Revel Recap: January 16 - 20, 2023
Spark Studio
Mindfulness
We started the week reflecting on how the new year and what kinds of things we wanted to accomplish in 2023. We decided to choose one word to help inspire and guide us through the year. After hearing some examples, the Sparks shared their words, such as fun, silly, calm, and love! We can't wait to see everything the learners get up to this year! The Sparks also collaborated on designing and colouring the number 2023 to hang up along with our words. On Tuesday, we turned off all the lights, and the Sparks found a comfortable spot to follow along to a guided meditation. This mindfulness activity had us imagine that we were in a giant bubble and visualize how it looked, felt, sounded and smelled. We felt calm and ready to start our day after that. Wednesday was guided yoga by Cosmic Kids, and Thursday, we completed a directed drawing of a city. Friday ended with a round of the game Guess in 10 before completing an entry in our gratitude journals.
Quest
Building on everything we learned last week about construction, we started our week discussing who designs buildings. We learned that an architect makes plans or blueprints. We also talked about all the different types of structures that exist and what materials they use to build. After reading Iggy Peck Architect, we broke into groups and got to work drawing blueprints. After making a plan, the Sparks used recycled materials to bring their designs to life. This project required a lot of teamwork, listening to the team's ideas, and problem-solving. Their buildings will be unveiled at Exhibition, but in the meantime, feel free to ask your architect, What supplies did you use? What worked well? What did not work well? How did you fix it?
Tuesday's Quest began with reading A Year at a Construction Site. This book showed us all the steps for building a school that took place over a year ago. It was interesting to read about all the different processes starting with demolition, creating a foundation, adding walls, windows, roof, plumbing, and electrical. Hearing all of the various steps helped to kickstart the planning for our own town. First, we decided on a name and discussed the layout. We then created paper buildings to add to Spark City, population 13!
On Wednesday, we asked the Sparks, Can you think of any famous buildings? Right away, a Spark said the Nature Museum, as they believe it looks like a castle! Another Spark talked about the CN Tower. We thought about what the word famous means and why certain buildings achieve this status. We read See Inside Famous Buildings to explore some of the most iconic buildings worldwide. We were amazed to learn more about the Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, and of course, we couldn't believe just how tall the Burj Khalifa is! Our architects looked at pictures of these buildings and set off in teams to recreate them using magnetic tiles, wooden building blocks, Lego, and Duplo.
Thursday's book, If I Built a House, was a huge hit with the Sparks. It is about a little boy who redesigns his house, making each room spectacularly unique! It got our imaginations thinking and inspired us to design our dream rooms! After drawing their plans, they presented their ideas to the group. Their rooms included trampolines, pools, slides, race tracks, and even one where you got a new pet every day! A building designed by the Sparks would undoubtedly become famous!
We ended the week reading the book Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building, which encouraged us to build with items around us. We worked in teams to design a building using popsicle sticks, paper plates, cups, play dough, and buttons. There were many interesting creations, as the Sparks are innovative and creative builders!
Art
Following our Quest theme, our art project this week was to create a city skyline at night. The learners started by drawing a moon and stars and then worked on creating various buildings using different cutting techniques and colours. Lastly, they added some windows, and the final results were stunning!
French
We finished colouring and cutting out the animal masks we started last week on Monday, and on Tuesday, we played a board game called Où?, Quand?, Comment? (Where?, When?, How?), as well as a game of seek and find to practice our preposition of place. Wednesday, we reviewed our animal vocabulary by playing games in the gym. Mme. Marianne would call out the name of an animal in French, and the Rebels would have to imitate the animal. Thursday, we played Le Bingo des Animaux (Animal Bingo), a game where Mme. Marianne would name an animal in French, and the learners had to identify them on the card to get a Bingo and win stickers! It was so much fun!
Geography
For our geography workshop, we continued to look at famous buildings. We talked about which countries and continents they are on, locating them on our globe and looking at the flags for these places. We watched a short video on some of these locations to gain more information. We then set off to create a postcard for our families, imagining we travelled to one of these famous landmarks. Several Sparks were talking about visiting the Burj Khalifa together!
