Remote Revel Recap: January 10 - 14, 2022
Spark Studio
During this week’s mindfulness session, Sparks repeated affirmations, “I am important, I believe in myself, today I will do my best.” Starting the morning off with affirmations has brought good energy into remote learning and allows the Sparks to understand that they can be the change. The learners also listened to a story called, Say Something by Peter Reynolds. The book focuses on how each Spark has a voice, and it can be used in any interaction to help others around them or themselves.
The Sparks continued to meet in small groups this week to work on various activities. We worked on sounding out words to write our sentences and continued to develop our sight word recognition. We practiced phonemic awareness during our language meeting and talked about what a syllable is and two tools we can use to identify them in words. To help us count the syllables, we can say the word and clap along or put our hand under our chin and then say the word. We can count the number of times our jaw drops while we say the word. For math this week, we practiced subtraction within 20, worked on estimating and guessing how many marbles were in the jar and played Addition Bingo using loose parts at home to come up with their answers. We also reviewed our knowledge of the continent names and played a game where we placed various animals on the continents where they could be found.
Sparks kicked off the week learning about the science behind animals! “What is a living thing?” “How can we compare and contrast animals?” We brainstormed many ideas and learned new words such as habitat, omnivore, and reproduce. The Sparks learned about reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and invertebrates, and at the end of each presentation, the Sparks played mini-review games. We had so much fun, and the learners collaborated very well. Additionally, the Sparks had the opportunity to follow a directed drawing video of a lizard. They showed such creative skills when working on their masterpiece! To end the week, the Sparks worked on the life cycle of a butterfly. They made predictions and then came up with the answers with the help of their book and video resources. Lastly, the Sparks joined in on a Kahoot! created by their Guides based on everything they learned throughout the week!
This week, in French, the Sparks focused on the letters O and P. We learned how to draw a seal, or otarie, with Didou and read the book Gros Pipi about “un petit pingouin”!
Some additional highlights of the week were our group fitness calls, where the Sparks had fun and showed great perseverance while working through some tough challenges! We also liked seeing some hilarious and cute photos of pets wearing funny costumes, sharing some laughs, and discussing which one was our favourite. We loved seeing our Discovery friends again and enjoyed hearing them read us some of our favourite stories, like Scaredy Squirrel and Gerald and Piggie. We ended our week with a tremendous remote Show and Tell. See you on Monday, Sparks!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
On Monday, the Rebels meditated all the way to the beach, participating in a guided visualization activity. Focusing on breath and relaxing their muscles, they were encouraged to let any bothersome thoughts wash away into the sea! Tuesday's yoga session focused on opening up through the chest, neck and shoulders to relieve any tension from the remote school routine. On Wednesday, the Rebels had the option to mindfully colour on their own, or they could play Skribbl (like Pictionary) online together. Thursday morning brought another awesome Rebel-led yoga workout - thanks for getting our hearts pumping! On Friday, we finalized our proposal for the mural project. Great work, Rebels!
Launches
Rebels played a Kahoot all about healthy eating to kick off the week's series of launches. It was interesting to hear them discuss what makes a habit healthy or unhealthy and how this differs depending on context. For example, if you eat in front of the television, how might this impact what you eat and how you're eating? On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Rebels watched parts of a series called Media Minutes, including What is media?, Media are constructions, and Audiences negotiate meaning. These short clips helped us dig deeper into essential aspects of media from our Quest, such as purpose: does the media want to persuade, inform or entertain? These ideas will be necessary for the Rebels to consider later this session as they construct their media for their health and wellness publications. Thursday morning, we had a Rebel-led Mad Libs launch: Stuffed Animal Edition! We worked together to provide nouns, verbs, and appropriate adjectives, resulting in a hilarious invitation to a sleepover party with cheese curds - oh, and it starts at 776 o'clock - don't be late! Friday's Current Events launch was led by two of our Rebels and featured an update on NASA's asteroid target practice, a chance to reconsider why some people might celebrate Canada Day differently again this year, and a cute animal poll. You tell us, who is cuter?
French
In French this week, Rebels learned and practiced the names of French colours. We completed some online exercises, watched an episode of Mati et Dada about Georges Seurat and made our first work of art for this session.
