Revel Recap: Sept. 30 - Oct. 4, 2024
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday, we started our day honouring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Sparks shared what they already knew about why they were wearing an orange shirt. To learn more, we listened to Residential school survivors and the founder of Orange Shirt Day, Phyllis Webstad read her book Today is Orange Shirt Day. We also watched a video from CBC Kids, which explained more about this important day and how it came to be. We then read the book On the Trapline by David Robertson, a story that celebrates Indigenous culture and traditions. The Sparks also coloured in some beautiful artwork with the important message Every Child Matters, designed by artist Hawlii Pichette. While colouring, the learners listened to Ottawa's Indigenous community performing traditional songs and drumming with a video clip from a festival.
The rest of the week's Launches centred around Montessori Grace and Courtesy presentations. These lessons help our learners to engage positively and respectfully with others and support the development of independence. Each day, we focused on a different topic. We spoke with the learners about the importance of coughing or sneezing into our arms and how to use a tissue, throw it out, and clean our hands afterward. We had presentations on how to carry materials safely and push in chairs. We also practiced with the dressing frames. This material helps the Rebels learn how to tackle a variety of clothing fasteners, such as buttons, buckles, snaps, and bows. At the end of the week, the Sparks explored the etiquette around interrupting. First, we read the story Interrupting Chicken. We talked about situations where it's important to interrupt. For example, emergencies, safety concerns, someone is hurt, or you feel unsafe. We then thought about times we should try not to interrupt, such as when someone is talking or working, a lesson is being taught, or a Guide is working with another learner. We discussed strategies we could use instead of interrupting, such as waiting or using the 3 Bs before G. After our Launches, the Sparks completed various mindfulness activities, such as puzzles, yoga, watercolour paintings, and our gratitude journals.
Quest
We had a very busy week in Quest! The learners worked on completing their vision boards, and we are so excited for you to see them unveiled at our Exhibition next week! Once our project was completed, it was time to start working on our studio promises. In our studio, the learners decide on what expectations they feel our studio should have to ensure a positive and respectful learning environment for all. We read two books to help us generate ideas for our contract: Our Class is A Family and I Promise. Together, we brainstormed ideas and wrote down what we felt was important for our community to uphold. We went through each learner's ideas and voted on the final ones we wanted to include. The Sparks came up with the following list: We promise to listen, keep our bodies to ourselves, walk, be kind, clean up, do our best, never give up, make safe choices, and have fun! We talked about how we will be signing this contract at the Exhibition in front of our families and peers, which is a commitment to one another that we will try our best to keep these promises.
At the end of the week, we explored the idea of having a growth mindset. We read the book The Magical Yet and discussed how when we come across something challenging and say, "I can't do this," we can add YET to our sentence. This powerful word reminds us that if we keep going, believe in ourselves, and work hard, we can improve over time. During the discussion, we also talked about how mistakes are okay and, in fact, help us to grow our brains! When we make mistakes, they are opportunities for us to grow and learn. Each Spark then illustrated something they couldn't do yet but would like to accomplish someday. We have learners who want to learn how to skateboard, surf, climb the monkey bars, jump off the swings, ride a bike, read, rollerblade, ice skate, rock climb, and more!
At the beginning of Quest each day this week, we played new team-building games as we continued to get to know our studio family. Jump in the Middle, Pass the Movement, Museum Guard, and Would You Rather kept the Sparks entertained and having fun! Ask your learner which game they enjoyed the most.
Geography
This week, we learned about another animal that lives in North America: the coyote! We read an informative text by Grace Hansen. In this book, we learned a lot of facts about where coyotes live, what they eat, what babies and groups are named, and what colour their fur is. Ask your Spark to share all the information they learned! Afterward, the learners worked hard to complete the continent project we worked on for the last couple of weeks. We are excited to share their projects with you at our Exhibition.
