Revel Recap: Sept. 16 - 20, 2024

Spark Studio

Mindfulness and Launch

On Monday morning, we started by discussing ways to help ourselves feel better if we are experiencing different or complex emotions. Some learners shared that they like cuddling a stuffed animal, walking, or taking a break. We talked about how mindful breathing is one of the tools we can also use. We introduced the Sparks to five-finger and square breathing. After practicing these techniques, we discussed times during the day when taking deep breaths might be helpful. The learners suggested that they could do this when they are angry, worried, hurt, sad, or out of breath from running at the park. We carried this calm energy into our next activity, where the learners completed some Perler bead designs while listening to relaxing music. 

On Tuesday, we practiced being aware of the present moment by completing a five-senses mindfulness exercise. The Sparks noticed five things they could see, four things they could feel, three things they could hear, two things they could smell, and one thing they could taste. Next, we dove into a talk about being shy or nervous. We emphasized how this is a natural feeling we all have sometimes and read a short tale called Nervous Nessie. This story talks about the Loch Ness monster and how she is nervous about making new friends. Throughout her story, she talks about taking a deep breath and gathering her courage to say "hi," when she does, she makes a new friend! To test our courage at the end, we all took deep breaths and then moved around the room, introducing ourselves to three friends. Ultimately, we talked about how sometimes stepping out of our comfort zones to try new things is hard, but we could think of Nervous Nessie, take our deep breaths, and find our courage! 

On Wednesday, the learners participated in an emotion-themed yoga sequence before discussing one of our biggestemotions: anger. We read another short story from our Mindful Arts in the Classroom book, "The Lion in Me." In this interactive tale, the Rebels learned about comparing anger to a lion inside them. The story explained how it is essential to name the emotion, acknowledge it, and how we can use our breathing techniques to tame our lion. 

Thursday morning, we started with a mindful colouring of intricate mandala designs. Our story of the day was about how we can notice our feelings and then peacefully proceed. We introduced the acronym STOP, which stands for: Stop my body, Try and breathe, Observe my feelings, and Peacefully proceed. The story talked about various scenarios where we might feel big feelings, and together, we practiced saying this acronym. 

Friday started with a collection of pictures and stories of cute animals from CBC Kids News. The learners loved seeing animals from around the world. We then reflected on our Overarching Question of the Year by writing about what brings us joy in our gratitude journals. 

Math Lab

Group One reviewed the numbers 10-19 for our Math Lab this week. We used the teen boards and beads to help us visually see the number and associated quantity in beads. We practiced counting these numbers forwards and backwards. We also tested our knowledge by pointing to numbers out of sequence and naming them. Afterward, the learners demonstrated their learning by completing a sheet where they practiced writing the numbers and colouring in the correct bead amount. 

Group Two, meanwhile, worked with the Montessori tens board, using tens and ones manipulatives to deepen their understanding of place value. The Guide gave each learner a number, and they used the manipulatives to represent that number, reinforcing their skills with visual and tactile learning tools. To make real-world connections, the learners used coloured pencils from the studio to practice counting by colour. They sorted the pencils into groups based on colour and then applied the same tens and ones manipulatives to calculate the total number of pencils in the bin. This activity helped bridge the abstract concept of place value with a practical, hands-on task. Group 2 also continued their work with the counting chains. Throughout the year, they will work at their own pace to complete these chains, focusing first on mastering shorter chains before moving on to longer ones. Together, we explored the pink (2-chain) and yellow (3-chain), building a stronger understanding of how to use the chains effectively. The goal is for each learner to master skip-counting as they progress. They will use number tickets to match with the units on the chain and record the numbers in their math books. As learners become proficient in counting each chain independently and skip counting, they will be ready to advance to the next difficulty level. This self-paced approach allows each Spark to develop confidence and mastery in their own time. 

This week, learners also worked with our wooden pattern blocks and puzzle mats during work periods. The learners could recreate the designs on the task cards, which is excellent practice for shape recognition!

