Revel Recap: January 13 - 17, 2025
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
The Sparks looked out the window Monday morning to embrace the magical snowfall. As a studio, we spoke about what it may feel like to be outside in the snow, what colours we see, and what the temperature may be like. Following this, the Sparks picked a winter wonderland word of their choice and used bubble letters to trace it on paper. Words such as icey, snowy, sledding, and snowmen were among those chosen. With our new artist of the week, Roy Lichtenstein, the Sparks imagined what three colours he may have used for his art. The Sparks then chose three colours using the colour wheel and designed a pop art word piece! On Tuesday, while Classical music played in the background, the learners enjoyed playing with Play-Doh. On Wednesday, two learners led our yoga practice. Using the yoga spinner game, they took turns to demonstrate a pose and held it for 15 seconds. Some poses were standalone, while others were with partners. With new learners and a new year ahead, we revisited our promises to ourselves and each other in the Spark Studio. Together, we read I Promise by Lebron James. Our two new learners then took the time to sign our covenants! Last week, the learners engaged in a workout. The feedback was very positive, and I asked to do it again soon, so on Thursday, they got right into a 15-minute HIIT workout. Following this, we stocked our studio library with 16 new books. The Sparks each picked a colouring sheet from the web to end the week! Some learners picked cyber trucks, hummers, sloths, axolotls, and Pokemon.
Quest
You may have heard of Roy Lichtenstein or have seen some of his popular art pieces. Your learner(s) can now share many fun facts about him as they spent the week practicing his art style and grew an interest in adding primary colours, speech bubbles, dots and lines into their activities. Lichtenstein is probably most famous for his funny and colourful comic strip paintings, but that's not all he did. Roy took ordinary everyday things like hot dogs and turned them into art. On Monday, the Sparks listened to a story about Roy's life and saw some famous art pieces in the book. They learned that he enjoyed comic strips, and their day's project was to create their own! In partners, they had a sheet with five frames, a dice, and a handout entitled "Roll - Roy Lichenstein." Whichever number their dice landed on, they had to use in the comic strip bubble for their script - each script needed to be rolled 5 times so 25 altogether. We can't wait to share them at Exhibition. After reading another book about Roy Lichtenstein, the Sparks created sunrise art! They used black lines and the primary colours. As they were working on the project, many learners expressed that the project was taking too long or it was hard. The Guides reassured them that art takes time and they can do hard things. Everyone's artwork turned out beautifully, and the learners are excited to share their pieces with their families. On Thursday, it was time to upgrade our art skills to make an even more challenging art piece - still life! Still life is defined as a collection of inanimate objects arranged in a specific way. The magic of still life paintings is that they can show us a new way of looking at ordinary objects around us. We then used Roy's "Still Life with Crystal Bowl" as inspiration! A fun fact about this painting is that Roy used it for the design of an exhibition poster for a presentation of the Whitney Museum collection held in Milan, Italy, in 2002, and approximately two thousand copies were printed at the time.
Math Lab
It's been another week full of geometry! Group One started with an interactive video with Pete the Cat. They had to find the shapes in the video, say the number of sides, and learn new shapes such as a diamond and star. The Sparks then rotated through three stations for the remainder of the lesson. At one table, they made shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks, at the second there was playdough and popsicle sticks, and at the third station, they worked with Ms. Kaitlin on two sheets. One of the handouts focused on the number of sides for each shape, such as hexagons, octagons, and pentagons. The second focused on the differences between a rectangle and a square! The Sparks worked really hard and planned on bringing some of their marshmallow shapes home! Way to go, Sparks.
Group Two had their last lesson on 3D shapes this week. Each received a shape net, which they coloured, cut, and glued together, assembling cubes, cylinders, rectangular and triangular prisms, triangular pyramids, and cones. Each net had information about the shape on each side. The learners worked together to fill in a chart where they drew the shapes and identified the shape attributes, such as how many faces, vertices, and edges they each have. With a solid understanding of three-dimensional figures, this group will move on to fractions next week!