Reader/Writer Workshop
On Monday, both literacy groups worked together to play a sound game. It was a version of I Spy, where the learners looked for an object in the room and told the group what letter sound it started with, and they tried to guess what it was. To follow this up, we reviewed each letter in the alphabet and practiced the phonetic sound it makes. Then, the learners got into teams to complete an A-Z Scavenger Hunt. The goal was to look for objects around the room that started with all 26 letters of the alphabet and then write the object down by sounding out the word. It was excellent literacy practice!
Later in the week, Group One worked on learning the phonetic sound of two new letters, P and I. We always start these lessons using our moveable alphabet and the alphabet tubs to introduce the letter name, sound, and objects that start with the letter we are working on. For extra practice, each learner in this group completed a letter tracing and colouring activity focused on these two new letters. Encourage your child to find these letter sounds when you are out and about this weekend! Group Two branched into small groups to play Snakes and Ladders - Sight Word Edition. For each word they landed on, they had to write the word and read it to their partner. They truly enjoyed this activity and wanted to play more than once!
Art Workshop
To kick off our Art Workshop this week, we discussed the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and those who celebrate this holiday shared their family traditions. We talked about how sometimes, when you get together for a meal; you might have a centrepiece or decorations to put in the middle of the table, which inspired this week's art workshop. After reading the instructions together, the artists gathered their materials and got to work to create a tissue paper lantern to decorate their Thanksgiving table! We used red, yellow, and orange tissue paper so our lanterns had a fall aesthetic. The Sparks ripped their paper into small pieces and glued them onto a glass jar. They explored placing various layers of paper to add new dimensions of colour. Once they were dry, we put a flameless tea light inside. The Sparks were amazed to see how the candlelight illuminated the jar, creating a beautiful stained-glass effect. This was a fun project, and the learners are excited to bring them home.
French
Monday, Group 1 played Monsieur Patate to start learning the parts of the face (eyes, nose, mouth) and emotions. Group 2, meanwhile, played the sound association game to learn how to read the different sounds in French. On Tuesday, we all read the pop-up book The Secrets and History of Neapolitan Pizza, and we continued the fun on Wednesday when Group 1 coloured our pizza to learn about our colours and foods. While Group 2 learned the song "I Am a Pizza." Je suis une pizza, Charlotte Diamond
Thursday, we played Seek-a-Boo in the gym to practice the difference between «Je ne veux pas » (I don't want), «Je veux» (I want)and «Ou est ____ ? (Where is ____ ?).
Additional Highlights
Some of our Spark Rebels attended the Soccer Jamboree hosted by Turnbull on Tuesday. We are so proud of their hard work in preparing for the tournament, and their skills shined on the field! Our Sparks showed determination, fantastic teamwork, exceptional sportsmanship, and a positive attitude! Judging by everyone's smiles, the Jamboree also brought the learners great joy! The Rebels have learned so much this session about this fun sport, and we are so happy to see many of them continuing to work on their skills during free time and recess! We thank our family community for driving the Rebels and being the best cheering squad!
For Show and Tell this week, we asked learners to bring something representing their family. Many learners shared photos of their families, brought maps of where their families are from, and board games they enjoy playing with their loved ones.
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday morning, we gathered together for another round of "Thank you for sharing." This week's prompts were all related to ancestry and family, with Rebels sharing what family stories they knew and how it had been passed down to them. Then, for Orange Shirt Day, we watched a video about Phyllis Webstad and her story about her Orange Shirt. We learned about how four generations of her family went to residential school and a bit about what happened there. We discussed why it is essential to remember the stories of children who were taken to attend these institutions. The Rebels thought that schools today can make sure every learner feels included and respected by letting them wear their own clothes and allowing them to speak their own language. By wearing an Orange Shirt, we are using it as a symbol to take a stand and say that what happened at residential schools is not okay and we will not allow it to happen again.
On Tuesday, the Rebels who did not attend the Soccer Jamboree went for a mindful walk. We looked to find oak trees but didn't find any. Tuesday's Launch was the first in a series about leadership. Rebels watched a short clip from CBC Kids News about Canada's political party system, and we compared it to our Squad leadership system.