Quest

Our Quest topic for Week Three was all about emotions! Each day, we continued to play circle games at the beginning of Quest to keep building our community while also working on skills linked to our emotions, such as communication, managing disappointment or excitement, self-regulation, empathy and confidence. Some books we read this week to help explore this important topic included The Way I Feel, The Colour Monster, A Little Spot of Feelings, and The Boy With Big, Big Feelings. The Sparks spent the week identifying various emotions by discussing, drawing, and playing emotions charades. We also spent time exploring the four Zones of Regulation. This system divides emotions into four coloured zones: Green (happy, calm, focused, ready to learn, Blue (sad, sick, tired, bored), Yellow (worried, silly, excited), and Red (mad, scared). We talked about how we all experience these emotions and that being in any of the zones is okay! Identifying how we are feeling can help us decide what we need—for example, talking to an adult, running/walking, getting a hug, listening to music, deep breathing, fidgeting with toys, lying down, or reading, to name a few. Each Spark identified and illustrated three things they could keep in their toolbox and shared this with the studio. The Sparks were so brave sharing their stories and participating this week. We had so many important social-emotional learning moments together; thank you, Rebels, for opening up about some big feelings and topics! 

Art

Our art inspiration this week came from the book The Very Hungry Worry Monsters. In this story, friendly monsters eat worries and fears. After reading the book, we discussed how it is not unusual to sometimes feel worried. Each Spark shared something that worries them and what helps them feel better when this happens. We talked about how writing down or sharing our worries with someone can help us work through this emotion. We used our creativity to draw our own worry monsters using our new tempera paint sticks. The learners wrote down three worries and fed them to their monster! 

French

On Monday, we started learning the months and days of the week on our French poster. We then completed a colouring activity about the seasons on Tuesday and played BINGO to practice our numbers on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we played "The Colour game" in the gym and had a great time!

Geography

With a solid understanding of the first three continents we studied, the Sparks set off to learn the names of Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. We traced these continents with our hands and practiced saying the names as a group. Then, we started a new project. Each Spark painted a paper plate blue for the water on our planet and began colouring in some of the continents to add to it. We will complete this project next week and can't wait to show you at our Exhibition! 

Reader/Writer Workshop 

During our Reader/Writer workshop this week, Group One used the sandpaper letters to trace and repeat the phonetic sound of the letters S and A. After becoming familiar with these two sounds, we used our alphabet box materials to identify objects that start with the sound of each of these letters. Ask your learner if they can find any objects at home this weekend that begin with one of these sounds! For our writing this week, we looked at the circle shape and imagined different things we could draw that incorporate a circle. We had learners drawing pizzas, donuts, tires, the Earth and the sun! 

Group Two had an exciting and productive work period. They began by reviewing sight words, reinforcing the foundation of early literacy. After that, each learner was given two sight words and tasked with creating their own sentences, which encouraged creativity and practicing sentence structure. We pretended the lines in their writing books were curbs, and they pretended their letters/words were cars. They did their best work not to "go over the curb." This then encourages the learner to practice their printing in between the lines. They also practiced using their finger spaces when writing sentences. Next up was a fun game of Sight Word Bingo! The kids had a great time recognizing and matching the words they've been learning. To wrap up the session, we held a group vote to choose a book for our upcoming book study, which we're all looking forward to starting next session. Stay tuned for more updates as we dive into our chosen book together!

Throughout the week, both groups also played some literacy-based games. We all enjoyed a fun round of Zingo, our word-building game. Learners worked with partners to identify and claim the letter they wanted. In order to keep the letter, they needed to tell the group what three-letter word they made. We were so impressed with how well everyone worked together with their word-formation! They also played Alphabet Shopping. In this game, we sat in a circle, and each person would make a sentence about what they wanted to buy at the store, but the item had to start with the same letter as their first name!

Additional Highlights

During Thursday's closing this week, we introduced the Overarching Question for the Spark Studio this year. We looked at our poster and talked about how we will be finding our joy on our Hero's Journey this year! We encouraged the learners to think about what they love, what they are good at, what the world needs, and what they can contribute. We brainstormed some examples, and we look forward to keeping joy at the centre of our adventures this year! 