Reader/Writer
On Monday, Aim and Release Rebels had their first opportunity to discuss what we've read so far in the Goldfish Boy as a group. In preparation for the poetry lesson, we talked about character traits and developed a list of what we know so far about Matthew, the main character in the Goldfish Boy. Learners then had the option to write a Character poem using a planning sheet for guidance or create a Character collage with images and words that describe Matthew.
This week, Draw and Anchor Rebels also dove into character feelings, traits, and motives. After discussing various feelings and reviewing positive and negative traits, we read The Grumpy Monkey. We spoke about how sometimes we feel down and don't necessarily know or understand why. We also discussed that while the monkey's friends were trying to help cheer him up, it's ok to want some alone time. We then turned our attention back to our study of different perspectives. After a brief retelling of The Three Little Pigs, we read Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, which the wolf narrates. We ended our Reader/Writer class by acting out a few scenes with varying intentions before completing our weekly journal entry. Great acting, Rebels!
Math Lab
Draw and Anchor Rebels explored their Session 4 Badge requirements on Monday, exploring the similarities and differences for this session. The Rebels started the first two tasks of their new Be A Farmer project, where they had to interpret a graph about the eggs collected in a chicken coup and tally up sales from several orders. They also worked through a Math Flip together, recalling how to capture thinking in their journals about how the two sides of the flip connect (for example, on the card, how does side A help you with side B?).
We then chose an Area Model Task Card and modelled how to use the digital Base Ten Blocks to represent multiplicative relationships in arrays or rectangles. The Rebels came up with the area model shown. How could you rearrange the tens and ones, so there is no block left behind?
On Wednesday, Aim and Release worked on projecting the income from their agriculture conferences, considering income sources such as exhibitors, sponsorships, and registration fees.
Civilizations
This week the Rebels went back through the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, linking how the geography of neighbouring civilizations like Canaan is related to other places we have visited in ancient Africa like the Sahara desert. After this week's story of the reigning dynasty in Egypt (similar to the one we learned about from ancient China) and how it toppled after the Hyksos invaded, we discussed what factors are most likely to contribute to the fall of power and how the Rebels would work to stabilize a crumbling civilization if they were in charge.
Quest
This week in Quest, we explored media concepts and the writing process through the topic of healthy eating and nutrition! On Monday, the Rebels started by reviewing different examples of media constructions and what is meant by the terms purpose, target audience and messaging. Using a name-brand cereal commercial, a Health Canada video, and a local grocery store job posting, the Rebels identified the different target audiences and discussed how this relates to purpose - persuade, inform, entertain or a combination? Rebels then worked with their Squads and listened to a podcast about grocery stores' strategies to sell their various products. On Tuesday, the Rebels revisited a Kahoot activity that got them thinking more about the different ways that healthy eating supports multiple systems in our bodies. They then used Canada's Food Guide to plan nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for one week. On Wednesday, we had a Writer's Workshop on avoiding plagiarism. As we move through the writing process from pre-writing to drafting, we are focusing on the importance of writing ideas in our own words. Rebel Writers worked on developing the skill of summarizing ideas they get from other sources (and crediting the original author when we share their thinking). Next week, we will share our drafts with our peers to get feedback on whether we succeeded in writing in our own words.
Physical Development
On Monday and Wednesday, Rebels had the opportunity for outdoor play in small groups at the school! It was so much fun to get together safely and connect during this period of remote learning. Please continue to share any pictures of your workouts or activities from the Fitness Challenge list or Social-Emotional Learning Choice Board!
Additional Highlights
Reading Buddies with the Sparks was so much fun! We miss our friends a lot, so it was great to get together and read fun stories like 50 Below and Scaredy Squirrel and talk about animals that the Sparks are learning about in their Science Quest. Thank you, Discovery Rebels, for being such great leaders! PS - Don't forget about the Personal and Home Maintenance Challenge! How did you do? Bring back your signed sheets for the reward!
Exploration Studio
Launches
The learners ran four out of the five launches this week. There were two Kahoots!, a workout, and a game of "Guess the Google search." We are excited to continue our learner-led launches in person next week!
French
In French, Rebels learned and practiced the names of French colours. We completed some online exercises and watched an episode of Mati et Dada about Georges Seurat. Learners were also given time to write back to their penpals from France!
