Revel Recap: February 7 - 11, 2022
Spark Studio
Mindfulness
Light is my power! The Sparks kicked off the week by refreshing their bodies and minds representing themselves as bright and glowing. They shared a time when their light shined and how it made them feel. To continue our Monday morning, the Sparks imagined they were holding a cup of hot chocolate which allowed them to work on a breath technique by breathing in and out to cool down their hot chocolate. On Tuesday and Thursday for colouring, we focused on the contributions of African American history in sports and music. The guides shared the story of Muhammad Ali, written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. This empowering story was an excellent example of someone who changed the world. As for Wednesday, the Sparks enjoyed a follow-along yoga clip and ended their week writing in their gratitude journal.
Quest
Natural disasters and weather were our focus this week. The Sparks used their great imaginations and knowledge when learning about these topics. We began by learning about the sun as it plays such a “shining” role in our environment. The Sparks remembered plenty of information regarding this topic as we learned about it during our Space session. We worked together and talked about four main things the sun does. The Sparks then came up with six things the sun keeps warm to further our learning. To end our Monday, we experimented with ice. We placed ice in the window where the sun was beaming and placed another bowl of ice in a shaded area. The Sparks made predictions and then observed what happened to the ice. With lots of snow outside, we launched our first natural disaster, blizzards. After sharing stories, we talked about what good things can come from snowstorms, like playing in the snow. The Sparks were very interested in learning about tornadoes, so we learned about the different types on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we introduced wildfires. The guides shared the book Wildfires published by National Geographic. After learning that animals create safe hideouts during these challenging times, the Sparks used loose parts to create their own. It was incredible to see what the learners built. The Sparks had to develop a list of materials they would need if they were in a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, flood, or blizzard, for safety and resources. They had fantastic reasoning behind why each resource they needed could help them in either the long term or the short term. We ended our week with an experiment. The Sparks had two heavy and two lighter objects, and they had to predict whether it would be easy to blow each material. The Sparks had also asked the other Rebels in the studio about their favourite seasons and reasoning. In turn, this led the studio to create a tally chart based on each of the Sparks’ favourite seasons. According to our group, summer is the best! What a great week of Quest!
French
On Monday, the Sparks finished up their work on the letter T. We read an entertaining book called “Tortue Pingouin” about a little turtle who gets her classmates to join her in being a penguin for the day! Then, we filled out our letter T sheets. On Tuesday, the Sparks learned some French words that begin with the letter U : un, usine, uniforme, univers, urgence. This week’s words were a bit trickier to guess than usual because French does not have a lot of words beginning with the letter U. We enjoyed challenging ourselves to guess the words from Mme Marie’s drawings. Finally, we sang “La famille tortue” together. On Wednesday, the Sparks filled out their letter U sheet and coloured a picture of a monkey, or singe. On Thursday, we played “Cherche et trouve” a game where we looked for hidden objects in an image. The Sparks did a fantastic job finding the items and repeating the words!
Additional Highlights
From Black History Month to Valentine’s Day and the Olympics, the studio was buzzing with energy. The Sparks learned about many awesome role models connected to freedom and equality, such as Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson. Each story stood out in its way, but most importantly, it stated that all individuals should be treated equally regardless of identity, race, or culture. As a group, we spoke about how many courageous people stood up for themselves based on what they believed was right for their own good and for others around them.
The Sparks enjoyed many days in the gym full of races, parachute fun, and hockey games this week. With the Olympics underway, the Sparks created their own flag to use during this week and next week’s physical education games.
The learners are getting so excited for Valentine’s Day. To honour the day, we prepared owl paper bags for their goodies. We also read a story called, The Day it Rained Hearts. After the book, the Sparks coloured a heart and wrote what love means to them!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
The Rebels kicked off the week with a fun “draw on my back” challenge. We split into pairs and took turns drawing something on paper taped to our partner’s back. Our partners had to draw what they felt on their paper as we drew on their backs. Both partners had to be mindful of their pace and sequence - either way, the results were a perfect way to start the day laughing! Tuesday morning, the yogi Rebels participated in a swift Asana and then took time to try a reclined twist and soak up the benefits of their practice. Wednesday morning, we listened to Sea of Calm’s sound bath while we coloured. Thursday’s Rebel-led yoga featured new poses such as triangle and bird dog to keep our bodies moving and our brains working. Friday morning’s yoga included a crescent moon-twist-runner’s stretch flow to open our hips and relax the back leg muscles.