We also spoke with the learners about the Alert System, which we will use in the Spark Studio this year. This accountability tool is in place to uphold our culture of kindness and reiterate that all choices have natural consequences. In our studio, a Rebel may receive an alert if they purposefully choose to harm another community member physically or emotionally or continuously choose not to contribute to the community or participate in any scheduled programming. Please see the family handbook for more information, or contact us if you have any questions.

Discovery Studio

Mindfulness and Launch

Monday's Mantras were inspired by Snoop Dogg's Doggyland, particularly "The Affirmation Song." After listening, Rebels took turns sharing which one of the affirmations they felt they needed the most, and some even re-wrote the lyrics or swapped certain words to match more closely where they were that morning. For Monday's Launch, we discussed why we are all at Revel. The Rebels were brave enough to share that they were not challenged at their past schools, mistreated, felt unsafe, and more. We used "under the cupboard Harry Potter" as an example of how we felt before our Call to Action. Rebels shared that they felt like they were struggling, missing out, going with the flow, sad, mistreated, un-supported, bored, getting in trouble, and stuck. Then we talked about how heroes feel when they are on their Hero's Journey, and the Rebels shared that they feel brave, in control, focused, calm, engaged, and excited. We ended the Launch with a Call to Action: How can they step into Heroes Shoes today and act like heroes? 

Tuesday morning, we headed out to the field from a Mindfulness Rainbow Walk. Rebels were asked to walk independently and look around in nature to find each colour of the rainbow in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. The Rebels noticed red and orange fall leaves, the yellow sunshine and a huge sunflower, green grass, the big blue sky and beautiful purple flowers in the Carlington Community Garden. We revisited the three monsters: Victimhood, Resistance, and Distraction during Tuesday's Launch. During this discussion, however, we moved into antidotes for these monsters. Rebels shared some strategies they've found helpful in the past, such as taking a quick body break when something feels really hard, asking Rebels for help, or taking a break and working on something else. 

We focused again on our Hero's Journey for Wednesday's Launch and were given some hard questions to reflect on. What's most important as a Hero: Knowing who you are, your goals, or who you choose as a fellow traveller? What's the hardest part of a Hero's Journey: Taking the first step or persevering after a failure? Who do you need more right now: a Guide, a Running Partner (Someone you can trust to tell you the truth and share your truth with) or Fellow Travellers (the Discovery Studio)? Most Rebels voted that they needed a Running Partner, and we discussed that our Squad Chickens time and Challenge Donut time is the time to discuss goals and help each other.

Thursday, for the Mindfulness Walk, the Rebels had a checklist they used to explore the outdoors. They used their five senses to gather their checklist. They realized that its very difficult to walk silently when next to their peers, but they did their absolute best! The learners said they saw airplanes, rainbows, trees and leaves. Some smelled fresh air and wet grass. Others explained that they could feel the damp grass and their skin. 

Thursday's Launch was about Guide Accountability. Which Guide promise do the Rebels think is the most important? How can the Rebels hold the Guides accountable for these promises? We started a tally to track how many questions Ms. Mel is answering! 

For Feel-Good Friday, Rebels warmed up their Boomwhackers and tried to play "Willow" by Taylor Swift! During Friday's Current Events, we met Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo born in Thailand's Zoo. We talked about which fall movie releases we are so excited to see, the most popular being Wicked, Moana 2, and Mufasa: The Lion King. 

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is September 30th, and we completed a quiz to test our knowledge. We learned what reconciliation means, when the last residential school closed in Canada, and when the Canadian Government apologized in 2008. To test your own Knowledge, check out the quiz here.

Reader/Writer

Draw and Anchor Rebels:

For Reader/Writer this week, Draw and Anchor Rebels continued to decide on their goals and dreams for different areas of their life: Health, Revel SMART Goals, and general Revel Goals. We created a Word Wall of all the Rebel's ideas as we pushed them to make their goals specific. Many Rebels started the first draft of their "Letter to My Session 7 Self."  Next week, we will continue to work on and finish the first draft and learn to use Google Read and Write to help with spelling and writing.

