocks from their path. But controlling a child’s entire environment and keeping all pain at bay isn’t feasible—we can’t prepare the world for our children, so instead, we should focus on preparing our children for the world. The solution is not removing impediments from our children’s lives, writes Krissy Pozatek, it is compassionately encouraging them to be brave. We need to show our kids how to navigate their own terrain. For parents of children of all ages.”
Spark Drama Workshops
Beginning this week and continuing for the next five, every Friday at 9:30 am Spark Rebels will meet with the Ottawa Children’s Theatre for drama workshops! A special Zoom link will be shared with you shortly!
Spark Studio
We had another busy week of learning in the Spark Studio! In Quest, we focused on two important pollinators; butterflies and bees! We learned that pollination is when pollen moves between parts of flowers and then the flower uses the pollen to make seeds. This is important to the life cycle of plants. As well, much of the food we eat is pollinated by bees and butterflies so they are really important to us, too! We explored how these insects move the pollen, what attracts them to the flowers, and how we can help protect and support them. This includes planting flowers that they like and that are native to our area, creating a bee hotel or a bee and butterfly bath that they can drink from. At the beginning of our discussion on bees, some Sparks mentioned that they are scared of them. After reading and learning some fascinating information from Give Bee’s a Chance, we agreed that they are very important and helpful and that we don’t need to run away from them. They are more interested in finding a flower than bothering us!
We also looked at the life cycle of these two pollinators and completed a craft activity. A highlight this week was seeing this process in action, with the introduction of our Painted Lady caterpillars. We looked at pictures from when the small larvae arrived and noticed how big they are growing and even observed one that was molting. We made predictions for when they will start forming their chrysalis and are excited to continue our observations! We also checked in our Grass Seed experiments and noted that the ones being given liquid other than water are not growing well. Three learners also observed that their grass is growing in total darkness but it is a yellow colour instead of green!
In French, we started this week by reading two books, Le roi, sa femme et le petit prince by Mario Ramos and La toute petite graine by Eric Carle. They are both great opportunities to practice some of the vocabulary we’ve learned so far such as our days of the week and the weather! On Tuesday, we drew pictures on our whiteboards for different words we’ve learned, such as pomme, ballon, and chapeau. On Wednesday, we observed a picture representing two people’s emotions and we wrote sentences about what we could see. The girl on the left was sad because the vase next to her was broken, and the boy on the right was tired because it was nighttime. On Thursday, we sang Joyeux Anniversaire for our birthday Rebels to wish them both a happy birthday! Then, we practiced spelling out the numbers from 1 to 5 and we ended the week with a game where Mme Marie said a number and we showed her how much that was with our fingers. When we showed all five fingers on our hand at the end we were ready to say “au revoir!”
Our language focus this week was on the digraph sound ‘ch’. Challenge your learner to think of more ‘ch’ words or complete their handout. We also had a fun math lesson on estimating. The Sparks did a great job making informed guesses on the number of blocks, crayons, and legos that were shown during our call and followed it up with a ‘More or Less’ guessing game. This week we also celebrated the birthday of two Sparks, we hope they had great days! Some games and activities that we enjoyed included HeadBanz, Guess the Picture, an acting warm-up, pollinator-directed drawings, and of course ending our week with a great Show and Tell. We hope everyone has a chance to get outside and have fun exploring with the Outdoor Sensory or Pollinator Scavenger Hunt!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday yoga classes focused on opening up our chest, neck, and back to assist with our posture. Since we are spending more time than usual on screens, it’s important to stretch out and activate those muscles that are used to keep us upright and moving during a regular school day! This next week we will begin our May yoga challenge and can’t wait to see our Rebels each morning to start our days off right!
