Revel Recap: April 17 - 21, 2023
Spark Studio
Mindfulness
After catching up on what everyone was up to last week on the break, we began our Monday morning by reading the book; There's Only One You. This story celebrates all the things that make us special. After the book, we read the following affirmation: "I am unique, I am special, I am one of a kind, I am grateful for my talents, and I celebrate the talents of others." We then each shared one thing that makes us unique. On Tuesday, we enjoyed our mindful colouring of insects while listening to some calming nature sounds. Wednesday, Arnold the Ant led us through a yoga story sequence. On Thursday, we began our discussion of the upcoming Earth Day and completed a directed drawing of Earth. In preparation for our new rhyming game for Show and Tell, we listened to a rhyming story called Caterpillar Shoes on Friday. We also completed a page in our gratitude journal about one thing we love or appreciate about our planet!
Quest
Welcome to Week One - All About Insects! We started our week by asking What is an insect? Are all bugs insects? We learned that to be classified as an insect, they need to have six legs, three body parts, an exoskeleton and can have antennae and wings. We learned that other common bugs mistaken for insects include spiders, ticks, pill bugs and centipedes. Armed with the knowledge of what makes an insect, we looked at a series of images and determined whether it was an insect. Knowing that all insects have three body parts, we also looked at and labelled the parts of an insect, including the head, thorax and abdomen. The rest of the week was spent expanding on our knowledge. We created an insect out of paper, including all the characteristics. We used our imagination to create a brand-new insect out of clay. After naming it, we wrote down what it ate and drew a picture of its habitat. We used our wooden pattern blocks to make various bugs and insects, enjoyed the sensory bin full of dirt and insect figurines, were challenged to a write-the-room insect scavenger hunt, looked for insects outside and created some bug habitats. Wow!
We also learned about the importance of pollinators. We discussed how butterflies, bees, birds, moths, and bats land on flowers to drink their nectar. They collect pollen on their bodies, and when they move from flower to flower, this is called pollination! We learned how this helps the plant grow more seeds and helps us to produce the fruits and vegetables we need. This is one of the reasons insects are so important, they help us! To help the learners understand this idea of pollination, we played a fun relay race game in the gym, collecting pollen and moving it to another flower. We challenged the Sparks to keep their eyes out for insects they find in nature in the next few weeks and report back!
French
On Monday, we worked hard to create beautiful paper dice to fold to learn our prepositions of place (under, over, in front, in between), and on Tuesday, we played a game of «Jean dit!» with our creations to practice! We played the board game « Qui? Quoi? Où? Comment? (Who? What? Where? How?) on Wednesday to help us ask questions in French. Lastly, we played a paper game of I Spy on Thursday to practice with « Où ?» and «combien?» questions.
MATH
Both math groups worked together on estimation this week. We began our inquiry by determining the definition of estimation. After listening to a fun song, we learned that you are making an intelligent guess when you estimate. We looked at a series of pictures to estimate the number of objects. We then gathered some of our studio materials and tried to guess how many there were of each item. Before each estimate, we would model what a group of 5 or 10 of those items looked like, which helped us make a prediction using a reference point. We look forward to continuing to practice this skill throughout the session!
Storytelling Workshop
This week's Storytelling Workshop followed our Quest theme and was all about insects. The learners worked in groups using the insect toys as the characters for their stories. After creating their plot, each group was challenged to write and illustrate their story. In the end, each group presented what they had been working on. Bravo, Storytellers!
Additional Highlights
With Earth Day on Saturday, we took some time this week to reflect on what this day means. We read The Earth Book by Todd Parr, which helped us think about how we can all care for our planet. Together the Sparks made an insightful list of actions we can take. Some of their ideas include: using less paper, making sure our garbage goes into the trash can, picking up litter outside, using less water, turning off the lights, reusing bags, and sharing our old toys and clothes we have outgrown. They also discussed recycling, planting flowers and trees and protecting insects and animals. Such beautiful ideas and actions to take!
This week also marked the start of our new Rhyming Show and Tell. Thank you to the learners who brought in their two items. The Sparks enjoyed the challenge of trying to guess the rhyming words. Our words this week were mixie and pixie, pop it and bop it and ball and doll.
