Revel Recap: March 13 - 17, 2023

Spark Studio 

Mindfulness 

On Monday, we read the book How Full is Your Bucket? Afterwards, the Sparks shared how they could add a drop to a friend's bucket by helping them, giving them hugs, playing with them, and saying kind words. On Tuesday, we read the story Zen Pig: The Art of Gratitude by Mark Brown, followed by yoga poses. The Sparks were full of smiles and laughter when they partnered up and completed the Seesaw, Lizard and Rock, Airplane, and Tree pose! On Wednesday and Thursday, the Sparks have been working hard, learning to play music using the Boomwhackers. They practiced the songs "You Are My Sunshine" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" before the guides challenged the Sparks with "Hakuna Matata," which has a much faster beat. To end our week, we listened to the podcast "Grumble and the Cave" by Little Stories for Tiny People. It was about animals being stuck in a cave and exploring acts of kindness. 

Art 

The Sparks listened to relaxing music this week and used their fingers to paint. Before they started painting, they explored patterns. We talked about AB, ABB, AABB and ABCD patterns. This helped them connect to their art as they used colours to create a design and lines using their fingers. The Sparks connected the paint dots to the opposite side of the paper to connect to the matching colour.

Quest

This week's Quest is all about drama and musical games. To start the week, we moved our bodies to the rhythm of the music during Freeze Dance. Then, to improve our concentration, we played the drama game Freeze Frames. We would give the Sparks a scenario or occupation, and they had to form it as a group. During each segment, there was a challenge. In the first challenge, they had one minute, and they could speak to their team. They could not talk with their group in the second challenge, but they had two minutes. Lastly, in the third challenge, they could speak and had only 30 seconds before they had to freeze. During each round, the timing would get shorter, or the Sparks had to walk around the studio and communicate with each other; however, once the guide said "freeze," they had to be in their pose on their mats. The Sparks then took turns describing a scene from a movie they needed to make freeze frames for. We ended Monday's Quest with the Popcorn song. The Sparks would repeat after the guide, and the learners in the middle of the circle would jump up and down. 

On Tuesday, we warmed up by playing Duck and Cow. The guide would go around and tap either the Sparks' right or left shoulder; depending on which one was tapped, that was the animal they became. Everyone's eyes were shut, and when the guide said open, everyone would turn into the animal and find the rest of their matching animal. Afterward, we worked on musical improv. Musical improv helps to encourage the Sparks to develop their creativity and confidence while improving their musical skills and ability to think independently. It was a fun and engaging way for the learners to embrace important life skills such as teamwork and communication. The guide played a variety of music genres, and the Sparks danced in silence, alone or with others, to feel the music. When asked, "What was your favourite genre?" The majority of votes were ROCK! 

On Wednesday, we continued with our Freeze Frames, followed by a true story. The story is about a refugee family from Iraq who had to leave their country due to violence. On their journey, their cat Kunkush was lost. An aid worker later found their cat and reunited them with Kunkush, in their new home in Norway. 

Thursday, we started our lesson with a "Guess the Instrument" game. The Sparks would listen to the music and were asked to name the instrument. After the game, we completed a Musical Instrument Scavenger Hunt. When a learner found an instrument, they wrote it on their chart. Finding the triangle was challenging, but after looking high and low, they finally spotted it on a shelf! Afterwards, we did role-play! The Sparks branched off into groups and worked on Scene 1 and Scene 2 of Cinderella. Everyone practiced with their groups and performed in front of the other learners, complete with costumes from the dress-up centre! What a great week! Watching the Sparks embrace their inner drama skills and musical interests was awesome!

We can't wait for next week's board game-themed Quest sessions! 

French

As is evident throughout this current Quest, the Sparks love games! To continue the fun, we played Fruit and Vegetable Bingo on Monday. On Tuesday, we played "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" and Leapfrog to continue working on our numbers. On Wednesday, we completed a colouring-by-number to further our work on our vegetable vocabulary and numbers in French. On Thursday, we listened to a short video of a song about vegetables and played Petit Linkto - Fruit and Vegetable edition!

Geography

The Sparks hopped on their jet and flew to Ecuador this week! They went on a virtual tour and had the opportunity to explore volcanoes, churches, and beaches and learn about school uniforms and the Spanish language. The learners were quite amazed by the volcanos! The Sparks drew Ecuador's flag, a picture of what interested them during the tour, and lastly, named something interesting they learned about the country. With spring around the corner, we hope for warmer weather like in Ecuador!