Wednesday morning's wonder puzzles nearly stumped the Rebels, but on the very last try, we guessed the daily Wordle and were able to get two categories of the Connections puzzle. For Launch, we continued talking about Orange Shirt Day. We learned about Land Acknowledgements. We looked at Native Land.ca and learned that we live on Algonquin territory. We then began developing a Land Acknowledgement together.
On Thursday, we went on a mindful walk and decided to search for a specific colour. The Rebels decided to look for purple, and we noticed many purple flowers! For Launch, we revisited our leadership discussion, and the Rebels talked about the type of platform they're looking for from their Squad Leader candidates.
Friday morning, we warmed up the Boomwhackers and then played a "Guess the Movie" game - it was supposedly "easy mode," but the Rebels disagreed! Then, the Current Events report featured an update about Instagram changes for teens, and the Rebels discussed what they thought about these changes. We looked at a hilarious photo of what appears to be a smiling elephant seal, but is actually the look of being terrified and about to run away from another male elephant seal fighting over mates. And last but definitely not least, we announce that Ms. Jenna's had baby Maverick and shared some pictures of him! Both Mom and Mav are doing great!
Math Lab
Aim/Release Rebels worked on two tasks this week: Outfit Choices and Birdy's Nest. In the first task, we arrived at the fundamental principle of counting, which is that you can efficiently find the total possible combinations in a situation by multiplying together all the choices involved. Rebels showed this in various ways, from drawing out all the outfit combinations, listing them in a chart, organizing the possibilities in a list for getting dressed in the morning (including a laundry schedule!), and eventually writing a multiplication equation. With the second task, Rebels used a series of clues about the number of eggs in a bird's nest to narrow down possibilities to options that have been tested against all the clues. Rebels needed to draw upon knowledge of multiples and the rules of divisibility - they were only able to solve it partially during the lab, but a Rebel Buck challenge was extended to them if they were able to figure it out in the future!
Draw/Anchor Rebels tried the There's How Many Legs? Challenge this week. For example, at an agricultural fair, there are two cows and two ducks - how many legs is that? This series of prompts had Rebels playing around with repeated addition, multiplicative, and algebraic reasoning. The last few prompts reversed their thinking - if there are 26 legs, which animals might that be? It was so cool to see how the different teams organized their thinking and kept track of ideas. Specifically, when asked which animals would add up to 45 legs, there were some creative solutions like seastars and a three-legged dog!
Reader/Writer
Draw and Anchor Rebels: Draw and Anchor Rebels worked on finishing and editing their letters to their Session 7 self. They received a Letter Checklist and an Editing Checklist, and first, they self-edited their piece and then asked a Rebel to edit it. Next week, we will submit our badges, decorate our envelopes, and think about how we want to display them for the Exhibition.
Aim/Release Rebels: Aim and Release Rebels also worked on finishing and editing their letters to their Session 7 self. They received a Letter Checklist and an Editing Checklist, and first, they self-edited their piece and then asked a Rebel to edit it. Some even had enough time to decorate their envelopes and seal up their letter. Next week, we will submit our badges, provide evidence of meeting the Badge Requirements, and decide how to display them for Exhibition.
French
Group 1: This week, Group 1 started learning how to name the rooms of a house. We played a game of "qui est ou"? and then, in Madame Marianne's absence, reviewed songs about the days of the week, the months, and the weather in French.
Group 2: This week, Group 2 competed against each other in a "pronounce this word in French" competition to apply the pronunciation rules we learned throughout the session. The learners then filmed a video to show their progress at Exhibition!
Civilizations
This week took us to Kebec and Samuel Champlain's adventure to find the Northwest Passage, a way for merchants to get to China and India. Champlain found St Lawerence River and beautiful Canada. King Henry IV told Champlain to start a colony there. They first tried to build a colony at St. Croix, but the water was foul, the soil was so salty, the crops couldn't grow, and they got stuck there because the water froze. Some of them survived until spring and reinforcements arrived. They moved the settlement to Port Royal, in a protected harbour. The settlement began to prosper, but the King demanded that they come home because he was spending too much money. Champlain was determined, and the King allowed him to return and build another settlement called 'Kebec,' now known as Quebec City. However, winter was harsh. In the spring, only eight men had survived, and Champlain encouraged Indigenous people and his men to marry so they would remain friends. Champlain returned to France 23 times and brought back with him beggars and criminals to live in his settlement. Champlain is known as the "Father of New France."