Launches and Closings
Our week began with a fun “Bring Your Pets to Launch.” It was so nice to see everyone’s dogs, rabbits, cats, fish, and stuffies! Tuesday’s Launch was a discussion around developing grit and perseverance. Rebels watched a short clip from one of Michelle Obama’s commencement speeches. We then discussed the importance of a well-rounded life, emphasizing that it’s not always the test scores and the results that matter, it's the effort you put in to get you there. On Wednesday’s Launch, we learned about Victor Hugo, a French author from the 19th century who used his writing to advocate for the less fortunate and fight against the death penalty. Then, we reflected on some of the books that have changed the way we think. Thursday’s Current Events highlighted fluffy Quokkas, a historical night of firsts as we recapped the Oscars and a Super Yacht that was navigating some super small Dutch channels! Friday’s Launch was a fun Fitness Trivia that tested our abilities to think fast and move our bodies to get us pumped up for the day!
Math Lab
After reading the book, Time Telling with Turtles, Draw and Anchor Rebels worked on their clock reading skills before figuring out their pet store owner’s schedule. They had to figure out what time they would need to open the store, feed and walk or care for each animal, and clean all of the cages. After a solid work period, those who stayed online got our blood pumping with a fun “Favourite Animal” fitness routine!
Our Aim and Release Rebels had an awesome treehouse building session this week! There were discussions about how many mini-fridges are required, why an observation room is mandatory, and the importance of sunset view seating. It has been so fun to see the designs come together and how every Rebel is really making it their own.
Rebel Readers & Warrior Writers
Draw and Anchor Rebels worked away on their poetry booklets, completing different activities that helped them to identify rhyming patterns in different poems and creating word banks of words that share the same ending sound. Aim and Release Rebels discussed a hilarious poem recited by the very talented Harry Baker, an International Poetry Slam Champion, called Prime Numbers (Primetime Love). We discussed Harry’s use of puns, rhythm, vocabulary, and rhyme that all made the poem so enjoyable to listen to. They then worked away on Haikus and Bio Poems, ensuring to follow the correct structure and use the right number of syllables in specific lines. On Friday, all Rebels had a deep discussion around technology, fame and our dependence on devices after listening to the spoken word piece, “Can we Auto-Correct Humanity” by Prince Ea. Following that discussion, Rebels got to work on their “To Do” Lists for Friday, catching up on any unfinished work, writing monologues for Quest, and wrapping up poetic concepts from this week. Great work, Rebels!
French
This week in French, Groups 2 and 3 wrote their first spring-themed poem based on the “acrostiche” poem we read last week! The first letter of each verse of the poem spells out a word vertically. We used the Dictionnaire du Printemps, created with the help of Group 3, to write our poems. Group 1 learned a lot of new vocabulary this week, and we read La toute petite graine by Eric Carle. Additionally, all of the Rebels have been exploring the Jardin d’activités and watching French cartoons or playing small online games in French.
Civilization
After a laughter-filled, house-wide Scavenger Hunt got our blood pumping, we broke into small groups to discuss a dilemma relating to World War 1. Teams were asked to read the prompt, identify the two viewpoints, decide what they would do, and be able to give their reasoning. The dilemmas ranged from whether to go and fight in Europe or stay and work on the farm or in factories to debating whether conscription should be made law. After deliberating in their separate breakout rooms, Rebels came back together to present their dilemma and ultimate decision. After a mature and thoughtful discussion, we ended our class speaking about the Famous Five and the fight they brought to the Supreme Court of Canada and then to the highest court in Britain for women’s rights.
Quest
We had another fun-filled week exploring Process Drama and theatre! With two more workshops from the Ottawa Children’s Theatre, our acting coach Nick helped all Rebels to develop role-play strategies and more in-depth practices. Rebels worked in small groups to establish their own characters, scripts and discussed how they would work together to bring a scene to life. Our Revel Wax Museum project is now in full swing after a week of Powerful Person research! Most Rebels completed their research notes and are starting to develop their powerful person’s monologue in preparation for the weeks to come. They have chosen such an eclectic and interesting group of individuals to portray, we are getting so excited to see this project come to life! Next week, we will start thinking about costume design, finish up monologues, start memorizing and rehearsing, and even begin decorating our Wax Museum Backdrops.
