Revel Recap: June 7 - 11, 2021
Spark Studio
To start our week together we all drew a big heart and filled it with one or more things that we love and that make us happy. School, family, friends, and bicycles were a few of the pictures that the Sparks shared upon completion of the exercise. Each morning we continue to start our daily calls with stretching exercises, becoming bumblebees, and practicing our five-finger breathing activity. We take a moment after our mindful activities to talk about how we now feel and we all agree it helps us feel calm. One Spark shared that they used the technique the other day on their own, which is great to hear! On Thursday, we discussed what we were feeling thankful for. It is always wonderful to start our day on a positive note, reflecting on the things that we feel gratitude for. Everyone is doing such a wonderful job sharing and participating during all of these activities!
French class this week was all about two birds that live in the forest, “le hibou” and “la chouette.” They look very similar, but there’s a trick to telling them apart…keep reading to find out! We began on Monday by checking in with each other and sharing our feelings and what we were excited about this week. Afterwards, Spark Rebels went looking for three orange items around the house. We debated which item was the smallest and which was the biggest. It was a bit of a challenge doing this through the camera! We also read “Un peu perdu” by Chris Haughton, a book about a baby owl that fell out of the nest and is looking for its mom. On Tuesday, we practiced singing “Dans la forêt lointaine.” We can almost sing it on our own now! Then, we played a computer game where we guessed the hidden animals before describing them. We learned a new word that’s very fun to say: “mimi.” It is short for “mignon,” which means cute. There’s a lot of very mimi animals in the forest! On Thursday, we read another owl book called “Bébés chouettes” by Martin Waddel and Patrick Benson. Then, we learned how to draw an owl with Didou the rabbit and wrote HIBOU next to our pictures. We also learned that we call an owl “hibou” if it has big eyebrow-like feathers on its head, and “chouette” if it doesn’t. Finally, on Thursday we read “Petit Ours Brun a perdu son doudou” and we talked about our own stuffed animals before finishing the class with our usual Thursday dance party!
Quest this week was full of many building and creative activities. We started by reading The Super Pigs, again noticing the costumes they were wearing to become superheroes. We then set off to make our own superheroes out of clay. We shared our creations the next day, some being inspired by superheroes we have learned about and one learner creating a whole team of superheroes! On Tuesday, our book was called Ten Steps to Flying Like a Superhero. In this book, Captain Magma really wants to learn to fly so Lava Boy helps him to try and achieve this. We then learned about another superhero who can fly, Superman! This inspired our next challenge, which was to get our own peg doll superheroes to fly. The catch was, you couldn’t throw or hold them. What can you create?! The next day some Sparks shared catapults they had built to send their superhero flying, along with wings to keep them gliding in the air! On Wednesday, we read The Day I Lost My Superpowers. At the end of the book, we imagined that our peg doll superheroes had gone to an island to help the animals and they were so tired that their superpowers weren’t working! Oh no! They are stranded on the island, what could we do to save them? The Sparks said we would need to build them a boat, which is exactly what we did! The boat needed to hold at least the superhero and still float on the water. We looked at some ideas for inspiration before heading off to build our own. Thursday we read another book about a pig named Oliva who is inspired to become a superhero after reading a comic superhero book. Just like Olivia, we were inspired to write our own superhero stories, either using characters from books we have been reading or making up our own adventure! Before we went to write our stories, we were introduced to our ‘spaceman’ popsicle stick which can help us leave spaces between our words!