Henry Hudson continued the quest for a passage to India and China. He tried sailing north, through the North Pole, but had to turn around due to icy conditions. Hudson then tried to sail northeast, and his crew threatened mutiny, so he gave up and returned to England. Next, he tried to go through the Furious Overfall with his new ship Discovery, but after several times trying new routes and a crew who continued to demand to head back to England, Hudson's crew committed mutiny and sent Hudson, his son, and some sick crew on a lifeboat leaving them for dead. Furious Overfall was renamed Hudson's Strait, and the huge body of water he found was called Hudson Bay. Phew, what an informative Civilizations period!
Quest
This Week in Quest was an exciting one! The Rebels have been busy learning all about Revel Academy and its systems and are now challenged to find a way to onboard you, the families, about what they have learned. We started the week by co-creating a list of what they have learned so far and what they must teach their families. We came back together after meeting as a team and discussed Excellence at Revel. The Rebels shared that their Exhibition would be excellent if they worked hard, did their best, and used our co-created checklist. At the end of Quest on Monday, some Rebels brought up concerns about covering all the checklists, so we began on Tuesday talking through how we wanted our Exhibition to run. The Discovery Studio decided to run the Exhibition in stations where each team is in charge of certain topics. We went through our checklist and grouped similar topics. Then, each group decided which topics they wanted to focus on. The teams then went to work on their specific topics. We came back together to discuss how we will know that their families have an excellent understanding of their Revel Onboarding. The Rebels decided there would be a quiz for parents to complete to show their understanding and a question box on the way out so the guardians could ask further questions.
On Wednesday, we began going through our first VLOG all about "At Revel, we feel joy when…" We determined if a video reached our excellence criteria and if we needed to re-record it. Then we went through each of our contracts: Technology, ROEs, and Covenants, made sure we all agreed to each part of the contract and made some edits. Each team had time to work on their portion of the Exhibition. The Rebels decided they would dress however they wanted, and many Rebels stepped up to be emcees.
Thursday, we started Quest by clarifying and voting on a couple of contract items. We decided to keep "Raising our Hands" in our ROEs and have added that we should "Respect others' needs." in our Covenants. We then watched the Rebel Vlogs, about comparing A vs B on various subjects, and voted for the video they thought matched the excellence criteria the best. They had team time to complete their Exhibition presentations, and then we came back as a group to discuss where we wanted to hold this Exhibition and what we needed.
Physical Development
On Tuesday, both groups headed to the park for some extra outdoor time together. The learners utilized the playground for lots of climbing fun, playing games, and playing basketball on the court. On Thursday, we continued with our hiking and soccer options.
This week, those Rebels who have been practicing all session headed off to the jamborees on Tuesday and Friday. We are so proud of their hard work in preparing for these tournaments, and their skills shined on the field! Both teams showed determination, fantastic teamwork, exceptional sportsmanship, and a positive attitude! Judging by everyone's smiles, these jamborees also brought the learners a lot of joy! The Rebels have learned so much this session about this fun sport, and we are pleased to see many of them continuing to work on their skills during free time and recess! A huge thank you to our family community for driving the Rebels and being the best cheering squad!
Additional Highlights
On Monday, we watched Book Trailers of suggested books for our next read-aloud. All Rebels had a chance to vote, and we voted on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We started reading the book on October 1st, a perfect book for the Halloween season and to learn more about our Hero's Journey.
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
We began our week with a full body scan meditation on Monday morning and reflected on where we felt tension. We watched a video on life before and after Residential School to honour National Truth and Reconciliation Day. We listened as nine Residential School Survivors shared their experiences before and after attending residential school. They discussed their work for and with other Indigenous people and their personal healing journeys.