Additional Highlights
Friday's Show and Tell was learner-led, and they did a great job sharing, listening to each other, asking questions and taking turns. We made our first winter trip to the big hill in the afternoon. The Sparks had SO much fun sledding with their friends; the smiles and laughter were great to see and hear!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
Monday morning, Rebels completed their letters of advice and words of wisdom to a younger Rebel/person they had started last week. On Tuesday morning, Rebels began discussing the concept of “Candle Blower Outers” (from Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown). Rebels created visuals of what made their flames shine bright and reflected on times when their flame had been blown out or when someone protected or helped them shine. Wednesday morning, the Rebels worked on Skyscraper Puzzles using link cubes. They were very focused and worked extremely well together to convince fellow Rebels that the layout met all requirements. For Thankful Thursday, the Rebels worked on their gratitude practice, trying to list at least three things for which they were grateful and three things that would make that day great! For Feel-good Friday, the Rebels completed an ascending and thirds ascending Boomwhacker warm-up - then they played through two songs: I2I from A Goofy Movie and a sea shanty!
Launches
Monday morning, Rebels came together for a launch to “equip” as they re-established their Freedom Levels for this session. As it’s the beginning of a new year and new session, Rebels decided there were some Freedom Levels they thought needed work (DEAR and Mindfulness) and some they felt they had worked well in and earned the Freedom to Roam (Core Skills). The Rebels also set a special Studio-Sessional goal last week: Every single Discovery Rebel will get Fun Friday two weeks in a row. The team voted on the incentive to have a pizza party if our studio achieves this goal! While we didn’t all achieve Fun Friday last week, Rebels spent the remainder of Monday’s Launch discussing ways they could help each other achieve that goal this week. Tuesday’s Launch continued with our theme of equipping Rebels as we reviewed how to submit accomplished goals for Journey Tracker points, leading to more Rebel bucks! Wednesday’s Launch was dedicated to a mid-week Squad Leader check-in where Rebels updated their Google Sheets and if they use one, a daily goal tracker. The Rebels felt this might help in reaching their collective Fun Friday goal! Thursday’s Launch was designed to equip and connect as we explored new discussion roles like “clerk” and tools like “talking tickets.” We used these to hold each other accountable to particular ROEs, like not interrupting and extending the conversation. We also brainstormed questions for our Liberal MPP visitor, Lucille Collard. Friday’s Current Events report featured: a cool candle protector follow-up (i.e. Jamie Lee Curtis celebrating her co-star’s award win), Greta Thunberg’s recent detainment, and a “good news” update about a teacher from Australia who turns her students’ monster drawings into real, personalized plush toys!
Reader/Writer
This week in Reader Writer, Rebels kicked off Week 2 with a debate on “Unpopular Opinions.” In pairs, Rebels went back and forth over whether they agreed or disagreed on hot topics such as “A hotdog is a sandwich,” “Cereal is best soggy,” and “Pineapple belongs on pizza.” While stating their opinions, they also had to back up their views with at least one reason WHY they felt the way they did. Rebels jumped into their first Op-Ed writing piece from their Op-Ed Choice board. Rebels will complete three written opinion samples this session as they respond to various topics and scenarios to help them prepare for their Quest debate. A key takeaway from our discussions this week was differentiating between an opinion statement and a supporting sentence. Rebels are working hard at clearly stating their opinion, supporting it with three key arguments/evidence and then summarizing their statement to close off. Great work, Rebels!
French
This week in French, we played Bâbord-Tribord, a game in the gym to practice our animal vocabulary. Each animal name is associated with a movement; when Mrs. Marianne called out an animal name, the Rebels had to do the movement to stay in the race. The movements are chosen by the Rebels and are often quite hilarious! On Thursday, we also played Le Bingo des Animaux (Animal Bingo). In this bingo game, Mme Marianne named animals in French, and the learners had to identify them on the card to get a bingo and win stickers! In our French workshop, Thursday afternoon, we composed the menu for our future restaurant!