Additional Highlights 

We had a birthday in the studio this week, and a Spark turned 7! Everyone enjoyed cupcakes to celebrate. March Mammal Madness kicked off this week. The Sparks joined the rest of the studios and watched the opening battle between the bumblebee bat and the shrew mole. It turns out Spark's pick, the shrew mole, didn't win, but that's OK; we still earned points and have high hopes for the wolverine! 

Tuesday, March 14th, was Pi Day! The Sparks read the story, Happy Pi Day to You! by Bonnie Worth, which explains how to measure circles and engagingly calculate pi. The Sparks then did a directed drawing of a pie before getting a piece to eat in celebration!

On Thursday, the guides placed centres for painting, Perler beads, colouring, and play dough. The learners enjoyed exploring a new form of art at each centre. 

This week we continued to have two more Mystery Readers! The volunteers have made this experience so much fun, and we can't wait to see their expressions for next week's visitor.

On Friday, it was St Patrick's Day. We read the story, How to Trap a Leprechaun, by Sue Fliees. The Sparks then got together with the other studios and built Leprechaun traps. Ask your learner if they collected any gold coins and how they placed them inside their trap! 

To end our week, we enjoyed Show and Tell. The Sparks are doing so well taking charge of the presentations! 

Discovery Studio 

Mindfulness

On Monday, Rebels wrote their own mantras like "I will perform at my best level" or "I reach my goals." in their journals. Many focused on manifesting a successful week of Core Skills. The Rebels listened to calming music on Tuesday morning and selected designs from the studio's amazing collection of colouring books. For Wonder Wednesday, the Rebels tried a grounding exercise with their squads. They found a cozy spot in the studios and listed things they could see, feel, hear, smell and taste! For Thankful Thursday, Rebels wrote some of their most extended journal entries about gratitude, manifestations about moving up to the next levels of our studio and lists of things we love about ourselves. On Feel-Good Friday, the Rebels jammed with their Boomwhackers and played a Guess-the-Film theme song game!

Launches

We kicked off our week thinking about our long-term goals for Core Skills as we examined our Fantastic Flow of Fun Friday pyramid and established a prize for the top level of this session's pyramid! Tuesday's launch was all about pi! The Rebels met to discuss what exactly is pi and why do we eat pie? Wednesday morning, the Rebels had voted for time for a mid-week Squad Leader Check-In. Squads met to ensure everyone on their team was on track with weekly goals and game-planned strategies to catch up, stay motivated and/or reach ahead. Thursday's launch was about Dad Bods for Round March 1st Mammal Madness! Rebels were pleased with the results from Round One and discussed whether or not the outcomes were realistic based on the animal's adaptations in the real world. Friday's Current Events Report featured Mr. Biden's visit to Parliament happening next week, a special St. Patrick's Day dance feature from one of our very own Rebels, and an entertaining "Live From Snack Time" to wrap up our week. 

Reader/Writer

On Monday, Rebels created a "Tree of Best Descriptors" - focusing on synonyms of various adjectives, building off their Word Cline exercises from earlier this session. We discussed how a thesaurus might help us expand our vocabulary, elevate our writing (and spelling!) and how to use one. Using words like "spine-tingling," "horrifying," and "paralyzing" to describe levels of fear, Rebels then applied their new vocabulary words to describe "Crunchem Hall," the school in Matilda. Table read-aloud for this week's screenplay focused on the opening scene of a studio favourite, "Inside Out!" Next week, Rebels will begin brainstorming and drafting their very own screenplay for a 2-3 minute scene!

French

This week, each Rebel was randomly assigned a French-speaking country to create a brochure or presentation for. We then began our research on these countries by working on our vocabulary. Qu’est-ce qu’une capitale ? (What is a capital city?), Qu’est-ce qu’une frontières? (What are borders?), Qui sont nos voisins? (Who are our neighbours?) Then we played Food Bingo for our French workshop this week to brush up on our cooking vocabulary. Then we started to develop our menu for the restaurant!

Math Lab

The focus of this week's lab was Canadian currency! Rebels created a reference sheet with coin names and values and then worked through Level 1 challenges where they had to tally and compare amounts. Each challenge had a Level 2 option where Rebels wrote algebraic expressions to represent each assortment of coins. They made excellent connections between the Chess Algebra Challenges from Session 3, and we also had a great conversation about the difference between a mathematical expression and an equation. For Level 3, Rebels had to read through, solve and defend their thinking about real-life scenarios related to making purchases and making change.