Along with our Quest work, we continued to work on our core skills activities. We started our week doing some subtraction within 20. Some of these larger number equations were a bit tricky, but with the help of our ten frames, we were able to find the answer. Hidden behind some of the answers on the subtraction chart were superhero masks and we were excited every time to see if we would reveal a mask or not! We also worked on tally marks this week. We discussed how tally marks are a way to keep track of data and that one tally represents one unit of something. We practiced writing the tally marks in groups of five before we surveyed each other and recorded our answers in tally marks. We discovered that everyone loves pizza and ice cream! Next, we played a game where the Sparks counted the tally marks and clicked on the answers in numbers. This led us to practice counting by 5’s so we could find the answers. Later in the week we reviewed the continents and enjoyed a song to help remind us of the names, how many there are and which one we live on. We then looked at a map of the world and placed as many animals as we could on the various continents. Two more games that we enjoyed playing this week were Spot the Difference and Charades! We were also mesmerized by the live feeds of the jellyfish, sharks and stingrays found at Ripley’s Aquarium. We were all curious about the stingrays and decided that we wanted to learn more about them. The next day we read a book and were surprised to discover that some stingrays can grow longer and wider than a car!
We ended our week with a fun drama workshop with Ottawa Children’s Theatre! We began sharing our favourite stuffed animals and all of the special tricks they could do, followed by a movement warmup where we turned paper into a ball and played a couple of games. For our vocal warmup, we counted to 10 as a group using our quiet voice, big voice, high voice, low voice, and many different kinds of silly voices! Finally, we did an exercise together that invited us to use our body and imagination to create a setting. Through a game of Dance Freeze, we moved our bodies around, and when the music stopped we froze into a position that recreated a setting. It was so wonderful to see everyone in their creative zone, using their body to explore shape and place!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
Monday, Wednesday and Friday yoga classes were all about getting our heart rate up and pumping only to bring it back down again with controlled breathing. Rebels enjoyed a lot of upbeat flows and the return of the famous “Jack Tracks!” Tuesday and Thursday's mindful periods were Rebel Choice where some learners have been creating beautiful paint by number artworks, others zen doodling, and some have started journaling as a way to exercise mindfulness before their day begins.
Launch
To start our week off in good spirits, we played some group games on Monday including Charades and a great round of Mad Libs. The completed story had us all giggling and ready to tackle our first goal of the week. Tuesday’s launch highlighted our branding, image and logo design work that Rebels started in Quest this past week. Rebels looked at a variety of different logos and guessed to which companies/brands they belonged! Rebels were surprised at how many companies they could recognize just using their logo, and we discussed how impactful branding and imaging can be! Wednesday’s French launch introduced Christine and the Queens, or Chris, France’s first openly non-binary artist. She draws a lot of inspiration from David Bowie and she sings in both French and English! After a quick introduction of this inspiring artist, Rebels practiced using the word “habitude” in sentences, listing good habits we’ve picked up during the pandemic. Thursday’s Current Events highlighted the looming extinction of the Northern White Rhino in a Kenyan Conservancy, 45-year-old male Rhino named Sudan. We listened to and celebrated our Pride Story of the Week, Yanic Duplessis - the 17-year-old hockey player who inspired the hockey community by coming out! We discussed the annular solar eclipse that happened on Thursday morning at sunrise, and a very SUS-looking Chicken McNugget! Friday’s launch discussion was inspired by Taya Currie’s massive achievement this week - being the first female to be drafted in the priority selection of the Ontario Hockey League by the Sarnia Sting! Rebels discussed the importance of representation in sports, how Taya Currie’s draft achievement shapes the NHL, OHL, and future players for the sport in general.
Math Lab
In Math Lab this week, we discussed the different ways that we personally have earned money as well as the types of items we spend our money on. We then learned how a ledger is used and why they are incredibly helpful to keep on top of our finances. After going through an example, we took turns pulling a card with different spending or earning scenarios. We bought a hoverboard, earned allowance, bought our family gifts, lost $20 when our hamster ate it, earned money helping Mrs. Erin move, and found buried treasure! With each event we filled out the date, description, the amount earned or spent, and then calculated our balance. After our game, we discussed the difference between debit and credit, the importance of saving money for emergencies, and the dangers of interest on your debt.