Launches
On Monday morning, we completed a launch on the Olympics’ impact. Rebels discussed the importance of follow-through after a setback, both in the context of global competition and our upcoming Exhibition of Learning. Many agreed that it was important to finish strong, though the reasons varied from showing character, demonstrating learning through failure on the Hero’s Journey, and the merits of participation. During Tuesday’s launch, Rebels went over what the last couple of weeks of the session would look like in French class with Mme Marie. On Wednesday morning, the Rebels listened to the last few poems from a book they started the day before called The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. They wondered about their own family origin stories as they considered how the young Black protagonist did not know hers and felt ashamed. The Rebels noticed the strength and surviving culture and traditions of the enslaved Africans brought to America as a part of the Middle Passage. They discussed legacy and resilience and wondered if slavery still exists. Thursday’s launch was led by one of our Squad Leaders, who shared a TED-Ed riddle with us about coercive logic in the form of a troll who hates paradoxes! Friday’s Rebel-led Current Events report was all about the Olympics: it featured Chloe Kim’s halfpipe run that earned her the gold and a score of 94, the photo finish between Austria and Canada in the snowboard cross, and the history of Olympic mascots.
Reader/Writer
With our poems complete, Aim and Release Rebels took part in a Community of Editors this week! In groups of four, they signed up for a specific role looking for errors in capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, or word choice. Once everyone’s anthology made it around the table, they used the edits and feedback to begin writing their final drafts.
After discussing the benefits of journaling for our mental health, Draw and Anchor Rebels began their Reader/Writer class with a five-minute free flow on how they’re feeling. They then had the class period to make their Wizard of Oz puppets and begin rehearsing their perspective plays for next week’s performance!
French
How does art make us feel? What is it about different works of art that can make us feel happy, sad, inspired or overwhelmed? This week, the Rebels reflected on the emotions famous works of art bring up and why. In small groups, we prepared to present one assigned painting or sculpture in front of the class next week. Rebels will tell their fellow learners whether the artwork is abstract or figurative and if it is a landscape, a portrait, still life - or none of those! They will also be explaining how it makes them feel. Finally, the Rebels have been gathering and catching up on their previous assignments in preparation for next week’s Exhibition.
Math Lab
The Draw and Anchor Rebels completed “Clock Talk: Take 2” this week, as well as two more tasks in their Be A Farmer project. Using a line plot to track weather patterns over a month and number lines to represent rainfall and temperatures, these Rebel farmers explored how they might use such data to make decisions that would impact their farm, crops, and livestock. Once everyone had a chance to add their thinking to the clock talk board, we ended our lab with a congress on reading and representing time using an analog clock. The Rebels agreed it can be tricky to place the hour hand in the most precise position and shared other mental strategies for solving elapsed time problems like breaking up larger numbers into smaller parts (an excellent connection to our Math Flips!).
Aim and Release worked on the last task of their Agriculture Conference this week, reflecting on the survey feedback and data provided to them by their attendees. They used the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percentages to interpret the number of people who gave the conference low and high ratings. If they finished this and were all caught up with the earlier tasks, the Rebels had to write the speech they would deliver at the beginning of their conference. Would they want to persuade, inform, or entertain their attendees? What messages about agriculture innovation would they like to share?
Civilizations
Who are we, if not storytellers? The Rebels have two options to complete their final “Civ” challenge towards their session badge: they can choose to make a timeline or a map that summarizes the five stories we have read over the past several weeks. This week and next, they will incorporate the lessons of Gilgamesh, the Hyksos, Dido, Ashurbanipal, and Nebuchadnezzar to capture details related to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Assyria and Babylon.