Math Lab
This week in Math Lab, Rebels learned about bilateral and rotational symmetry. Using the hat, kite, and samurai origami folds, Rebels created gorgeous works of mathematical art! Next week, we'll continue our Rebel Review working with concepts requested by our learners.
Quest
Our Quest launches all covered various city planning topics this week. On Monday, we learned about the impact of trees on city temperature and how hot pockets of cities are connected to poverty. Tuesday, we learned about the North American concept of "stroads." We learned that streets have one lane, many entrances, exits, and stops, and have shops and houses close to the street. They are a destination, so going slow on them is expected. Roads are for travelling farther distances more quickly. Multi-lanes are wide, have higher speeds, and have very few exits. Using these identifiers, we talked about familiar street examples (Wellington, Elgin, Bank, Spark) and road examples (River Road, SJAM, 417) before turning our attention to stroads. Stroads attempt to have the exits and stops of a street, but the high speeds of a road. While it sounds like a wonderful idea, they don't tend to work. Think Carling and Merivale, bad for drivers, inaccessible to bikers, and too many parking lots for pedestrians to walk anywhere quickly. We also learned about Ottawa's longest-serving Mayor, Jim Watson, in preparation for our meeting with him on Monday. The learners had the week to make their model cities. Most learners worked in groups, ideating together and then breaking off individually to complete tasks. We will continue our model city construction this next week.
Documentary
The learners had two periods this week to continue developing their scripts for their documentary. Most learners are very excited to get into the studio next week to continue shooting.
Additional Highlights
Many learners came to the school for either a hike or a skate on Friday afternoon. While the temperature was cold, it was great to connect as a community while getting some fresh air and exercise. We are looking forward to more outdoor time together next week!
Launchpad
Chemistry - Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science
This week we began Module 1 of our Science and Cooking course; Molecules, Moles, Flavour, and pH. We learned the secret to Daniel Humm's famous duck sauce, heard how to make the perfect yellow birthday cake from Joann Chang, and took part in videos, readings, and practice problems regarding the major macromolecules of food, pH, calculating moles, and balancing chemical equations. The lab portion of the module consisted of calibrating the oven using a phase change (melting point of sugar), measuring ingredients by weight and volume, and lastly, a "Cola" experiment with sugar and vinegar. The Rebels also had to complete a series of authentic critical thinking problems to demonstrate their understanding of what we've learned so far. This is an incredibly difficult course, but the learners are rising to the challenge!
Canadian History
Throughout our study of Canadian history, learners will be presented with many points of view about historical events. We are not expected to agree with each opinion, but we should use the varying perspectives to reach our conclusions. We, therefore, began this week's session analyzing primary and secondary sources as evidence. We then learned about innovations, urbanization, and the transforming economy in early 20th century Canada.
Accounting
This week Rebels completed the Profits vs. Cash chapter in their accounting book. They then had the opportunity to imagine themselves as the proud owner of a cake shop with the assumption that they have been operating for some time and decide it's time to get their accounting up to date. Using a list of transactions, learners had to fill in a Balance Sheet, an Income Statement, and Cash Flow charts remembering to add the appropriate formulas in their spreadsheet.
Additional Highlights
On Wednesday, our Rebels had the opportunity to attend an Open House event for WorkspaceSky to learn more about their programming and virtual platform. Based on our experience, we are excited to participate in their student-directed education pilot program! Stay tuned!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Spark:
Which is your favourite animal group?
How does the caterpillar grow and change?
French: Which animal or object did you draw on your letter P sheet?
Discovery:
Tell me about your weekly meal plan. What does healthy eating mean to you? What factors affect healthy eating?
What is plagiarism, and how can you avoid it?
Math Lab: How could you rearrange the tens and ones in the Task Card shown above so that there are no leftovers?
French: What do the colours in your abstract drawing mean to you?
Exploration:
In your model city, do you have more roads, streets, or stroads?
What would you like to ask Mayor Jim Watson on Monday?
French: What are some questions you will be asking your Pen Pal?
Launchpad:
What did you discover in your Cola Lab about the role of acid and sugar?
What defined Canada in the early 1900s, and what attitudes and expectations did Canadians have for the century ahead?
What excites you most about the WorkspaceSky SDE pilot opportunity?