Quest

For Quest this week, Rebels stepped into stage direction, blocking, and monologues to better understand how screenplays transfer to the stage. Rebels learned about the different acronyms of stage directions (CS, LS, RS, DR, DL, UL, UR) and also discussed the differences between "house" directions and "stage" directions. On Tuesday, Rebels explored examples of monologues and two-person scripts in preparation for their stage challenge for this week: blocking a monologue in three or more different parts of a stage AND using a prop! In small groups, Wednesday and Thursday, Rebels dedicated their Quest time to their stage challenge, with one team member being the actor, one director, and one prop/stage manager assisting in the flow of a monologue or short dialogue between two people. Rebels presented their skits to each other and gave each team feedback that could improve or elevate their performances from an audience perspective. Up next on our Musical Theatre journey - Costume and Set Design inspired by Broadway's The Lion King!  

Civilizations

This week's story focused on the Islamic Invasion of Spain. Rebels heard the tale of Tariq, an army general, and how he led many men in a grand procession of ships across the Mediterranean Sea to capture Spain from the Visigoths. Rebels noticed how this tribe's story overlaps with our timeline, popping up around the collapse of the Roman Empire and now again as the Islamic Empire expands. 

Physical Development

On Monday, we had an extreme hula hoop challenge. The Rebels competed in all sorts of little challenges with a hula hoop ranging from tossing, obstacle courses, simply keeping the hula hoop moving around their waist for as long as possible, and making the ring come back like a boomerang! We explored this object's options so the learners could choose their favourite way to use the hula hoop in other games/sports. The creativity was awesome!

The Rebels continued their hula hoop fun on Wednesday, playing two quick games. The first was a race to find the right combination of aim and power to roll or toss a small ball into the hoop so that it would stay there. If the Rebels succeeded, they could flip the hoop one length closer to the finish line. If the ball bounced out or missed, the next person on their team tried until they succeeded. The second was a game known to the Rebels as Hoop Ball, where they run around in pairs with each partner having to keep one hand on the hoop at all times. Simultaneously, they are trying to throw dodgeballs through other teams' hoops and defend their own from other teams with their free hand or maneuvering the hoop. For the last 15 minutes, Rebels met with their chosen HPE groups to continue researching a body part and/or body system (for which they will eventually design their own movement activity or game!). 

Additional Highlights

We are halfway through our Grown-Up/Rebel/Guide meetings, and we just wanted to thank you all for your ongoing support. We are so grateful and proud of this community! We look forward to seeing the rest of our team come together next week! 

Our school-wide March Mammal Madness launches started this week with a big reveal for the Wild Card match-up - Spoiler Alert the Bumblebee Bat won!

For the next two weeks, Revel has borrowed the Canadian Geographic Giant Floor Map for "Ocean, Freshwater and Us!" During Tuesday's Civ workshop, the Discovery Rebels headed to the gym to check out this incredible map, looking for different categories of water protection and other important locations like Ottawa!

Exploration Studio

Mindfulness and Launches

We started our week with a relaxing mindfulness where Rebels chose to work on colouring, Lego, cursive, puzzles, or painting. We then learned about the History of Marine Science, which aligns nicely with our current Quest focus. With Tuesday morning's snowy/rainy weather, we focused our yoga flow on relaxation with easy stretches and an extended savasana. We then met with all four studios to watch the Wild Card Round of March Mammal Madness, the bumblebee bat vs. the shrew mole! After the recap, all of the Rebels found a circle in honour of Pi Day. They were asked to measure its circumference and diameter, find the ratio, and calculate its circumference divided by the diameter. What did they find? While our measurements weren't perfect, we were all close to 3.14! This week's Watercolour Wednesday, we learned how to use Crayola markers or tissue paper and a spray bottle to make cool backgrounds! While they continued working on their art, we learned about the "Friendly Flotees." In 1992, a cargo ship in the North Pacific lost a shipping container from China to the United States that spilled nearly 29,000 rubber ducks and other bath toys into the ocean. We watched a video about the plastic ducks' epic journey that lasted for over 15 years, helping oceanographers better understand ocean currents and the Coriolis effect. On Thursday, we packed up right away to head to Parliament. After an independent mindfulness session on Friday, we watched the Mighty Stripes Round One matches before hearing from our Current Events reporters!

Math Lab

As the Rebels were at Parliament Hill this Thursday, there was no new Three Act Task this week. Rebels used Core Skills time to continue working on the Purposeful Practice packages from either of the previous two tasks, building on their solutions for partitive division and/or multiplication involving fractions. 