Also, a big thank you to our families for attending our rescheduled Session 5 Exhibition this week. Our Game Quest was so much fun, and the Sparks were so excited to show you what they had been working on!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness
For Mantra Monday, the Rebels wrote "I am" poetry using a series of sentence stems such as "I am," "I feel," or "I love." Some shared their poems, and we discussed which parts of the lyrics were mantras, affirmations or manifestations. Tuesday's colouring and calming music incorporated "Mindful Mazes." Wednesday and Thursday, Rebels participated in a mindful math activity to uncover the design solution to a secret riddle by solving math expressions. Rebels wrapped up the week with a Boomwhackers jam session, playing some of our favourite tunes!
Launches
Monday morning, the Rebels reviewed the schedule for the beginning of our session and had a great discussion about intentionality for the year's final two "chunks" (sessions). By focusing on one or two of our covenants, the Rebels will reflect deeply on how they can best uphold these moving forward. Tuesday's Launch challenged the squads to tally the Caribou Contest points, and on Wednesday, we had our mid-week Squad Check-Ins where Rebels also voted on the new prizes for this Session's Flow of Fantastic Fun Friday rewards! On Thursday, the Rebels shared their Rebel-generated addition strategies for solving Tuesday's Caribou problem, and we reflected on how they relate to the standard algorithm for addition. Friday's Current Events was jam-packed full of Good News articles from all over the world, including a particular alignment of the planets, a new Zelda game being released, and discussing the federal workers' strike currently underway in Canada.
Reader/Writer
Reader/Writer started this session with an introduction to our latest editing challenges: Everyday Edits! This week, Rebels stepped into the role of Editing Detectives to uncover ten errors in a paragraph. Working independently and then together as a team, Rebels discussed spelling mistakes, possibilities for different grammatical edits, and rearranging sentence and paragraph structure. As the weeks unfold, Rebels will volunteer to create their very own Everyday Edit paragraphs for each level of our studio! Our writing focus this week was a choice between two topics: writing a script for a Peace Table between Buzz and Woody in a scene from Toy Story or writing a short story about a science experiment gone wrong, shrinking you and two friends to two inches tall! Rebels put their creative juices to work, focusing on the creative storytelling element and applying their spelling, grammar and punctuation skills to elevate their written samples this session.
French
This week we did a Kahoot on the difference between ou (or) and où (where) in French and some vocabulary exercises (placing the cat inside the box, behind the box, etc.). We also reviewed how to give geographical directions.
Then for our French Workshop, we voted for what we wanted to plant in our little greenhouses and completed a vocabulary activity on gardening tools.
Math Lab
It's Business Time, Rebels! In this session, the young Rebel entrepreneurs will assume the role of business owner for either animal care, babysitting, or summer lawn-mowing. The Rebels have been divided into different studios to form Business Improvement Areas (BIAs). As they move through their tasks, they have a headquarters where they can ask for support and seek strategies from each other. The initial assignments this week involved budgeting for supplies and projected revenue. For example, how much will you profit if you estimate the cost of fuel to run the lawnmower while gaining income from clients for three lawns per week? What should you include on the receipt if a client comes to you and orders the basic dog care package plus extras like a walk or bath? If you are only budgeting $20 for craft supplies for babysitting, which craft supplies do you need, and what can you afford?
Physical Development
On Monday, we invented a hybrid game between dodgeball and jewel thief. The Rebels loved the new spin! On Wednesday, the Rebels headed outdoors for fresh-air play! Since the Sparks had set up their amazing work in the gym for their exhibition, the Discovery Rebels postponed their Healthapalooza. Instead, they took to the baseball diamond for races and played in the field.
Civilizations
Over the next two sessions, Rebels will be taking on a Middle Ages Museum project! They will get to select one civilization from our story this year and dig deep to learn and apply research skills, how to cite different sources and practice revising and editing skills to present a polished final tri-fold display product! This week, we watched two short videos summarizing the Middle Ages's significant events, developments and innovations. Next week, the Rebels will explore more resources before they lock in their choice for the rest of the project. By the end, the Rebels will have become experts on a medieval society's timeline, geography, power structures, culture, and/or religion.