Math Lab
How is a bill passed into law in Ontario? The Rebel MPPs formed a special Review Committee this week, considering the concerns raised after the second reading of a bill at Queen’s Park about cell phones being banned in schools. To better understand the issue, we investigated data presented in an infographic. Media Smarts surveyed over 1000 youth in the country to better understand how often and for what reasons young Canadians engage online using personal devices. The Rebels analyzed the breakdown of who was surveyed and learned about the ages most Canadians are when they have access to a smartphone and why. Much of the presented data was in percentages, so we practiced representing these amounts using concrete hundred blocks and colouring in hundredths grids. To help them support their opinion about whether or not cell phones should be banned in schools, they used statistics like the top social media platforms accessed and percentages about device uses like research or connecting with family.
Civilizations
Welcome to the medieval Indian empire and the Gupta dynasty! This week’s read-aloud featured the story of the Golden Age of India and how the Gupta family ruled. During this time, poets and playwrights wrote in Sanskrit, artists worked with copper and iron, scholars wrote about mathematics and astronomy, and doctors made medical discoveries like how to reattach ears and noses! Like the Roman and Byzantine empires, “barbarian” tribes attacked the Indian kingdom. While the Indian communities rallied together into one large army and survived the attacks, one Rebel pointed out that just because the attacking tribes had a different culture does not make it ok to call them barbaric. At the end of the chapter, Rebels also heard about the Ajanta Caves that Indian monks developed following the teachings of Buddha. Unlike the monks of Britain, these monks carved their monasteries within rocks and cliffs!
Quest
Welcome to Week 2, Rebel MPPs! This week our Government Quest took us to Queen’s Park and the Legislative Chamber, where the members of the provincial Parliament (MPPs) meet to pass, amend or repeal laws for citizens of Ontario. On Monday, the Rebels explored parliamentary roles like the Speaker, Clerk and Sergeant-At-Arms and mapped out where everyone sits in the chamber. We also explored the unique positions of power, like the Premier and Official Leader of the Opposition, and looked at the distribution of seats across four major political parties and independent representatives. On Tuesday, we explored how a bill becomes law, moving from an idea to a document reviewed and debated by MPPs in many rounds. In combination with opinion work from Reader/Writer and data from Math Lab, the Rebels considered whether or not cell phones should be banned in schools and practiced debating this with each other. On Wednesday and Thursday, we were very excited to host NDP MPP Chandra Pasma and Liberal MPP Lucille Collard at our very own Legislative Chamber. The Rebels took turns assuming the parliamentary roles and posed questions to the MPPs that they drafted based on the idea of a media scrum. They asked what the work of an MPP entails and also learned about the different bills and topics that are important to our guests. One clear overlap between the two visits was that being an MPP means gathering stories of people in their respective ridings to represent citizens’ voices in the House best. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us!
Physical Development
Monday, the Rebels took advantage of the weather and snuck in another chance to play outside. Wednesday, Rebels completed their second TikTok dance to "Fancy Like" by Walker Hayes. Next week, we will be finalizing our TikTok practice of dance videos, and Rebels will begin creating their own choreographed dances for the remainder of the session!
Additional Highlights
Remember Grandmaster Owen from Session 3? He was our wonderful special guest to help the Rebels finalize their Chess Quest. Many Rebels expressed interest in working with Owen as a chess coach and continuing their Chess journeys beyond the studios! Owen is available for Chess Lessons this year and can be contacted through his website, or you can contact him directly via email: owendavidhealey @ gmail.com.
