Revel Recap: Sept. 23 - 27, 2024
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
As we entered the fall season, we kicked off our week by reading Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie. This book is a typical Amelia Bedelia book as there are a few mix-ups along the way, like when she interprets the phrase "put the pie in the oven" a bit too directly! Her humorous misunderstandings bring charm to baking a pie with her grandparents, demonstrating to the Sparks that it's okay to make mistakes while learning something new. The Sparks then followed a directed drawing of a pie that they got to design. On Tuesday, the Sparks had a wonderful conversation about fall and what they look forward to doing. They then wrote all about what they plan to do this fall season. Many learners want to jump in the leaves, rake the leaves, and go on to a pumpkin patch. On Wednesday, we read the story The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The book tells the story of Vashti, a young girl who doubts her artistic abilities. Through encouragement, she begins by making a simple dot on a page, which sparks her journey of self-discovery and confidence as an artist. Throughout the reading, the Sparks were asked reflective questions like, "Have you ever felt like you can't do something?" and "What does Vashti think about herself as an artist?" These prompts helped them connect personally with Vashti's story. Ultimately, when Vashti meets a little boy who believes he can't draw because he can't make a straight line, she empowers him to do his best. The Sparks then had the opportunity to make their mark and design their own dots! On Thursday, the Sparks played thankful tag in the gym. If a learner was tagged they had to find the learner wearing the pinny to tell them something they were grateful for to get back into the game. For current events on Friday, we watched a video on CBC News for Kids about reconciliation and discussed Orange Shirt Day. Following this, the learners wrote one thing they were grateful for at Revel Academy.
Math Lab
Group One continued to work hard on their number recognition this week. After reviewing 11-19 with a number game, learners were introduced to the numbers 20-29. As their number sense grows, we will continue to explore with more Montessori materials. This week, they learned about the number three counting chain. We noticed that not every bead has a number ticket. At this stage, we tell the learners to skip beads that do not have a ticket. This material provides a concrete example of skip counting, which helps learn multiplication facts. Each learner counted the tickets forwards and backwards before recording these numbers in their math books.
As Group Two has many returning Rebels and fewer new learners, the returning learners demonstrated how to use our Montessori Addition Strip Board and Addition Working Charts. These two hands-on learning materials are available during work periods and help the learners practice addition and work on memorizing math facts. The group worked together to explore the Addition Boards, and the new learners could use them to complete two pages in their booklets. We introduced the returning learners to addition and regrouping. We will continue this next week as well. The Sparks are always up for a challenge!
French
We had a colouring activity on Monday and Tuesday to learn school supply vocabulary in French. On Wednesday, we learned the song "Notre Place" for Franco-Ontarian Day. Thursday, we played "Quelle heure est-il Monsieur le loup?" in the gym to review our numbers, the Colour game, and Seek-a-Boo to learn common French words.
Quest
Has your family ever created a vision board, or have you asked your learner what goals they want to achieve this school year? If not, don't worry! During our Quest, the Sparks have been hard at work crafting their own vision boards, which they will showcase at our upcoming Exhibition.
Through this creative process, the Sparks have explored big, thought-provoking questions such as:
What are your dreams and goals?
What makes you smile?
Who do you look up to?
How would you describe yourself?
Where do you want to live?
What experiences do you want to take on?
These questions have inspired the Sparks to reflect on what truly matters to them: personal growth, academic achievements, or even future adventures. By putting their ideas, hopes, and aspirations into visual form, they're gaining valuable insight into what drives them and how they can pursue their dreams with purpose.
To connect to the word each family provided that best describes their learner, the Sparks were asked questions connected to their D.N.A (dreams, needs and abilities). Questions such as:
What do you wonder about?
Are there places you want to go?
How can your guides help you in the studio?
What do you need in your life to be your best?
What are you amazing at?
What could you teach the learners?
What makes you proud?