Reader/Writer

This week Rebels explored the Coriolis Effect and hypothesized its influences on Earth's bodies of water, particularly oceans. Rebels paired off to tackle this week's lab, using inflatable globes and whiteboard markers to replicate the Earth's movement while attempting to create pathways around it. Focusing on changes in paths travelling between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, from one pole to another, and countries around the Equator, Rebels documented their observations and regrouped on Friday to form conclusions. After examining and discussing a second article on ocean currents and their role in the climate, Rebels discussed whether or not their hypotheses were accurate and finished their third lab report of the session. Up next week: Convection Currents! 

Civilizations - Canadian Government

This week we took our Civ class to Parliament Hill! We left Revel Thursday morning and navigated the OC Transpo system to arrive in time for a monument and symbol Scavenger Hunt. We then entered the House of Commons, which is currently located in the courtyard of the West Block while Centre Block is under construction. An engaging tour guide tested our knowledge, told great stories, and showed us several interesting artifacts. We even had the honour of stepping into the House of Commons, an incredibly rare privilege, thanks to a kind member of security! We then walked to the Rideau Centre for lunch and shopping before our tour at the Senate. After a long day on our feet, we got back on the train and bus to head back to Revel! 

We were so impressed with the learners' behaviour, manners, and insightful questions. Rebels, thank you for representing Revel so well in the community! A big thank you also to our volunteers!

Water Quest

After a fun Kahoot reviewing last week's lessons, Rebels were given a planning sheet for their final project. They began by brainstorming topics they were interested in studying further and deciding whether they wanted to complete a research study or design an experiment. After developing their plan, we all came together to discuss our idea and gain feedback from our peers on the depth and breadth of our project. Was it deep enough? Was there enough time to complete the scope of the plan? Are the materials for the experiment readily available? We also reviewed the requirements for their Works Cited page and gave them a template with examples and links to create their own.

Thanks to the Canadian Geographic Society, we have their Ocean, Freshwater, and Us Giant Floor Map to use over the next two weeks! Rebels spent the first minutes of class exploring the map, identifying locations that are important to them, and reviewing the key. We then completed a Scavenger Hunt where learners had to locate and identify various protected regions around Canada and discuss the ocean and freshwater's role in our lives. We then explored Canada's main watersheds before Rebels explored how humans and the sea are interconnected using specific categories. Lastly, we learned about the various marine bioregions surrounding Canada using examples of marine life with the help of the provided biodiversity cards. 

Rebels worked through a series of stations on Wednesday to earn the most possible tokens! The stations had them further exploring the Giant Floor Map and Canada's Marine Protected Areas, learning more about ocean layers, matching up marine habitats, and reading about coral reefs in preparation for Monday's workshop with the Smithsonian. ALL ten groups completed each station and earned the maximum number of tokens! Rebels found out at the end that each token was equal to one dollar, which will be donated to a water charity of their choosing!\

physical development

Rebels chose to play volleyball, four square, Man Hunt, build forts, and hike this week during our Physical Development sessions this week.

French

This week, each Rebel was randomly assigned a French-speaking country to create a brochure or presentation for. We then began our research on these countries by working on our vocabulary. Qu’est-ce qu’une capitale ? (What is a capital city?), Qu’est-ce qu’une frontières? (What are borders?), Qui sont nos voisins? (Who are our neighbours?) Then we began our research on these countries.

For our Restaurant Workshop, learners participated in several Kahoots to practice the phrases most often used in a restaurant. 

Additional Highlights

Pi Day, March Mammal Madness, a Field Trip and Leprechaun Traps?! It was a busy and fun week at Revel! 

In Session 4, each time a learner earned Fun Friday, their name was put in a jar. At the end of the session, we drew five names, and those Rebels got to pick a restaurant to go to for lunch. This Friday, we ventured to East Side Marios and had a great time celebrating their hard work.

Launchpad

Canadian Government

This week we took our Civ class to Parliament Hill! We left Revel Thursday morning and navigated the OC Transpo system to arrive in time for a monument and symbol Scavenger Hunt. We then entered the House of Commons, which is currently located in the courtyard of the West Block while Centre Block is under construction. An engaging tour guide tested our knowledge, told great stories, and showed us several interesting artifacts. We even had the honour of stepping into the House of Commons, an incredibly rare privilege, thanks to a kind member of security! We then walked to the Rideau Centre for lunch and shopping before our tour at the Senate. After a long day on our feet, we got back on the train and bus to head back to Revel! 