Quest
It's SHOW TIME, Rebels! In this session, the Discovery Studio will be in charge of everything involved in creating a musical theatre production! Building on the knowledge and skills gained in the last session in Musical Theatre Part 1, they will need to select a screenplay, cast the roles, make production plans for their chosen scenes and determine who will be in charge of props, set design, lighting and sound, overall stage direction, costumes, and more! All the while, they will need to budget their expenses and market well enough to at least break even with ticket sales! On Monday, after reviewing the sessional arc, the Rebels met with their squads to set some excellence-based goals for their show night based on the family feedback from the last Exhibition. They also discussed the pros and cons of producing scenes from a more extended musical like Matilda versus several shorter Rebel-written screenplays from Reader/Writer. By Tuesday, they had voted to move forward with scenes from Matilda. Using the Hero's Journey to guide scene selection, Rebels worked through the screenplay synopsis to select a few scenes we would produce over the next four weeks to bring together Revel's adaptation: Matilda's Hero's Journey! Rebels met with their squads on Wednesday to break down selected scenes by musical numbers, characters, props and costumes. On Thursday, we started to develop a Gantt Chart to help manage all of the workstreams this project will entail!
Additional Highlights
Rebels had their "Session 5 Flow of Fantastic Fun Fridays Celebration" this Friday! As our final week of Session 5 was a little wonky with the ice storm and ending the week early for Good Friday, we saved our celebration for this week. Way to go, Rebels! Session 5 marked the highest success rate of weekly goals completed, with over half of our team achieving their goals six weeks in a row! As we are in the final sessions of the school year, we wanted to highlight how proud we are of the Discovery Rebels! They have been working to reach their yearly long-term goals and try to exceed them to move into Anchor, Aim and Release ahead of their original plans!
As we head into the final two sessions of the year, the studio has been working on ways to reset intentionality and our culture. Many conversations are ongoing, but two major highlights this week were a safety guardrail check and the re-introduction of Freedom Levels. The Rebels have been adding to a community mind map, listing things we think are safe, risky or unsafe. Especially after disagreements and conflicts, the Rebels have been very thoughtful to add to this board and gain a more concrete understanding of making safe and unsafe choices when we learn and play together!
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness
We began Session 6, reflecting on how we want to show up each day and who we want to be for the last 11 weeks of school. The learners spoke about the goals they wanted to achieve and how they wanted the studio to feel throughout the day. You can do it, Rebels! Tuesday's yoga flow focused on balancing the in-breath and the out-breath and noticing if one or the other was more challenging. Thursday's yoga flow incorporated a series of balancing poses and ended with a "stillness challenge" to assist in calming our nervous systems before we enter the busier parts of our day. Focusing on our yoga breath to ensure the only movement in our body were our chest and belly moving with our breath, Rebels remained completely still in the pose of their choice for two full minutes. On Friday, learners chose to work on puzzles, colour, play chess, or do another quiet activity to start their day.
Launches and Closings
Welcome to Session 6! Over the next five weeks, learners will be working with drones, beginning their Apprenticeship preparation process, debating the pros and cons of AI apps, and studying new forms of government! As we launched into the session, we also took time Monday morning to welcome a new learner to our Exploration Studio! On Tuesday, after picturing a computer programmer in our mind, we learned about Ada Lovelace, the first author of a computer program despite living a century before the computer's invention! Efficiency or effectiveness; the Rebels debated which is more important on Thursday, and on Friday, our Rebel-led Current Events crew talked about the cassary, whether AI is getting too clever, the NHL Playoffs, and of course, read some hilarious "Live From Snack Time" quotes.
Math Lab
Building on learning from the last session, the Rebels will continue to harness the power of the Three Act Task story arc to engage in conversations with peers to deepen their understanding of math. This session's theme is Let's Talk About Math - as such, the key expectations revolve around showing up and being accountable to your math team. Sharing thinking, strategies, solutions and reflections as we notice and wonder about mathematical contexts, seeking missing information, making "risky" estimates, and revising them as more information comes is where the magic happens! This week, the Rebels took on the Stacking Paper challenge. This task encouraged them to model the situation, noticing natural grid lines in a concrete brick wall of an office with five packs of printer paper on the floor. Rebels estimated how many packs would be needed to reach the ceiling and used various "scaling in tandem" strategies to suppose their solution. For example, "I see that about five packs reach two layers of bricks, so I'll assume ten packs reach four layers…." After the lab was completed, Rebels worked on purposeful practice questions with their teams to extend learning from modelling to equations to solve similar situations more efficiently.