Aim/Release Rebels: 

For Reader/Writer this week, Aim and Release Rebels completed their Vision Boards with three specific goals for each area of their life: Personal, Health, Family, Friends, Revel SMART Goals and general Revel Goals. Many Rebels started their "Letter to My Session 7 Self" first draft using a template, and some even began typing it up.  Next week, we will continue working on our drafts and editing our work.

Math Lab

Aim/Release Rebels tackled their very first banner problem this week: There's How Many Legs? Similar to last week, our task had increasing levels of challenge. This week, however, when one team completed a level, they received the next challenge clue and would add it to their banner at the top of their workspace. When another team became ready, they would seek feedback from other teams (rather than the Guide) and be able to get the next challenge by looking around at other banners. This series of challenges had Rebels playing around with algebraic reasoning, testing values for variables and checking these values against constants. It was so cool to see how the different teams organized their thinking and kept track of solutions!

Draw/Anchor Rebels met on Wednesday to design ride packages at the fair! Starting with three tickets and ten minutes, teams worked together to combine rides they could go on. Once one combination worked, they were given increasingly complex constraints (e.g. 4 tickets, 12 minutes; 6 tickets, 20 minutes). After this, we moved on to the Ways to Make Ten challenge. Looking at various equations with a piece missing, Rebels discussed how there can only be one solution in an addition sentence with one addend missing. However, in an equation with both addends missing, there are multiple solutions! Rebels worked together to find all the combinations of ways to make ten. Some teams were able to exhaust the options for a sum of 15!

French

This week, the two French groups worked on their French letter combinations. We listened to a phonics video to learn how to read all the sounds in French and then made flashcards to help us review in small groups. Lastly, we played BINGO to help us remember our numbers!

Civilizations

For Civilizations this week, we learned about the Protestant Rebellions during the reign and time of William the Silent and Mary, Queen of Scots. We mapped Philip's inheritance from Charles V in the Netherlands and Spain. Rebels were captivated by William the Silent's story, a young Protestant boy who joined the Royal Court under King Philip at 11 and learned the teachings of Catholicism. However, his Protestant upbringing becomes the source of a great dilemma! King Philip wanted to rid the Netherlands of Protestantism, so William the Silent tried to find a way to protect people like him without revealing his identity. Similarly, in Scotland, Queen Mary, a Catholic, wanted her reign to allow space for both religions. However, after marrying a Protestant Lord and a few smooth years of leadership, Mary ultimately faced imprisonment due to a group of Lords working against her, accusing her of treason. Next week, Rebels will hear about Mary's son, the future King James. 

Quest

This week in our Create the Culture Quest, Rebels zoomed in on the day-to-day systems integral to the Discovery Studio experience! We reviewed the "Challenge Donut" and the growth mindset on Monday. There was an exceptional discussion about neuroscience and neuroplasticity and how we can use the Challenge Donut Zones (i.e. Comfort, Challenge and Panic) to help foster the right mindset. Tuesday's topics included DEAR (Drop Everything And Read), Mindfulness, Launches and Closings. We tightened some expectations and routines around these special times in our schedule and used a recipe to draft some Rebel-written Launches. On Wednesday, we focused on Town Hall, Character Call-Outs, and Studio Maintenance. Rebels broke into teams to practice using an intentional Character Call-Out: I have a Character Call-Out for _________, because __________, and I would call that __________. While every Town Hall ends with the beautiful appreciation practice, we also outlined some other essential elements of Friday Town Halls. Rebels discussed the box where they can put cultural feedback and suggestions, raise awareness for issues, or ask for a vote to be held so change can be made. After a busy week of breaking down all of these studio systems, Rebels had Thursday as a catch-up period for all their wonderful projects: Hero Boards, Journey Map avatars, graffiti names, Covenant suggestions and more! 

Physical Development

Physical development continued with our two choices for Session 1: a hike or soccer. The teams completed warm-up drills, followed by games in which we focused on the rules and positions on the field. We are looking forward to the upcoming jamborees! 