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness
We began our week with a "Learners' Choice" mindfulness, where many selected chess, some worked on our studio puzzle, and others worked on their new crochet projects. Tuesday morning's yoga flow focused on hip-openers and gently stretching out the neck and shoulders with movements like "thread the needle." We began the Yale Science of Wellbeing for Teens course on Wednesday, where we started with misconceptions about happiness. In this module, we began learning what it means to be happy and why pursuing happiness is not a pointless endeavour. It also addresses how our minds lie to us and how science shows that our misconceptions about money, grades, and social media are holding us back from implementing the techniques studied in positive psychology. Rebels met in the gym on Thursday for yoga, and on Friday, our learners had an opportunity to choose their mindfulness activity for the morning.
Launches
On Monday, one of our learners used a Ted-Ed riddle to warm up our minds for the day. "Decades after the fall of the Third Reich, it feels impossible to understand how Adolf Hitler, the tyrant who orchestrated one of the largest genocides in human history, could ever have risen to power in a democratic country. So how did it happen, and could it happen again?" On Tuesday, Rebels watched a video before discussing the history and circumstances that allowed Hitler to become Führer of Germany. Keeping in line with our Design for Change Quest, we heard an inspiring story where an eleven-year-old from India was bothered by how many fishermen tragically drowned at sea. Disturbed by these stories and knowing that most fishermen cannot afford safety gear, he started thinking about designing a product that could help fishermen stay afloat at zero cost. He created a swim vest using discarded plastic bottles, which allowed the wearer to float! We also learned that forced child marriage is a human rights violation, but most people do not seem to find it a violation worth fighting. A young group in Benin chose to analyze the problem and act by gaining community support and spreading awareness about the right to education and the appropriate marriage age.
Math Lab
To begin this week, the Rebels investigated three infographics carefully, looking for the stories being told by the data as well as the critical features of this format. The Rebels made connections from last week about the sessional themes of equality, equity, and social justice, noticing how each infographic used a combination of titles, headings, graphs and charts, stats and other information in a clear layout to present a straightforward story. For example, Canada's life expectancy inequality has been linked to access to education and income. Similarly, the likelihood of hospitalization related to mental illness is more likely when people are materially and socially deprived. While the third example showed a story about the changes in the Canadian commute from 2016 to 2021 due to COVID-19, the Rebels observed that this infographic would be better if it had connected data in some way to show an inequality or inequity issue. With this in mind, the Rebels revised their topic selection, with many reflecting on what communities (e.g. local, national, global) they would research to tell the most compelling story. Some were then ready to begin planning the sections of their infographic, and next week we will use our time to gather data and explore various effective ways to present their findings!
Reader/Writer
This week, Rebels began with a listening and imagery exercise using our mentor poem of the week: "We Can Be More" by Solli Raphael. Focusing on social justice poetry and the concept of "Imagery," Rebels were tasked with finding an image that represented the key takeaways from Solli's poem and related it to the theme of social justice. Our next activity sent Rebels to a Poetry Choice board, where they practiced annotating a new set of poems in partners. Each pair found or created an image to represent the poem they chose. Bringing it back to the team, we created a large collage of all the poems and images we found. Rebels discussed why they chose the pictures they did, relating it to a stanza or meaningful line; for some, it connected back to their poem's theme. We look forward to our next poetry challenge on rhythm, tone and voice next week!
Technical Drawing
This week Rebels learned the different symbols engineers use to make flowcharts before creating their own. They also learned about title blocks, labelling, and orthographic projections. Their medicine-delivering drone designs were awesome!
Civilizations - Rules without Rulers
The Roman Republic lasted almost 400 years thanks to the solid rules they set forth at the beginning of their government. Though not perfect, it was proof that a government can grow in size & complexity and still use laws & democratically elected representatives to govern. Have kings & emperors finally become irrelevant?? Not quite. Around 40 BCE, new challenges arose that put the Roman Republic's laws to the test. This week, Rebels put themselves in the sandals of a Roman Senator. Through a series of challenges, they voted on policies that either strengthened the republic or weakened it. They then had to face the most significant threat: Julius Caesar. By the end of the simulation, learners had to decide, was murdering Julius Caesar the only way to protect the republic?