Rebel Readers & Warrior Writers
This week in Reader Writer, Aim and Release Rebels continued reading The Unsung Hero of Birdsong USA. Rebels explored concepts like Jim Crow Laws, segregation of schools and utilities around towns when the laws were in place, and how laws like these transcend societies much longer than they are even enforced. Rebels were particularly interested in checking out our “Unsung Hero Photo Album,” with real photos from the 1930s-1960s in and around the setting of where our novel takes place (Charleston, South Carolina). Draw and Anchor Rebels completed their spelling test for this week and participated in a virtual reading circle as we worked through chapters 4-6 of their novel study, The Secret Lake. We continued working on making inferences and conclusions about the plot using evidence from the text and both front/back cover pages. Friday’s Reader Writer activities had Rebels creating their own version of a magical “secret lake” with their own twists, working away on Indigenous Biographies for Indigenous History Month, and all Discovery Rebels participated in a hilarious Ten Minute Tale! Great work, everyone!
French
This week in French class, Rebels learned how to draw “un chevalier,” a knight! We also played a fun game of “Dessine un mot qui commence par..,” in which we randomly picked a letter and drew something that begins with it. Group 1 Rebels watched “Boris Chevalier” a second time and created descriptive sentences about each character. Meanwhile, groups 2 and 3 completed their first conjugation exercises in the “imparfait” tense. Conjugating is not an easy task! We will keep practicing throughout the session. All groups strengthened their vocabulary with vocabulary games related to medieval life.
Quest
This week in Quest was all about Building our Brands! A big special thank you to Jason Mayhew of Auto Agents Ottawa, who took some time to help us kick off our second week with a wonderful Entrepreneur Interview. A key takeaway from Jason’s interview was helping entrepreneurs realize their need for a clear vision, while also being able to pivot along the way with the help of mentors and teammates. This week, Rebels focused on developing the image they want their food truck to represent. We explored various logos, images and branding techniques to help Rebels design the interior and exterior of their trucks. Coming up next week, Rebels will be diving into menu planning, food sourcing/pricing and developing some of the finer details of their future customer’s experience.
Exploration Studio
Launch
Monday’s French launch introduced Chris, the lead singer of Christine and the Queens and France’s first openly non-binary artist. She has been very inspired by David Bowie, and she sings in both French and English! After a quick introduction of this inspiring artist, Rebels practiced using the word “habitude” in sentences, describing good habits we’ve picked up during the pandemic. Due to popular demand, we began our day on Tuesday with riddles! Not only fun, but this exercise is also a great way to get our creativity and critical thinking skills warmed up first thing in the morning. John Green, a very successful author and all-around funny guy, had a difficult time in high school. On Wednesday, we watched a short clip of John explaining that there isn’t one most important time in our lives and that we have hundreds of chances each and every day to change directions which is a great reminder as many of us are gearing up for new adventures this fall. On Thursday, our Rebel who has been charged with planning and organizing our celebration at the end of the year, asked the graduating Rebels for their ideas and gave an update on what has been done and what input was needed to move forward. (The ceremony will be held on Wednesday, July 7th at 3:00 pm in the park next to Revel. More details to follow!) For the last launch of the week, we discussed our fears. After Rebels shared what they were afraid of, we watched this great video created by Vancouver Film School student, Nata Metlukh. The animation illustrated that everyone experiences anxiety and that sometimes our fears are actually helpful. Rebels agreed that some of our fears or “spidey-sense” paranoia do help to keep us safe, while others make living the life we want a struggle.
Math Lab
This was the last week for Exploration Rebels to complete their paper roller coaster in Math Lab! Throughout the class, Rebels were adding their final tracks, loops, funnels, and tricks, testing each additional component as they built. When a marble didn’t complete the run successfully, learners made adjustments such as adding higher walls or increasing the angle of the track to achieve the speed needed. We can’t wait to see everyone’s finished roller coasters when we return to the studios!