Tuesday morning's mindful walk brought chillier autumn weather, cloudy skies, and even fewer blossoms and bees than the week before. However, more colourful trees were the highlight of this week's trek! We continued to read Fatty Legs, a novel about one girl's experience with residential schools, to continue listening to and hearing the stories of the survivors.
After Free Choice mindfulness, where many learners worked on puzzles, building with KEVA planks, or doodling, we debated a classic Astra Nova School video - The Lake Conundrum. A corporation, the town's largest employer, dumps harmful chemicals into the lake. Who is most to blame for the death of the lake? Option A: The Company; Option B: The Puppetmaster who is afraid new regulations could affect their business and pays for a new scientific research group; Option C: The Scientists who are paid to publish a false report; Option D: The Media that reports the false study; Option E: The Politicians who have the power to stop the pollution, but decided its too risky going against the company; or Option F: The Voters who listen to the media, politicians, and scientists and re-elect the politicians. Initially, the Rebels voted that the company and the puppetmaster were most to blame; however, after a great discussion, the votes moved to include the media and voters as well.
Thursday's yoga practice was a fully seated flow focusing on yin-style stretches. We also tried using our hands to help follow a "figure 8" breathing pattern during the relaxation, trying to fill our lungs and then bellies on the inhale and then emptying our bellies first and then lungs second on the exhale. We then met back in the studio to review our Covenants, make any additions or alterations, and remove any that didn't feel necessary. We will sign the final version in front of our families at Exhibition next week!
We used our mindfulness and Launch time on Friday to design our House Cup crests on Canva. Our houses will meet to review the various designs and choose the elements they like before making the final draft!
Math Lab
This week's Math Lab theme was Geometric Mania! For their first task, Rebels worked with prisms, determining how many faces, edges, and vertices they have. After investigating triangular, rectangular, pentagonal, and hexagonal prisms, teams were challenged to figure out how these elements related to each other and if there was a pattern rule or relationship they could describe. After this, we moved to a 4x4 checkerboard and tried to figure out how many squares there were. Almost immediately, teams deduced there were 16. After being promised there were more, they started to find more and more and more… Multiple groups started organizing the size of the squares they were counting and eventually were ready to try a 5x5 and then a 6x6 grid. With the help of a Launchpadder, one team even used expressions involving exponents to write a rule to find the number of squares in any sized grid. Well done, Rebels!
Reader/Writer
This week in Reader/Writer, learners used a sample letter that Ms. Amy wrote and our Letter and Editing Checklists to practice properly editing their letters. The Rebels were shown how to use Google Read and Write to hear their words out loud, which also helps with editing. Then, they had time to finish their letters, edit them themselves, and get another Rebel to edit them. Next week, we will submit our "Letter to My Future Self," their Brainstorm Goal Sheet, and the Self and Rebel Approval Checklist. They will also have time to design their envelope before submitting their badge.
French
This week, the Exploration Rebels participated in a "Pronounce this word in French" competition to apply the pronunciation rules studied throughout the session. We also learned the phonetic alphabet for French vowels.
Civilizations
Once humans embraced agricultural societies, rapid population growth led to a need for more land. As early agricultural societies grew, they 'bumped up' against each other, creating wars and conflict, but they also created connected learning and, therefore, enormous leaps in knowledge. After researching different periods of expansion and interconnection worldwide, Rebels met to discuss on Thursday. Learners debated what they would do if they were the leader of a country with high population growth and whether interconnections were mostly beneficial due to ever-expanding human knowledge or harmful as they caused wars, spread disease, and reduced biodiversity.
Physical Development
One of our Launchpad Rebels started a cross-country running club on Monday, and gauging the interest and fitness levels of the participants, they will continue to design the program! Meanwhile, other learners practiced their soccer skills and had a great time taking in the fall weather at the park.
Quest
This week, learners used their Quest time to create their Problem-Solving presentations. Using a slide template, learners demonstrated their understanding of the Problem-Solving Cycle by identifying the problem, surveying stakeholders, coming up with various solutions, and using a Pro-Pro chart to choose their best solution. They also created a Works Cited slide with proper MLA formatting. Early in the week, they showed another group their presentation in order to receive feedback. After another work period, they presented to the Launchpad Rebels for more feedback to further improve their presentation, solutions, and slides. On Monday, two to three groups will be chosen to present at Exhibition based on peer and Launchpad votes.