Art
With the autumn air, we connected art to the changes our planet has been making this season. The Sparks took on the challenge of designing fall trees from scratch using just Q-tips and paint! They started with blank sheets of paper and crafted tree trunks using Q-tips as their brushes before dotting on vibrant fall colours. Reds, oranges, yellows, and browns blended to create stunning autumn trees. This open-ended craft encouraged the Sparks to think creatively and explore different ways to represent fall!
Geography
As many Sparks kept asking, "Can we listen to the continent song, please?" the Guides had to begin geography with the Hopscotch Continent Song. The Sparks sang loud and proud as they started recognizing the melody. Following this, they continued to work on their last couple of continents for the project they started last week. Everyone's maps look ready to go for Exhibition! To keep the spotlight on North America, we explored some amazing animals that live there. We also read North American Animals: Moose by Megan Borgert-Spaniol. The book explores the habitat, diet, and characteristics of moose, one of North America's most iconic animals. This book deepened their geographical understanding and sparked curiosity about the unique wildlife that calls North America home!
Reader/Writer Workshop
Group 2 gathered for a fun and engaging mini-guided writing workshop this Monday. The Sparks and Guides crafted the sentence: "In my apple pie, I need…". As they brainstormed a list of ingredients, they encountered a new punctuation mark — the comma. The Guides took this opportunity to explain how commas work, explained they are like little pauses, and challenged them to spot them when they read during DEAR. In addition to their writing, learners practiced staying between the lines as they were reminded that the lines on the paper are like bumps on the road. Their letters were cars, and if they bumped into the lines too much, their cars could "break." This playful metaphor kept them focused and engaged as they were writing. To finish the activity, each learner drew a picture of themselves baking an apple pie at home.
On Friday, Group 1 was introduced to our next two letters of the alphabet, T and M. We listened to a song that repeated the phonetic sound of these letters before tracing and repeating the sounds with the Moveable Alphabet. Each learner then set off to illustrate three things that start with each letter sound. Group 2 took a big step by officially selecting their first book study of the year: The Good, the Bad, the Spooky. This fun, engaging story will lead the learners on a journey with its exciting characters and storyline. Throughout the book study, they will dive deep into character traits, explore storytelling elements, and reflect on the book's themes. In addition to preparing for the book study, Group 2 worked on expanding their sight word knowledge. They practiced two new words, "is" and "me," by writing both sentences and questions using these words. Again this week, the Sparks took their personal goal work periods to the next level. They continued showing interest in the reading drawers, Bob books, and writing books. Way to go, Sparks!
Additional Highlights
This week was packed with excitement and creativity in the Sparks studio! One of the most memorable moments was when the Sparks played a new game in the gym called Zombie Invasion. In this game, the zombies had to collect candy from hoops while avoiding being tagged by a pumpkin. If tagged, they were sent to the "graveyard." In addition, the Sparks spent time with their Revel House Cup teams, diving into some fun team-building activities. They began designing their team crests and even tie-dyed their Revel Academy t-shirts. The energy and enthusiasm during these sessions were fantastic as learners expressed their creativity and team spirit.
A very special highlight from this week was having author Leroy Fontaine visit our studio to read his book Sekweha the Superkid: And His Cultural Cape. The book's back cover describes this inspiring story about "Sekweha the Superkid, an Indigenous boy raised by his grandparents in a First Nations community who moves to an urban city. As he navigates new experiences, he loses touch with his cultural roots and cherished items, including a superhero cape from his grandmother, symbolizing bravery and protection. Throughout the story, he regains his items and reconnects with his culture, realizing it always lives within him. The story highlights cultural pride, the excitement of new experiences, and the harmony of blending Western and Indigenous ways (Fontaine)." The learners were a very attentive audience. They enjoyed the story and asked some great questions at the end! Some Rebels were asking where they could find the book. If you would like to add this story to your home library, it can be purchased on Amazon. Thank you, Leroy, for sharing your important story with us!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday morning, we brought back a mindful pastime from last year called "Thank You for Sharing." Rebels take turns picking a conversation prompt from three face-down cards and then choose to share a personal story or response. There are only two Rules of Engagement (ROEs) for this: you must listen attentively and thank people for sharing. This week's conversations included what the Rebels would make a TV show about if they knew millions of people would watch and something they were afraid of a few years ago that no longer scares them. For Launch on Monday, we watched a video about the Zones of Regulation, which is a way to categorize our emotions. Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. We worked on sorting several emotions into each category.