French
Upon opening the time capsule we received from the future, we discovered that it contains a fashion magazine! This week, Rebels explored different types of fashion innovations such as sustainable fashion and anti-surveillance fashion before creating their own outfit from the future. Some chose to use digital creation tools and others used pencil on paper or photography to give life to their ideas. From self-cleaning clothing to connected clubwear, learners believed that humans of the future won’t care much for gendered attire. On Wednesday, we practiced our conjugation skills by writing a short article in both the present tense and the future tense to accompany the pictures in our fashion magazine.
Big History
In Big History this week, we continued working on our presentations about the different cuisines of the world. On Thursday, three learners gave their presentations, telling us about Kosher food, Cayman food, and Hawaiin food. After each learner has given their presentation, they will move on to writing stories about their cuisine. Exploration Rebels have the option to write either a picture book or a narrative that encapsulates their research from their presentations.
Quest
This week was all about branding! On Monday, we had a lengthy discussion about companies and their social responsibility. Since it is Pride Month, we talked about the corporate appropriation of pride. Learners were very skeptical of brands that change their logos on social media to include the rainbow as they felt that many were doing it to appear more likeable and sell more products. We applied that logic to other areas such as greenwashing from corporations to get a sense of a company's social responsibility. On Tuesday, the learners had the day to work on a project of choice that has to do with the branding of their food truck. Some learners made logos, some websites, and some designed their actual trucks. Wednesday and Thursday were all about interviewing an entrepreneur who is just opening her own food truck. Chef Emily is a friend of Deagan’s who used the pandemic as an opportunity to create her own business. We took the learners through a tour of her well-curated Instagram page and website so that we could ask informed questions. Emily then joined us on Zoom so that the Rebels could ask all of their entrepreneurial questions. She was a great resource and the learners came to the understanding that running a food truck is hard work!
Launchpad
Our Launchpad Rebel continued their work on their Subscription Box Quest project, focusing predominantly on designing, researching, and pricing out packaging options.
The focus for Genre this week was on funerals and who should decide what happens to your body after you die. We agreed that the formal ceremony following a death is one of humanity’s oldest traditions, but we need to critically think about our practices for various ideological, environmental, and economic reasons. Funeral planning was then underway as the learner began to create a rough budget for a traditional funeral. There was a quick realization of how crippling the debt could be for families who weren't prepared financially for this eventuality.
Additional Highlights
A huge thank you to our families who came out for our family book club where we discussed the first half of TJ Klune’s, The House in the Cerulean Sea! We had a great time showing off our illustrations of Chauncey, answering questions about the plot and our favourite characters, and making predictions about the second half!
We have also been working very hard to complete our Studio Swap in time for the Rebels’ return! Check out some of the before and after pictures below!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Spark: What things did you draw inside your heart? What else fills your heart with happiness?
Spark: Can you tell your family a superhero story? It could be one you make up or retell one of the ones you’ve read!
Spark French: What is the difference between “une chouette” and “un hibou”? Can you show me your favourite “doudou”?
Discovery: Tell us about your food truck design this week! Why is it important for your Food Truck logo and truck design to be consistent?
Discovery: Show off your ledger! Is this a tool that you could use going forward in order to keep better track of your finances?
Discovery French Group 1: How would you describe the princess in Boris Chevalier? What about the robot?
Discovery French Groups 2 & 3: What is the “imparfait” tense used for? What are some words related to life in the Middle Ages that you’ve learned this week?
Exploration: Did our interview with Emily encourage or discourage you to become an entrepreneur?
Exploration French: What kind of outfit from the future did you create? What occasion would people wear it for?
Launchpad: As environmental awareness has increased, “natural burials” have as well, wherein an unembalmed body is placed in a biodegradable container, and eventually decomposes naturally in soil. Will this be the most popular funeral process in the year 2050? How would you rank burial, natural burial, and cremation in terms of your wishes?