Reader/Writer
Reader/Writer Session 6 will focus on Artificial Intelligence's impact on the world of education. Each week, Rebels will explore a different AI application and answer a series of questions on the effects these apps may or may not have on the future of education. We opened the discussion with Rebels sharing what they already know about AI. "How do you feel about Artificial Intelligence?" was met with a variety of responses; from fear, excitement, intrigue, and fascination, to comparing it to outer space or the deepest parts of the ocean - we have only just scratched the surface. This week, Rebels explored the app "Photomath" and debated a series of questions about whether or not this app would help or hinder learning math. On Friday, Rebels reconvened to debate their written responses and discuss the ethics around Photomath. How could it impact the way classrooms and studios learn math in the future? If a Rebel uses Photomath to help them with Khan this week, did they reach their goal or cheat? How can we authenticate learning if we are using this app to help us? Up next week: Lensa, Dall-E and the future of Visual Arts!
Quest
At the heart of this session's Quest will be problem-solving, learning new programming languages, and applying those skills to fly drones autonomously. After launching our Quest, we reviewed the problem-solving cycle as we will face frustration and need to rethink and alter our initial solutions. We then discussed safety and expectations for handling the drones and wrote our Safety Contract for all to sign. Lastly, we got in pairs and completed an offline coding activity where learners had to explain an image to draw using coordinates and clues to their partners. On Tuesday, we learned that programming is similar to a recipe or scientific experiment. We should be able to go step-by-step through a routine and get the same results each time. It was then time to unbox our drones and take them for a test flight! Each learner had the chance to launch, fly, and land their drone using the Tello app. On Thursday, it was time to race! In teams of four, Rebels took off from pad A, flew straight forward, landed on pad B, took off again and headed back to pad A to land. After every team member successfully flew their mission, the race was over! Once the relay was complete, learners logged into DroneBlocks to work on their Introduction to Tello EDU Drone Programming course. If they completed the course, they had time to use a Drone Simulator, which will come in handy as our drones charge!
Rules without Rulers
Time to run the Youth Electors bill through the Senate! Last session, Rebels picked and read their bill in preparation for this week's Model Parliament simulation. Rebels took their places in the Senate on Thursday and reenacted the entire process from the Introduction and First Reading to Royal Assent. Next week we will move on to new forms of government, beginning with Start Up Nations.
French
This week the Rebels chose their books for their Book Club and the debate topics for our Debate Club! For our first debate on Thursday, we discussed "Is black a colour?" in French.
For our French Workshop, we learned and reviewed vocabulary associated with tools and carpentry before we began brainstorming what carpentry project we'd like to work on in this session.
Apprenticeship Preparation
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. To secure a great apprenticeship, proper preparation is required! On Wednesday, we took some time to start thinking about what we want and what we bring to the world. We wrote down some notes on our personal Success Formula, our skills and strengths, our interests, and our values. We then thought about our heroes and why we admire them. We also thought about our greatest gifts. For Rebels who weren't with us in the fall, we asked them to send an email to five people surveying them about our unique abilities and one-word descriptors. We then reviewed flow and reflected on when we find ourselves in flow each day and throughout the week. What are we working on? Where are we? Lastly, we began creating a list of ten possible apprenticeships. Rebels started to craft their list using our Spark Path cards, searching up various industries, asking others about past opportunities, and listing entrepreneurs or experts they admire. We will continue this exercise next week as we prepare to narrow our search.
Launchpad
Genetics
What do we know, and what do we want to learn? After brainstorming what we wanted from our Genetics unit, learners watched a great introductory genome video before reading up on chromosomes, asexual and sexual reproduction and the cell cycle. We dove further into mitosis, meiosis, and side-by-side comparison before completing a matching cards activity and knowledge check. On Thursday, Rebels learned about Gregory Mendel, examined a genome timeline, and began an activity on the Origin of Genetics. To finish off week one of the unit, we reviewed the activity from Thursday before Launchpad worked on Monohybrid Cross and Punnett Square problem sets.