Exploration Studio

Mindfulness and Launch

To continue reflecting on our Overarching Question of the Year, "How do you design a life full of joy?" Rebels wrote as many things that brought them joy as they could in their mindfulness journals. It was beautiful to hear all of the big and seemingly little things that bring us all joy, including, but not limited to: fresh ice to skate on, opening a new book, watching the sunset, the smell of bacon, fall leaves, and new art supplies.

Rebels then warmed up their minds and Socratic discussion skills with the Blue Comet Conundrum from Astra Nova School. "Imagine this: a bright blue comet shoots through the sky on Thursday night for the whole world to see. Three people think that they should get to name it. So, whose side are you on: the scientist who predicted the comet, the student who snapped a blurry picture of the comet but thought it was a plane, or the astronaut on the space station who saw the comet with their own eyes? Rebels were split mainly between the scientist and astronaut during the first vote; however, by the time the discussion had ended, it was closer to a split between all three! 

Tuesday's mindful walk around the neighbourhood was simple - by the end, share something you enjoyed. Was it something you saw, heard, smelled, or touched (hopefully not tasted!)? Many Rebels highlighted flowers in a neighbour's garden; the lovely purple hue and the nice scent, the bumble bees buzzing, while others laughed at a sunscreen in a parked car that said "donut." We're looking forward to seeing how the sights and smells of the neighbourhood change as the year goes on. We then met to discuss the role of a Guide at Revel. With three full weeks under our belts, next week we will run a Questions Challenge where if learners ask a question and the Guide answers it, the Guide gets a tally. However, if the Guide refrains from answering and instead asks the learner a clarifying question or gives authentic choices, the learners will get a tally. Whoever has the most tallies at the end of the week will have to spin the Wheel of Doooooom!

After Free-Choice mindfulness on Wednesday, Rebels learned about an inspiring young swimmer and discussed whether they were most impressed with his accomplishments, dedication, or ability at a young age. They then also spoke about what they would love to be really great at and ended the Launch reflecting on what the most important thing they wanted to acheive that day was.

Thursday's Pilates practice introduced a specific breath pattern, asking Rebels to try to make their exhale a beat or two longer than their inhale. After dropping in this way, we added some gentle stretching from a seated position, opening up through the shoulders and neck. After that, Rebels were ready to kick it up a notch and we did a sumo squat challenge with alternating calf raises! Imagine this: You've sat down to work on an important project, one that could determine the outcome of your entire session. You're focused, ready to dive in when suddenly, a notification pops up on your phone. You glance at it, and what was supposed to be a brief distraction turns into an hour of scrolling. Now, you're behind, stressed, and frustrated. Distractions seem minor but can have major consequences on our goals, productivity, and even our sense of self-worth. At Launch, we dove into the world of distractions, including why it is hard to resist them, the consequences, and how we can manage or eliminate them effectively. We also talked about how distractions are often seen as an enemy but how they could be a signal of something deeper. What do your distractions reveal about your true interests and priorities? Is it possible that distractions highlight a need for balance in our lives? We ended our discussion by reflecting on the steps we would take today to reduce distractions and hold ourselves accountable. Friday, we began the day with some puzzles to wake our brains up. We dominated Wordle by getting the word in 4 guesses! It was then time for Rebels to pitch their Elective projects for peer approval before diving into the last Core Skills period of the week.

Reader/Writer

This week in Reader/Writer, Rebels examined two world-class examples of letters written by the author to themselves. We looked at a famous poem/letter called Dear Basketball by the late Kobe Bryant and an article published by Teen Magazine titled Letter to My Future Self. We discussed similarities and differences in both examples and what features of letter writing should be included in our own written sample. Rebels agreed that introducing our letters with fun facts, predictions, current favourites, and interests would be a fun way to kick off their first written piece. As we elaborated on the body paragraphs, Rebels brainstormed specific goals for six categories: Personal, Family, Friendship, Health, Revel SMART Goals, and Revel/school goals. Next week, Rebels will complete their rough copies and begin editing as they prepare their letters for Exhibition in a few weeks. 