Additional Highlights
Our first month of the Let Grow program ended this week! Learners completed a reflection on their first "Get Out of Your Comfort Zone" Independence projects, with some walking home or going to the store while others baked desserts and made their families a meal. Next month, we're taking our Independence projects one step further by "Spreading our Wings."
Launchpad Studio
Learners were busy completing Core Skills and designing learning opportunities for Session 2 this week! For example, one learner continued the development of the Exploration S2-S3 Reader/Writer badge focusing on Journalism, while another is creating an AI workshop and a Cross-Country Running Club!
Communication/Literature
In our Comm/Lit class, learners read and analyzed "Charles" by Shirley Jackson as well as "The Moment Before the Gun Went Off" by Nadine Gordimer on Monday before coming to discuss how the arrangement of plot details, particularly in the rising and falling action, affect the dramatic situation in the text on Tuesday. We then annotated "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury and "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, both of which were highly engaging to the learners. We met to discuss how they would describe the strategies used to introduce the stories in their exposition and the narrative pacing utilized.
AP Language and Composition
This week's coursework focused on reading the lessons about different aspects an author can alter to make their work more compelling and analyze where they came up in several pieces. They also worked to provide feedback for the content of a provided example essay to prepare for future weeks.
AP Literature and Composition
Our learner taking AP Literature and Composition continued honing their essay-writing skills with three pieces exploring Poems of Faith and Doubt, with one deep dive into the cerebral naturalist poetry of Robert Frost.
AP Biology
In AP Biology, our learner set up and completed a Surface Area and Cell Size lab to test diffusion in various sizes of potato cubes. They also used their time to review and study for their Unit 2 Cells test.
Canadian and International Law
This week, our Rebel made strides in defining the parameters and early research for their first International Law project studying Hostage Justice. We are really excited to read their final piece!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What is something you can't do yet, but would like to learn how to do someday?
What studio promises did you write down for the group to vote on?
Can you tell me some facts you learned about coyotes this week?
French: How do you say "I want pizza" in French? (Je veux de la pizza s’il-vous-plaît)
Discovery Studio
Math Lab: What is the most efficient way to determine the total possible outcomes if you know all the choices? How does this work?
Math Lab: If you counted 45 legs at an agricultural fair, what combination of animals could be there?
What quality is the most important for our Squad Leaders to have?
French: (G1) How do you say attic in French? (Grenier)
French: (G2) What word did you say in the French video?
Exploration Studio
Math Lab: How do you know how many faces, edges, and vertices a prism has?
Math Lab: How many squares can you count on a 7x7 grid? Any sized grid?
Do you believe the internet makes you:
More connected to the 'real' world by giving you access to more knowledge in order to better understand the world or
Less connected to the 'real' world by creating less need for face-to-face interaction and virtual worlds to live in?
French: How do you pronounce the letter X at the end of a word when the word is followed by a vowel? (Z)
What would you do differently if you had more time to work on your Problem-Solving presentation?
Launchpad Studio
The interconnection between different civilizations has spread diseases (smallpox, plague, AIDS) which decimate populations, but pandemics also strengthened the human immune system. Economic depressions have led to economic opportunity, weapons of war to better technology. Some believe we must always have destruction to create new advancements ('creative destruction'). Do you agree? If not, why?
What makes a short story memorable? Which has been your favourite piece this session?
How are you helping to improve the Revel community?
Important Upcoming Dates
Session 1 Exhibitions
Discovery Studio: Tuesday, October 8th at 4:15 pm
Spark Studio: Wednesday, October 9th at 4:15 pm
Exploration Studio: Thursday, October 10th at 4:15 pm
Exploration and Launchpad Wreck Room: Friday, October 11th
Thanksgiving Break: Monday, October 14th - 18th
First Day of Session 2: October 21st