Programming, Drones, and Artificial Intelligence
While Launchpad will not be going as in-depth as the Exploration Studio into the world of drones, they will be reviewing coding languages and applying what they know to fly drones autonomously. We began by completing an offline coding activity where learners had to explain an image to draw using coordinates and clues to their partners. On Wednesday, we learned that programming is similar to a recipe or scientific experiment. We should be able to go step-by-step through a routine and get the same results each time. It was then time to unbox our drones and take them for a test flight! Each learner had the chance to launch, fly, and land their drone using the Tello app. Launchpad also logged into DroneBlocks and completed the Introduction to Tello EDU Drone Programming course before operating a Drone Simulator.
While Launchpad is not taking part in the Exploration Reader/Writer workshop, they are also using the prompts to explore and debate the AI apps and topics. They will also choose one concept to expound upon for one of this year's communication pieces.
literature: Tale of Two Cities
This week, we met to discuss the concluding chapters of Dicken's work, Tale of Two Cities. It was a lively conversation, and for the most part, the learners enjoyed the novel and Book Club experience. Rebels then had time to work on their final essay on a prompt of their choice to be submitted next week after multiple drafts and receiving and incorporating feedback.
French
This week we went out for coffee to practice French conversation, did some French diction exercises, and started practicing for the government French placement exams.
Civilization
Time to run the Youth Electors bill through the Senate! Last session, Rebels picked and read their bill in preparation for this week's Model Parliament simulation. Rebels took their places in the Senate on Thursday and reenacted the entire process from the Introduction and First Reading to Royal Assent. (Our Speaker and Usher of the Black Rod took their roles very seriously!) Next week we will move on to new forms of government, beginning with Start Up Nations.
Leadership/Community service
With the Ottawa Children's Business Fair less than two weeks away, our Launchpad coordinator was hard at work leading an online informational session, emailing the registrants, sending marketing emails, and preparing for the big day!
Rebels also cooked up a delicious stirfry to deliver to Highjinx this week for distribution to their neighbours. Friday mornings have quickly become one of their favourite parts of the week as they further develop their cooking skills and help those in need.
Additional Highlights
With our Duke of Edinburgh International Award Adventurous Journey only a month away, we laced up our hiking boots to go for a walk on Tuesday afternoon. Not only are we breaking in our shoes, but we are also taking in all the changes that occur at this time of year on Carlington Hill and the surrounding area.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel
Spark
What are the characteristics of an insect? What are the parts of an insect called?
Which insects are pollinators? How do they collect the pollen? Why are they important?
What is one way we can help take care of the Earth?
French: How do you say "where" in French? (Où?)
Discovery
Which story prompt did you start this week for Reader/Writer? (Woody and Buzz's Peace Table or Shrunk to 2 Inches Tall?)
Which business are you running for Math Lab this session?
Which roles do you hope to take on for the Matilda's Hero's Journey production?
French: What plant, fruit or vegetable would you like to grow for the French gardening workshop?
Exploration
Do you think Photomath should be an app Rebels can use to help with their Khan work? Why or why not?
How did you estimate the number of paper packs in the Stacking Paper challenge? In what other situations does scaling help us?
Which circumstance of Ada Lovelace's youth was most instrumental in her journey: parents with unwavering support for her daring ambition for the time or meeting Charles Babbage at age 17?
What apprenticeships do you have on your list so far?
French: What carpentry project would you like to do in our workshop?
Launchpad
Are you more excited to learn the science or debate the moral/ethical side of genetics?
As this is a busy session, how will you ensure you stay on track with your goals and coursework?
French: How do you feel about taking the government French placement exams? Do you feel ready?
Dates of Interest
Spark Family Meetings Sign-Up Sheet posted on Band
Spark Family Workshop with Christie Byvelds: Thursday, April 27th, 4:15 - 5:15
Discovery Family Workshop with Christie Byvelds: Friday, April 28th, 4:15 - 5:30
Spark and Discovery Field Trip to Ottawa Children's Festival -