Math Lab

This week, Exploration Rebels went "Grocery Shopping!" There were four challenge levels and a Rebel Buck on the table for teams who could unlock all four! Starting with a budget of exactly $10, Rebels had to combine items for sale to get as close to ten dollars without going over. After that, they had to find three items totalling exactly $8.87. The third level was a budget of $20; they had to spend as much as they could without going over, but they could double or triple items. Finally, the fourth challenge was a scenario where a shopper started with $20, bought three items and had exactly $15.60 left over. Which items were purchased? Teams worked incredibly well together, taking turns to contribute to their solutions, and showed a lot of grit in continuing to think things through. For example, in the first challenge, one team got to $9.96, and instead of complaining that they couldn't move on, they doubled their efforts and were spurred on, knowing another team had found a way to spend $9.98! There was also some excellent critical thinking: one team noticed a 90% off sticker on the ground beef and took time to calculate the discounted price. Awesome collaboration, Rebels!

French

On Monday, we finished building our French Aide-mémoire. Then on Wednesday, we started listening to a phonics videoto learn how to read and pronounce all the sounds in French.

Civilizations

This week, our learners used a series of video and text resources to learn about the Agricultural Revolution and how it changed how humans lived and paved the way for cities. Early advances in agriculture led to the breeding of more resilient plants and animals. As they took notes, they were asked: Considering all the gains and costs, did advances in farming lead to stronger and healthier civilizations or has it unleashed potentially dangerous forces? 

With their research in hand, they met on Thursday for a small group Socratic Discussion led by the Launchpad. They spoke about genetically modified foods, cellular meat, native vs. non-native species, and government subsidies while providing evidence from their research. 

Quest

This week, we worked to further develop our problem-solving skills and strategies with the help of an online program called Quandary. In each episode, there are not any clear right or wrong answers, but learners have to listen to all of the various sides, solutions and their potential consequences in order to determine what they believe to be the best outcome.On Monday, we began by discussing the difference between facts and opinions and how they both affect coming up with a solution. Then learners broke into groups of two or three to work on Episode 1: Lost Sheep, where the yashors - predators native to Braxos - are attacking the settlement's sheep. The settlement wants to preserve their sheep, but the predator has a medicinal value that could help colonists fight off disease. Players were tasked with talking to the colonists and listening to their diverse opinions to decide how to best proceed. We then met as a full studio to discuss each group's solution and whether they used more facts or more opinions from the settlers when making their final decision.

On Tuesday, Rebels were given a Problem-Solving Process log to complete for Episode 2: Water Wars. On planet Braxos, the community's public water well appears polluted. The only other well belongs to a colonist who is charging for access, but not everyone can afford the price of clean water. Rebels had to put themselves in the shoes of the settlers and develop a plan to fix the dilemma. Once again, the full group met at the end of the class to discuss their solution and what the difference between having the right to do something is the same as being right to do so.

Wednesday we continued Quandry and discussed Fashion Faction. The colony's tailor has started making special alterations to the standard uniform for his friends. Some colonists say this is dividing the community. The Rebels listened to everyone's opinions and made an informed decision for the good of the settlement. Rebels met to reflect on what it feels like to be part of a group, how it feels to be excluded, and how both inclusion and exclusion affect our identity. The learners also made great exclusionary connections in history, such as the Holocaust, racism, and Residential Schools.

On Thursday, we tackled the fourth and last episode: Mixed Messages. An anonymous colony member has been posting mean-spirited messages about engineers on the community message board, which causes Bazzil, the engineer, to feel personally attacked. Rebels completed a Pro-Pro Chart before reflecting on cyberbullying and the importance of being an upstander instead of a bystander.

Next week, we will use these skills to address a problem that we see in our own communities!

Physical Development

Our PD choices on Monday were between a hike around Carlington Woods or a soccer session led by a learner. It was a warm day and all of the Rebels needed a big glass of water upon our return.