Last Friday, Mindfulness Walks were brought up at our Town Hall. The Rebels didn't like the walks because walking on the grass in the morning caused them to have wet shoes and socks. We decided to continue to have mindfulness walks on Tuesday mornings but stay on the sidewalks to avoid wet feet. On Thursday mornings, they will have an option of Mindfulness Walks or Yoga/Pilates with Ms Mel in the Gym. Tuesday morning, we reviewed information from Ottawa Public Health to equip the Rebels in controlling the spread of head lice.
On Wonder Wednesday, the Rebels almost solved all three NYT puzzles: they correctly guessed the Wordle on the sixth and final chance (phew!). They cracked the Mini crossword in under 3 minutes and managed to get one category in the Connections puzzle. Way to go, Rebels! For Wednesday's Launch, we discussed our emotions again and discussed steps to take when we are upset. First, we must recognize our feelings and develop a strategy to help ourselves feel better. We began creating a list of strategies we can use at Revel to help us return to feeling green or calm.
On Thursday, the Rebels had a choice to do Yoga with Ms. Mel or take a Mindfulness walk. For our Mindfulness walk, we talked about how Indigenous people were the first people on our land and how they treated nature really intentionally. They also knew about all the plants, so when walking, the Rebels were asked to look at the trees and plants and see how many they could identify. Most Rebels could identify the Maple trees and know all about the delicious maple syrup we make from its sap. For Launch, we watched some clips of Disney movies and discussed what Zone the characters were in and their emotions.
Math Lab
Aim/Release Rebels worked on representing rates this week with Katha the Caterpillar's challenge. Katha loves to climb, and her "Everest" is to reach the top of Balveer the Big, a giant tree in her local forest. Each day, she can climb up a certain number of meters. As the Rebels worked out how many days it would take her to reach the top, depending on the rate and height of the tree, some arrived at division as an efficient way to solve the problem. However, when we said that Katha also slid back down a number of meters each night while she slept, some teams argued for different answers. For example, if Katha climbs up 5 meters each day and slides back 2 meters each night, when will she reach the top of the tree?
Draw/Anchor Rebels tackled the Carnival Conundrum! Using five consecutive numbers, to win the game, a player must arrange the numbers so that one arm in the V-shape equals the sum of the numbers in the other arm. This task prompted the Rebels to win the game as many times as possible with various numbers and then try to make a rule for winning. Additionally, we added the "bank" strategy to our work spaces. Last week, we used the "banner" to show and save critical details about the task, and this week, we did this and used the "bank" to keep a record of the solutions we tested.
French
This week, Group 1 learned the days of the week, months, and the weather in French, using activity sheets and songs to help us remember! On Monday, Group 2 finished listening to the phonetics video on letter combinations in French, then did a Kahoot to check what we'd learned. As Wednesday was Franco-Ontarian Day, we learned (or revisited for some learners) the song "Notre Place," the Franco-Ontarian anthem. We then discussed the history of francophones in Ontario and Canada and took a quiz to learn more about their history.
Reader/Writer
Draw and Anchor Rebels: This week, we took our list of goals we previously brainstormed and started to put them into a letter template. The Rebels downloaded a new extension called Google Read and Write, which can help them with spelling, has a voice-to-text feature, and can even read their work back to them to make sure it makes sense. Next week, we will continue working on our letters and learn how to edit them.