French
This week in French, we finished the movie "Pee-Wee" and answered a series of comprehension questions independently or in small groups. On Thursday, we played "Bâbord-Tribord - edition sports" in the gym to practice our winter sports vocabulary. We listened to Chef Etienne Etchebest's videos on Youtube for our French Workshop to learn the cooking terminiology in preparation for filming our cooking show.
Design for Change Quest
The week began with a light pipe design challenge. We started by defining the need for light inside buildings where electricity isn't readily available. We learned how in many parts of the world, families use kerosene from crude oil to light their homes while negatively impacting their health. After reviewing light rays, we brainstormed how to bring more light inside buildings. We independently drew building designs and showed where light pipes would be helpful. They then had to draw the light rays to show how light would travel from the sun, reflect in the solar tubes, and where the light would travel in the building. After looking at each member's designs, the group picked the best features and ideas for their initial prototype and began creating a small structure for their light pipe. On Tuesday, groups continued working on their buildings and light pipe designs. Once the prototype was complete, Rebels observed where the rays appeared and measured the number of lumens. Using their data, they worked to redesign the light pipe to provide more reflection and add more light inside their building. On Wednesday and Thursday, we watched the inspirational film "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" about William Kamkwamba, a teen in Malawi. His family's crops were failing due to drought, and famine devastated the village, leading to riots and theft. Seeking a way to save his village, William devises a plan to build a windmill to power the town's broken water pump. After multiple trials and tribulations, with the help of his friends and a few remaining members, William built a full-size windmill leading to a successful crop. It was a powerful movie, and next week Rebels will design a machine that can use wind energy to accomplish a task, such as lifting a weight or turning a pencil to make a drawing!
Additional Highlights
This week, the ODR (Outdoor Rink) at Raven Park was finally ready for skating! The hill was also in excellent condition for sledding and snowboarding. We are excited to take advantage of the community amenities over the next few weeks!
Launchpad
Biomimicry
First thing Monday morning, the Launchpad Rebels drove to Sarsfield, Ontario, to visit Little Ray's Nature Centre. We were given a private guided tour through the centre and had the opportunity to observe, touch, and touch several species of animals! We got to tong-feed two sloths, pet a caiman, play with an armadillo, and learn about various birds, mammals, and reptiles.
When we returned from the trip, Rebels learned how other teens practiced biomimicry to create nature-inspired solutions. After viewing the project videos in the Youth Design Challenge (YDC) Winners Collection, Rebels returned to the design brief and brainstormed what they would need to know to be successful with their project. Lastly, they learned about the Frayer Model and completed one on biomimicry to assess their current understanding.
On Tuesday, learners thought about how we might use the UN Sustainable Design Goals to identify design opportunities related to human impact. Revisiting the Design Brief, Launchpad made a list of questions they will need to refer back to as they work through the MIMIC framework. They needed to consider the context (climate, temperature constraints, location, and other factors affecting how and where the design would be used and by whom), as well as other limitations and constraints to be mindful of in deciding what needs to be known before designing.
How will we decide which specific problem will be the focus of our design challenge and who might be impacted by our designs? On Wednesday, learners read about SDG#13, which focuses on Climate Change. Using an infographic, they discussed the information with particular attention to the statement, "Rising global temperatures continue unabated, leading to more extreme weather." They then investigated some of the existing solutions designed to mitigate the acceleration of climate change, causing global rising temperatures, such as using renewable energy through solar and wind or changing diet to eat less carbon-intensive foods. Learners then had the opportunity to choose another SDG and use the modelled activity and a reframing activity to redescribe the challenge into possible action areas. Lastly, Rebels learned about empathy interviews, a type of research done in an interview format with people who are affected by a problem we want to solve and might be impacted by our designs.
Thursday, Rebels started by watching a few examples of innovative biomimicry in action before choosing which SDG they would like to focus on for their design challenge. Lastly, the group collaborated on the creation of a poster on their selected SDG, including the causes, how the earth is impacted by not accomplishing or achieving the SDG (the science), why people are concerned, and what people are doing to slow the negative effects.