Quest
As creators, do our rights or responsibilities matter more? This week, the Rebels officially began creating content for their Health and Wellness Publications, which will be showcased at the upcoming Revel Academy Expo. On Monday, we discussed our creations as intellectual property and considered the implications of the term copyright. The Rebels tried a couple of processes for selecting peers to collaborate with and practiced attributing ownership and other details such as the title of borrowed media using the Mix-n-Mash Studio game. Working either independently or as a team, the Rebels selected the final format for their publication on Tuesday and considered three critical aspects of an expo - their content should show innovation, transfer knowledge, and create dialogue about the theme. Wednesday, we defined excellence and started to think about the criteria we will provide to voters at the expo. On Thursday, we had a special guest speaker from Child In Mind talk with us about activities we can engage in to help our brains! In a very entertaining workshop, Al Prado showed us how practicing rhythmic movements like juggling or yo-yo could help us feel more comfortable with mistakes and manage feelings of frustration or nervousness more easily.
Physical Development
This week, Rebels played in the gym, went for a hike, ventured to the park to play in the snow, or went skating. We played a new cooperative territory game called Shepherding in the gym, where Rebels split into farmers and sheep. Farmers had to get the sheep from the pasture into the barn, and as we played, the Rebels added new rules to make the game even more challenging.
Additional Highlights
KHANtest Update: the Rebels have done it again! Exceeding their weekly goal this week by earning 59 percent in Math Core Skills, they have a running total of 204%. We are not far away from the session goal of 225%! I smell pizza in our future…
Exploration Studio
Launches
During Monday's launch, Rebels went over what the last couple of weeks of the session would look like in French class with Mme Marie. We watched Adam Grant's TedTalk on Givers and Takers on Tuesday. After learning more about how Givers, Matchers, and Takers affect a culture, we were asked to reflect on what role we are currently playing in the Exploration Studio. The remainder of Launches and Closings were run by learners, who planned activities on the topic of cities. There were charades, trivia games, and discussions on our favourite things in Ottawa.
Mindfulness
We started our mindfulness by doing a quick meditation to get the learners focused and ready for our time together. The learners were given one of three options for mindfulness: a breathing exercise, a body scan, or a mindful listening exercise. After that, we started our activity for the day, based off a common drama activity. In this, the learners mirror each other's movements. We talked about how most of the time when we move, we are in a "doing" mode rather than a "thinking" or "being" mode. This activity encourages us to think about how we move our bodies, both for the leader and the mirror of the activity.
Math Lab
This week in our review session, we focused on all things fractions! We reviewed reciprocals, mixed numbers, improper fractions, simplification, addition, subtraction (with common and uncommon denominators), multiplication, and division before Rebels put their skills to the test. Using this knowledge, learners had to locate the missing Pharoah's sceptre through a series of clues only discovered by solving a series of fraction problems.
French
How does art make us feel? What is it about different works of art that can make us feel happy, sad, inspired or overwhelmed? This week, the Rebels reflected on the emotions famous works of art bring up and why. In small groups, we prepared to present one assigned painting or sculpture in front of the class next week. Rebels will tell their fellow learners whether the artwork is abstract or figurative and if it is a landscape, a portrait, still life - or none of those! They will also be explaining how it makes them feel. Finally, the Rebels have been gathering and catching up on their previous assignments in preparation for next week's Exhibition.
Quest
During Quest this week, we began an activity where we are mapping the city of Ottawa. Each learner chose a different ward that they would like to be the cartographer of and visually present their ward. On Monday, we launched the project with three activities. First, the learners took all the cardboard wards and put them together like a puzzle. In the next two activities, the learners discovered which ward they live in and their counsellor. Using Deagan's completed map as an example, the remaining three days of Quest involved the learners creating their own ward maps. This project is excellent for collaboration, as each learner needs to problem solve how to pair their roads with their neighbouring wards. The learners will finish up their maps on Tuesday in time for the Exhibition.
Next Week's Exhibition
This is just a reminder that next Wednesday at 4:30, we have our Exhibition over Zoom. We hope that you can join us!
Launchpad
As it is Black History Month, Launchpad Rebels have committed to learning more about the notions of race and racism with the help of Masterclass Course; Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love. This course is currently streaming for free for the month of February. We challenge you to check it out!
Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science
Module 4 of our Harvard edX course was all about diffusion and spherification. We learned from José Andrés, founder of ThinkFood Group and chef and owner of several restaurants, including minibar, Jaleo, and The Bazaar, about gelling agents and the remarkable ways he uses them in his cooking. We also learned about dehydration from Dominique Crenn, who showed us how to make carrot jerky before learning the secret to making coleslaw that doesn't get soggy from America's Test kitchen. We also studied gelation, why proteins are sticky, and how pH affects proteins and amino acids. Rebels learned the history and science behind Random Walks, the underlying principle for diffusion, and how it affects spherification, dehydration, and osmosis. After completing several practice problems utilizing the diffusion equation, we were introduced to rapid infusion. Our lab for the week used eggs and soy sauce to demonstrate diffusion, and the learners were tasked with determining the diffusion constant using their results. We have been so impressed with the Launchpad Rebels as they become more confident with manipulating equations to complete multistep, complex chemistry problems!
Canadian History
After completing an inquiry activity on establishing the cause, effect, and consequences of the Winnipeg General Strike, we learned about the Group of Seven (and their inner circle) and their impact on the Canadian art scene. Rebels then chose one of the artists and a piece of their work for inspiration for a remix! One Rebel chose Tom Thomson's "Round Lake, Mud Bay" as inspiration for their watercolour piece, while another learner inverted and digitized Lawren Harris' "Lake and Mountains."
Accounting
This week we looked at trend analysis. Using what we learned, Rebels answered a series of questions using a given trend and ratio to figure out if the company made a profit, whether the Net Profit/Sales were trending up or down, and if trending downward was the problem reflected in the COGS/Sales ratio, the Expenses/Sales ratio, or both? Lastly, what has been happening in the business that is causing the problem, and how would you solve it if you were the business leader? Learners who completed the assignment took the course post-test and were proud to see just how much they learned!
World Building
This week, one learner developed their world's timelines and calendar system while becoming more confident with the World Anvil platform. Meanwhile, another Launchpadder worked on their Laurazhian Race Compendium (a list of all intelligent races that ever lived on the continent), the Midas Woods monster stronghold (breeding and raising monsters like for use as guild master pets, stronghold/dungeon sentries or guards, and for general use as assassination tools.) They also worked on the political climate and general attitudes surrounding the over-mining of the Jasper Stretch's coal and gold deposits and their export to the Sylvanesti Empire. We were happy to welcome William back for a world-building debrief and discussion on Friday. We're excited to restart our DND sessions with them next week!
Additional Highlights
In an effort to drink more water throughout the day, we have issued our studio a Water Challenge and are working hard to hold one another accountable. While still not an ingrained habit, we did notice we drank more water than we have been!
This week, we also took time to post our Deep Book reviews on Goodreads, present a Current Events closing for Exploration, worked hard for each percentage in Khan, read our Deep Book (The Book of Negroes or Wuthering Heights), and practiced our Spanish or Dutch.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Spark:
What resources could you use to keep you and your family safe during a natural disaster of your choice?
Can you share 2 of the studio's promises?
French: What is special about the "tortue" song?
Discovery:
With one more week left in the session, what will you focus on to earn your badges and achieve your goals?
Math Lab: what are the different kinds of math you have used in your project? Which has been the most challenging? What is your strength?
CIV: will you create a timeline or make a map to tell the story of the ancient world? What is your favourite part of the story and why?
In Elective you have Show and Tell next week. How will you share your Hero's Journey with the other Rebels?
French: Which work of art were you assigned? Can you describe how it makes you feel? How have you been preparing for your presentation?
Exploration:
Do you view yourself as a giver, a matcher, or a taker? Do you think of yourself as agreeable or disagreeable? Does it change depending on where you are (home, school, sports team, etc.)?
What do you plan on showcasing for Exhibition on Wednesday?
Is your ward similar to the rest of Ottawa or very different? In which ways?
French: Which work of art were you assigned? Can you describe how it makes you feel? How have you been preparing for your presentation?
Launchpad:
What accomplishment are you most proud of in this session?
How did you pick the inspiration for your remix, and what was your process to create your piece?
Next session, we will be completing our edX Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science course with an experiment of our own design. Have you thought about what your final project might be? Do you have a recipe in mind that you would like to dissect and understand better? Will it involve spherification or a unique kitchen tool?
Dates of Interest
Monday, February 14th: Valentine's Day Celebration
Wednesday, February 16th: Pink Shirt Day (We'll celebrate one week early as we're on our break on the official day.)
Week of February 21st - 25th - Sessional Break