Aim/Release Rebels: Aim and Release learners continued work on their letter templates. The Rebels also downloaded the Google Read and Write extension, and next week, they will begin to edit their letters and decide how they want to display them for Exhibition.
Civilizations
Rebels heard all about King James VI of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots' son (who was also James I of England). As it turns out, James made enemies with the Catholics, the Puritans, and even Parliament during his reign! Throughout, he made decisions that made Puritan worship illegal, fined Anglicans, exiled Catholic priests, and hatched a plan to explode Parliament with gunpowder! He was also envious of gold mining in South America and organized three ships to sail to North America to search for gold there. We mapped Scotland, England, and Jamestown, as well as the route between them, and then debated the merit of other aspects of his leadership, such as the translation of the Bible.
Quest
This week, the Rebels worked on two special video projects - that's right, we're vlogging! On Monday, we first took time to pull apart our Question of the Year: How do we experience more joy? The diagram with our QotY overlays four other questions: What am I good at? What do I love? How can I contribute? And what does the world need? For each session, we will return to these questions to uncover more and more sources of joy. For now, Vlog #1 asked the Rebels to complete this sentence: I feel JOY at Revel when… On Tuesday, we answered: What is the difference between A and B? A and B compared various choice words against more traditional ones, such as Guide vs. Teacher, Rebel vs. Student and Studio vs. Classroom. Rebels worked with their team to describe the Revel difference and then filmed Vlog #2. When they weren't busy vlogging, Rebels also completed a Journey Tracker scavenger hunt to ensure they became familiar with some of the key features we'll use this year. Wednesday, we brought it back to money. What are the reasons you can give or take a Rebel Buck? With this system up and running, it was also essential to start to outline this year's Rules of Engagement (ROEs) contract. Rebels devised eleven ROEs to test and voted on their top three: no interrupting, listen with your eyes, ears and hearts, and share the air time.
Physical Development
On Tuesday, our soccer crew reviewed the rules of the game in preparation for the jamborees next week. We focused on gameplay, rotating through positions, and making a starting lineup of preferred positions. The learners were also excited to create a team cheer to show our spirit! On Thursday, we played Octopus and Freeze Tag in the field to warm up, followed by a great game of soccer. The hiking group enjoyed a new path and the beautiful fall weather.
The hiking Rebels have become more adept and have increased their pace while exploring new paths! We walked along the edge of the bike path at the top of the hill while enjoying the gorgeous weather!
Additional Highlights
In DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read), we finished our first read-aloud, "Save Me a Seat" by Gita Varadarajan. It's a story about Joe and Ravi, who seem to have nothing in common until they have a common enemy. The Rebels chose some books for our next read-aloud, and next week, we will watch the book trailers and vote on a book to read next.
This week's special highlight was having author Leroy Fontaine visit us to read his book Sekweha the Superkid: And His Cultural Cape. (See book description in the Spark Studio section.) The Discovery Rebels were a great audience and asked some very insightful questions. Go to Amazon to purchase your copy!
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
Monday morning, we reflected and assessed their time in the studio last week when their Guide was at a conference using the ICEE framework. They asked themselves: How were our Intentionality, Civility, Excellence, and Energy over those three days? What did we do really well? What needs improvement? They all agreed that while their energy was good, they needed to work on their intentionality during work periods and continue to strive for excellence. Tuesday's mindful walk around the neighbourhood evoked some surprising observations about how much can change in a week or even daily! On Wednesday, learners had the opportunity to make their own name badges for their Badge Banners! Several took the time to create personalized buttons, while others even made a fun pin for their backpack! Thursday's yoga/pilates practice combined seated stretches, neck hygiene, and legwork. Rebels were invited to match their breath to the movement, focusing on finding subtle shifts in a pose that felt good to them and pushing themselves to finish strong with the day's sets (side kicks and squats). Friday, we warmed up with a great set of New York Times puzzles. Rebels quickly solved the Wordle, followed by Connections. Great teamwork!