On Wednesday, one of our learners led a hike into the Carlington Woods! It was a beautiful day, and the Rebels noticed many grasshoppers and squirrels and wondered if they spotted some Poison Ivy (hopefully not!). When walking back, the Rebels noticed a new art gallery called "Sphere Gallery," so we went in for a quick look. Please ask your Rebel to see their invitation to a new show by Diane Woodward, an artist we met when we were there. Meanwhile, another learner led a dynamic warm-up before a great kickball game! 

Additional Highlights

Some of our learners participated in their first band meeting this week! After completing their introductions, they watched a clip of our instructor's funk band, discussed instrument choices, and ended by listening to a pop song by Harry Styles and analyzing its instrumentation and structure. 

Launchpad Studio

Our Launchpad learners continued their personalized core skills goals this week, completing math, coding, typing, and SAT preparation lessons. They also took time to read their independent Deep Books and develop their Russian and Spanish language skills.

Communication/Literature

In our Comm/Lit classes, Rebels reviewed and learned an extensive list of literary vocabulary words that we will be studying throughout the year to deepen our analysis. We also read and listened to a performance of Neil Gaiman's "Click, Clack, the Rattlebag." Using three different close reading strategies (Interstate, Microscope, or Compass), we discussed the piece, considering various perspectives, unique interpretations, themes, the application to the human experience, characterization, setting, and narration. Next week, we will begin our Short Story Boot Camp!

AP Language and Composition

This week in English Language and Composition, our learner was tasked with reading through three articles to select one and identify an author's claims, evidence, and commentary, as well as how well each worked together to support the overall argument. There was also a free-response question using four provided sources to argue in support or defence of monolingualism in North America.

AP Literature and Composition

This week, one Rebel continued work on their AP Literature and Composition course, drafting an essay discussing how anxiety impacts human connections in TS Eliot's poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. They also began to dissect the Fitzgerald classic The Great Gatsby.

They also improved their cover letter drafting skills in preparation for their job search!

AP Biology

This week, our learner taking AP Biology completed a series of assignments and discussions on the first unit about water and began Unit 2, learning all about cells!

French and Civilization (see Exploration Studio)

Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:

Spark Studio

• Can you show us how to do five-finger and square breathing? Which one do you prefer to use? 

• What tools can you use when you are in the various zones and need some support? (Deep breathing, hugging a stuffed animal, walking, taking a break, or something else?) 

• What worries did you feed to your worry monster? 

• What brings you joy? 

• French: How do you say September in French?

Discovery Studio

• Which covenant on our experiment board is the most important to keep and why?

• Which of your Core Skills goals is a little too close to the comfort zone? Where can you increase the challenge?

• How can people who practice different religions coexist in society? Does your answer change if religion is a part of your life? Not a part of your life?

• What are all the ways to make 10? 15? 20? How do you know if you've found all the ways?

• French: How do you pronounce the "s" when it is alone between two vowels? (Z)

Exploration Studio

• Agriculture began when cultures started growing plants and animals native to their area; in later societies, plants and animals were transported across the world, sometimes wiping out native species. Should we spend resources trying to preserve species that are unimportant to the economy?

• Using our family's most recent grocery shopping receipt, what combination of items could you buy with only $20? Can you make a meal for this amount?

• Was it right for the tailor to only customize his friend's clothes? Why/why not? Even if it wasn't right, did he have the right to do it anyway?

• Is it possible to use distractions positively, or should they be avoided entirely?

• French: What have you added to your French Aide-mémoire that is specific to you?

Launchpad Studio

• Should governments dictate or subsidize what crops farmers plant?

• How are you planning your work periods? Does your schedule match your priorities and the best time of day for various learning activities?

• How can we support you as you dive into the school year?

Important Upcoming Dates

• Franco-Ontarien Day! WEAR GREEN: Wednesday, September 25th

• Family Onboarding- Family Badges: Wednesday, September 25th ONLINE at 6 pm (See Band for login)

• G2/3 Soccer Jamboree: Thursday, September 26th

• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day: Monday, September 30th

• Grade 4-6 Soccer Jamboree will now take place on Friday, October 4th