Exploration Studio
Launches
At Monday’s Launch, we learned about French author and poet Victor Hugo, who used his writing to advocate for the less fortunate and fight against the death penalty. Then, we reflected on some of the books that have changed the way we think. The Exploration Rebels were proud to show off their incredibly cute pets at launch on Tuesday and are already trying to plan a “Bring Your Pet to School Day” upon our return. On Wednesday, we learned how to make origami boats thanks to a great Rebel-led Launch and on Thursday another Rebel ran a riddle session to start our day. Our last Launch of the week utilized the Ted-Ed Mysteries of Vernacular series learning about the etymology and morphology of the words, lady, sarcophagus, and gorgeous. Curious, about their origins, check out the video!
Big History
The main focus for Big History this week was on creating the artifacts that will be on display for our museum at the end of the session. Learners settled on the number and types of artifacts they are going to make and many have begun the creation of their pieces. We also had some discussions around methodologies and archaeology. We asked the learners two questions: If you were to be buried with items, what items would you choose, and would you be comfortable with future historians digging up your grave to learn what it was like to live in the first century of this millennium? We then talked about how a lot of historical knowledge comes from digging up graves, and whether or not it is ethical. Our second point of the conversation was around another way of gathering artifacts: looting. We talked about how much of the British Museum is made up of contested artifacts that they took from their colonies and have not returned.
Math Lab
Our roller coaster construction is well underway! It has been interesting to see the different methods employed by the Rebels through the process. Some have chosen to complete their full base first while others build as they need more support, some are building their track from the bottom up, while others are building theirs from the top downward. The process is time-consuming and those who stay online to build and talk have expressed a sense of accomplishment, frustration, and gratitude for the time to be together and chat.
French
We had our first big oral comprehension exercise this week, on the topic of “Les déserts!” We took our time across both classes to go through the questions looking for keywords that we could listen for. The speed setting on the video was very useful to slow down the audio and allow us to understand it better. The Rebels showed a great deal of determination in completing the exercise!
Quest
Our learner-led study into the dramatic arts and portrayal of a historical figure continued during our Quest sessions. Each day a different Rebel was in charge of our Quest launch where they led us through different games and activities to get us warmed up. This week, learners had three days to finish their Powerful Person monologue and have it edited by another learner. On Thursday, Nick from the Ottawa Children’s Theatre took us through some different acting warm-up activities and we discussed what our different roles are going to be for the performance in more detail.
Team Building
On Tuesday, we continued our exploration of the various games on backyard.co. We played a drawing and guessing game and then finished off with the Land Grab game we had played the game previously. We are excited to expand our team-building to a few Family Game nights in the next couple of weeks!
Additional Highlights
This week in our ASL club, we learned our 10 new signs from Lesson 3 before reviewing all of the signs we have learned so far with a fun game! We also began a new signing video to improve our form. An Exploration Rebel led this week’s Art Club with a focus on making earth-aware collages and paintings!
Two Rebels who are diving deep into their Embracing Life and Facing Death Genre, used their time this week to discuss how a family knows when it is time to “pull the plug,” who should make the decision, and the controversy around DNR's (Do No Resuscitate orders). They also discussed their thoughts on the poetry and DEEP books they are reading and the pieces they are writing such as their eulogy, epitaph, and bucket lists.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
All Rebels: World-building, Mark Rober-like innovations, culinary arts, rockets? What would you like to study next year?
Exploration: Ask your Rebel to see their monologue!
Exploration French: What are some facts that you’ve learned about the Sahara Desert? What methods did you use to understand the difficult parts of the video?
Discovery: (Draw and Anchor) What is an AABB rhyme scheme? What is an ABAB rhyme scheme? (Aim and Release) When writing a Haiku, how many syllables should a Haiku have in total?
Discovery French: Ask your Rebel about their poem!
Spark: Can you tell me about the life cycle of the bee or the butterfly? What are the three body parts of an insect called?
Spark: What is something we can do at home to help take care of these two important pollinators?
Spark French: Can you tell me what the weather is like today in French? Can you tell me what colour your t-shirt is in French?