In acknowledgment and preparation for National Truth and Reconciliation Day, each morning during Launch, we read the novel Fatty Legs: A True Story by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. While difficult to hear, this true story has been valuable to learn about the horrific experience of residential schools and the intergenerational effects.
Reader/Writer
This week, we took the goals we had previously brainstormed and put them into a letter template. The Rebels also downloaded a new extension called Google Read and Write, which can help them with their spelling, has voice-to-text, and can even read their work back to make sure it makes sense. Next week, we will continue working on our letters and learn how to edit them using our checklists.
Math Lab
Exploration Rebels conquered three tasks in Math Lab this week: Outfit Choices, Birdy's Eggs, and the Marching Band. 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 tree diagram, and eventually writing a multiplication equation. With the second two tasks, Rebels used a series of clues to narrow down possibilities to options that have been tested against all the clues. Whether it was a certain number of eggs laid by a bird,or how many musicians in a marching band, Rebels needed to draw upon knowledge of multiples and the rules of divisibility. Two teams managed to solve all challenge levels - excellent effort, Rebels!
French
On Monday, we finished listening to the phonetics video on letter combinations in French, then did a Kahoot to check what we'd learned. As Wednesday was Franco-Ontarian Day, we learned (or revisited for some learners) the song "Notre Place," the Franco-Ontarian anthem. We then discussed the history of francophones in Ontario and Canada and took a quiz to learn more about their history.
Civilizations
The agricultural revolution led to excess wealth that could be used to build cities, mega-cities, and empires and led to written history, social class, and world-spanning economies. The Rebels took time on Tuesday to take notes on various articles, videos, and book chapters regarding Mesopotamia and its early developments. Rebels then met on Thursday to debate the most significant impact on modern society's creation: agriculture tools and technology, city living and population density, record keeping and writing, collective learning, specialization, or government rule and law. We also put ourselves in the shoes of various leaders and the decisions that they may have had to make. For example, who to tax and who to ally with based on various scenarios. We completed our Civilization classes for the week, reading about cuneiform, Sargon and the Akkadians, and Hammurabi's Code.
Quest
In many cases, the power of a Hero's Journey and studio contracts, learning arcs, crisp launches, world-class examples, straightforward recipes and rewards will keep a studio humming with productive energy and joy. Eventually, however, entropy causes something to go awry. Guides MUST STEP BACK. Quite often, the tribe will decay further, and at some point, (hopefully) one or more studio members will decide: "We don't want to live like this!" On Monday, we learned about the various accountability systems at Revel. After our full deep dive into the ICEE framework, Alert System, and Peace Table Protocol, Rebels felt more empowered with ways to ensure our studios ran as intended.
On Tuesday, in pairs or groups of three, Rebels identified and chose a community quandary they wanted to take through the problem-solving process, ending with a solution proposal. Groups chose various topics, from food insecurity, gender inequality, endangered species, climate change, and the ever-present issues with our very own Maker Space. They began by defining the problem and some discovered some startling stats through their research. They then worked through a Problem Identification and Definition organizer, thinking through the problem and the people affected.
Rebels continued their work on Wednesday with several groups writing emails or designing surveys to ask at least one stakeholder their questions to understand the problem better and develop various solutions. By Thursday, the groups had divided the workload to maximize their productivity, with some working on the research and others designing their slides for their presentation. A few groups had even heard back from the emails they sent out, while one group booked a time to meet with the Discovery Studio to get their feedback and ideas for solutions.
Additional Highlights
Learners began meeting with Erin for their Mentor Meetings to make SMART goals for the year. With an initial plan in place, we will start meeting as families to ensure we are all on the same page regarding priorities and preparation for the next steps.
On Friday, Rebels met with their House Cup team to brainstorm and design a House Crest. We can’t wait to display what they come up with in the coming weeks!