Technical Drawing
Isometric sketching is a pictorial representation of an object in which all three dimensions are drawn at full scale. Three-dimensional objects can be represented on a two-dimensional plane easily if appropriately drawn. Oblique sketching is a method of representing 3-D objects on a 2-D plane. Although oblique sketches are capable enough to project the correct image of the object, the actual measurement of the object may vary as compared to the image projected on a two-dimensional plane. To overcome this limitation, isometric sketching is used to portray the exact measurement of the object along with the projection of its image on two dimensions. Launchpad Rebels used all four technical drawing classes to learn the rules and hone the isometric drawing skills often used by illustrators and engineers. They had to reproduce given shapes and add tonal shading, look at orthographic views and draw in isometric at a 1:1 scale to begin, then various given scales as the week progressed.
Natural History Illustration
Our first lesson of the week was learning what pieces of information you should record when working in the field and don't have access to a camera or sketchbook. (Example, colour, shape, size, sex, age, condition, behaviour, approximated measurements, habitat, weather and conditions.) We also learned various ways of recording subject measurements, including arm and pencil measuring, using graph paper, transparent acetate grids, and dividers. On Wednesday, we turned our focus to composition. Rebels were asked to consider the purpose of their piece; are you drawing for aesthetic and/or decorative reasons, for scientific or analytical purposes, or a combination of both? Learners also reviewed the elements and principles of design before gathering a group of specimens, paying attention to their composition. Friday was spent drawing one specimen, three to five different thumbnail sketches, including one of the entire specimen and one as close as possible. The other sketches could be from any perspective or size they wanted to highlight.
Civilization
The Roman Republic lasted almost 400 years thanks to the solid rules they set forth at the beginning of their government. Though not perfect, it was proof that a government can grow in size & complexity and still use laws & democratically elected representatives to govern. Have kings & emperors finally become irrelevant?? Not quite. Around 40 BCE, new challenges arose that put the Roman Republic's laws to the test. This week, Rebels put themselves in the sandals of a Roman Senator. Through a series of challenges, they voted on policies that either strengthened the republic or weakened it. They then had to face the most significant threat: Julius Caesar. By the end of the simulation, learners had to decide, was murdering Julius Caesar the only way to protect the republic?
Spanish & French
During our two Spanish classes this week, we learned the vocabulary for outdoor activities and worked on our stem-changing irregular verbs. We also learned about Guatemalan culture on Friday.
In French this week, we took time to catch up on our workbook and current events reading.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What famous building would you like to go and visit one day?
What kind of features did your dream room have?
What word of the year did you pick for 2023?
French: Can you name an animal in French?
Discovery Studio
What did you learn about debating from MPPs Lucille and Chandra visiting the studio?
For the following questions, state your opinion with evidence (including data):
How long would it take you to travel by bus to school? Should something be done about public transit in Ottawa? (municipal level of govt)
Should cell phones be banned in Ontario schools? Why or why not? (provincial level of govt)
French: What would you like to serve in your restaurant? Also, the Rebels are encouraged to ask their grown-ups the name of their favourite restaurant.
Exploration Studio
What would you add or remove to make a republican government more just?
What was your main takeaway from "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind?"
French: What cooking words did you learn this week?
Launchpad Studio
What was your highlight from the Little Ray's Nature Centre trip?
Do you believe that the assassination of Julius Ceasar was in Rome's best interest?
What SDG did your group decide to tackle for the Biomimicry YDC?
Dates of Interest
Bell Let's Talk: Wednesday, January 25th
Fourth Caribou Math Competition: Wednesday, February 15th
Session 4 Exhibitions
Exploration: Tuesday, February 14th at 4:30 pm
Spark: Wednesday, February 15th at 4:15 pm
Discovery: Thursday, February 16th at 4:15 pm
Launchpad: Thursday, February 17th at 4:15 pm
Family Day (No School): Monday, February 20th
Sessional Break and Camp: Tuesday, February 21st - 24th