Complexity of Water

After a fun Kahoot reviewing last week's lessons, Rebels were given a planning sheet for their final project. They began by brainstorming topics they were interested in studying further and deciding whether they wanted to complete a research study or design an experiment. After developing their plan, we all came together to discuss our idea and gain feedback from our peers on the depth and breadth of our project. Was it deep enough? Was there enough time to complete the scope of the plan? Are the materials for the experiment readily available? We also reviewed the requirements for their Works Cited page and gave them a template with examples and links to create their own. One Rebels is planning to write an argumentative essay about ray gill rakers in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), another wants to look at the effects of pollution on microbes, and the third will explore World War II naval battles.

Thanks to the Canadian Geographic Society, we have their Ocean, Freshwater, and Us Giant Floor Map to use over the next two weeks! Rebels spent the first minutes of class exploring the map, identifying locations that are important to them, and reviewing the key. We then completed a Scavenger Hunt where learners had to locate and identify various protected regions around Canada and discuss the ocean and freshwater's role in our lives. We then explored Canada's main watersheds before Rebels explored how humans and the sea are interconnected using specific categories. Lastly, we learned about the various marine bioregions surrounding Canada using examples of marine life with the help of the provided biodiversity cards. 

Rebels worked through a series of stations on Wednesday to earn the most possible tokens! The stations had them further exploring the Giant Floor Map and Canada's Marine Protected Areas, learning more about ocean layers, matching up marine habitats, and reading about coral reefs in preparation for Monday's workshop with the Smithsonian. 

Tale of Two Cities

This week we read Book 2, Chapters 10 to 19, before discussing each chapter, answering questions and analyzing the themes, motifs, symbols, and character traits in Dicken's work, Tale of Two Cities.

Independent Projects

Carving, digital art, writing projects, and organizing the incredible number of Ottawa Children's Business Fair applications also took up part of our week! With only a week left before registration for the event closes, we began categorizing the booths and emailing the young entrepreneurs for clarifications when necessary! 

Spanish and French

In French, we finished our exercise on the feminization of words this week. We continued our diction exercises and then read an article about UFOs. This allowed us to practice our scientific vocabulary and to realize that French scientists use terminology and expressions very similar to English.

This week's Spanish lessons focused on vocabulary around careers and hobbies, ir+a+verb - future tense, and a review of ser. We also learned about the culture of Colombia.


Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask your Rebel: 

  • Spark

    • Can you explain what the Freeze Frame game is about?

    • What music genre did you like best?

    • What was the story of Kunkush about? 

    • French: Can you tell me your favourite fruit or vegetable in French?

  • Discovery 

    • What is the difference between SL, SR, HL, and HR when talking about stage direction? 

    • Which role did you enjoy most when creating your short plays in Quest this week? 

    • What are some adjectives you would use to describe Crunchem Hall in Matilda? 

    • French: What food would you like to serve in your French restaurant?

  • Exploration

    • What is the Coriolis Effect, and what influence does it have on Earth's oceans? 

    • Did you like the architecture and feel of the current (and temporary) placement of the House of Commons (courtyard of West Block) or the Senate (the old train station) more? Why are the seats in the House of Commons green? 

    • Have you chosen your research question or experimental hypothesis for your end-of-session project? 

    • French: Which country are you researching in French?

  • Launchpad

    • After researching "How We Get Around" in your Climate Change Quest, how did you feel about our experience with Ottawa's public transit on Thursday?

    • Would you ever consider a career in politics? If so, what positions intrigue you?

    • What do you think Lorry and Miss Pross should have done with Dr. Manette's shoemaker's bench?

    • French: How do you say UFO in french? (OVNI)

Dates of Interest

  • Monday, March 20th - Reefs Alive workshop with the Smithsonian for Exploration & Launchpad

  • Friday, March 24th - Exploration & Launchpad Field Trip to the Canadian Museum of Nature

  • Thursday, March 30th - Proulx Farm MapleFest Field Trip for Spark & Discovery Studios 

  • Session 5 Exhibitions

    • Tuesday, April 4th - Discovery Studio

    • Wednesday, April 5th - Spark Studio

    • Thursday, April 6th - Exploration & Launchpad Studio

  • Sessional Break and Art Camp: Tuesday, April 11th - Friday, April 14th (Reminder that payment and registration for Art Camp are due by April 3rd!) 

Erin Anderson