Launchpad Studio
This week in Core Skills, one learner completed their Data and Statistics course and began studying for the math portion of the SATs using the Khan Academy class. Another Rebel started a Web Development course, and after a quick review of their prior HTML knowledge, they began the CSS portion of the course. Meanwhile, a third learner worked to progress through the Integrated Math 1 course while finishing Python 1!
Communication/Literature
This week, learners read and annotated a series of short stories before coming together to discuss and further analyze each piece, focusing on characterization and setting. Rebels were very insightful as they discussed "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros, highlighting their connection to Rachel and the aspects of her background that contribute to how she perceives the world. They also compared "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid and "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, with each learner describing the setting and providing evidence.
AP Language and Composition
This week, our learner started a written reflection about last week's free response question process, feedback, and future revisions. They also received a new vocabulary list to study and commit to memory.
AP Literature and Composition
Our Rebel taking the AP Literature and Composition course sharpened their rhetorical essay skills with a practice AP test at the beginning of the week. They also read two short stories, "The Story Of An Hour" by Kate Chopin and "Araby" by James Joyce, creating fiction charts for both.
AP Biology
This week in AP Biology, our learner completed a unit on cells. They learned about cell structure and function and can now explain how cells carry out essential life functions such as energy transfer and transformation, gas exchange, waste disposal, growth, and how cells interact with their environment.
Canadian and International Law
It was another great week in the Canadian and International Law course run by R.I.S.E. Our learner began a deep dive into the Japanese prosecution process and is looking forward to next week's meeting.
Additional Highlights
Two of our learners attended the Creative Morning meeting at Bayview Yards on Friday, where they were able to hear Maggie Downer speak about this month's theme, reflection. Maggie discussed the importance of learning more about Orange Shirt Day and caring for our land, air, and water. She also stressed that reflection is to pause, look, share and plan.
Our Launchpad learners were huge helpers in the various studios this week. From helping a learner with his high school entrance essay to helping their House Cup team reach consensus, the oldest learners are really stepping up as role models. Thank you!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:
Spark Studio
Which art project did you enjoy more, drawing a pie or creating a dot painting?
What North American animal is your favourite?
What colours did you use for your tie-dye shirt?
French: Group 1: How do you say "pencil" in French? (crayon)
French Group 2: How do you say "I want"(je veux) and "I don't want" (je ne veux pas) in French?
Discovery Studio
What is the difference between a Studio Covenant and a Rule of Engagement (an ROE)?
What is a reason to give or take a Rebel Buck?
Draw/Anchor Math Lab: What is a rule for winning the Carnival Conundrum?
Aim/Release Math Lab: Katha climbs twice as high as she did the day before. If she climbs 2 meters on the first day, how far would she have climbed after 6 days?
French: When is Franco-Ontarian Day? What are Franco-Ontarians?
Exploration Studio
Civilizations: The spread of river cities resulted in rapid growth, trade, and territorial kingdoms. Because of increased dependence on rivers for irrigation and transportation, many cities collapsed in times of drought and famine. What would you have done to prevent your city from collapsing in a drought?
Restrict growth so you never have more people than food storage, but risk being outgrown and taken over by your neighbours.
Continue growth by allying with a neighbouring city's leader, but if a drought lasts too long, it would cause both cities to fail and your people to starve.
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: what are the rules of divisibility?
French: When is Franco-Ontarian Day? What was prohibited in Ontario between 1912 and 1927?
Quest: What problem is your group taking through the Problem-Solving process?
Launchpad Studio
Should governments dictate or subsidize what crops farmers plant?
What was your greatest takeaway from the Creative Mornings meeting?
Which short story has stuck with you the longest after reading? Was it due to the character, setting, plot, figurative language, or something else?
How did you help the school community this week?
Important Upcoming Dates
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day: Monday, September 30th
Grade 2-3 Soccer Jamboree: Tuesday, October 1st
Grade 4-6 Soccer Jamboree: Friday, October 4th
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