French
This week, we explored the theme of opposites by reading the book Les Contraires. We focused on building our vocabulary and understanding concepts such as wet/dry, closed/open, dirty/clean, and many more. On Tuesday, we reread the story together and took time to answer the comprehension questions. We made learning more interactive on Wednesday by playing the "Opposites Game." In this activity, learners had to match pairs of words that are antonyms. Thursday, we took our class to the gym to play games designed to review and practice the week's vocabulary.
Reader/Writer
Group One continued their studies on the phonics of a, s, p, and t. Finding words that start with each letter, printing them in their writing book, and using the sandpaper letters gave them a wide variety of exploration. In their printing books, they worked really hard to stay in between the lines. It was brought to the Sparks' attention that their pencils are like cars, and the lines in their books are bumps. If their letter goes over the bump, they have "crashed" their car.
Group Two continued their grammar studies, learning about antonyms this week. First, we discovered that antonyms are two words that mean the opposite of another. We listened to the "Opposites Song" by Hopscotch, which gave us many examples. Next, we worked together using antonym label cards to find the matches. Each learner ended the lesson by reading various sentences and replacing words with the correct antonym. Throughout the week, they also continued to work on their writing books, Bob Books, Waseca Reading Drawers, and their UFLI reading passages during independent work periods.
Geography
The Sparks were introduced to their next country in North America, the United States of America. Together, they looked at the map of this country and counted how many states there were. To confirm their counting, they counted the stars in the flag to determine that there are 50 states. To learn more about the USA's geography, learners listened to the story, The Scrambled States of America, by Laurie Keller. The Sparks then worked hard to colour the American flag with accurate colours.
Additional Highlights
During our work periods this week, the Sparks have taken advantage of several learning resources. We had learners working on the ten-frames, doing puzzles, working on subtraction, making robots with pattern blocks, and playing Zingo, or Sight Word Splat.
For Show and Share this week, learners were asked to pick a Pop Art word with their family and pow, cool, love, quail and funny were all picked! Sparks could also bring in a toy of their choice if they'd like, and many learners brought in stuffies, cars and lots of Pokemon.
We had a significant milestone achieved in our studio this week: one learner finished the Waseca gold reading drawer and all of their Bob books! Many other learners finished the yellow and green reading drawers as well! We also celebrated a special birthday!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
We started our mindful routine on Monday morning with the "How's The Water?" game from the previous week. Rebels shared things they've always wanted to do but haven't yet, how they feel when they try something new, and what they appreciate about our group. At Monday's Launch, we talked about Needs vs Wants. We discussed the difference between the two, and then the Rebels were asked questions about different items and if they would classify them as needs or wants. The largest debate was whether a stuffed animal was a need or want. Some Rebels decided it was necessary because they could not sleep without their stuffy. Other Rebels thought it was a want because you don't need a stuffy to survive. That brought up a great conversation about routines, habits, and feeling safe, our Quest Topic for this week!
On Tuesday, we started the day drawing a hibernating bear sleeping in a cave. For Launch, we built a vision for our studio and designed an experiment to achieve this vision. Rebels want to create a community like a flock of birds because we will be close to a family but work together to stay on track and help each other. Rebels then organized BINGO activities that would help strengthen our civility by focusing on team-building - a way we can track and measure our progress since every three bingo spots are worth a Rebel Buck!
On Wednesday, we started with the New York Times' Connections puzzle and guessed one category correctly. With only two minutes to spare, Rebels also solved the daily Wordle on their sixth and final chance! For Launch, we continued our Joy Workbooks. We focused on "What does the world need?" We thought of problems the world has and then thought of the solution. The Rebels thought of peace, kindness, being environmentally friendly, food for all, more equality, and helping others like Mr.Beast does by digging wells in Africa and providing affordable housing. One of our Rebels is already planning a beach cleaning field trip in the summer! On Thursday morning, Rebels could do yoga with Ms Mel or meditate with Ms Amy. Feel-Good Friday, we warmed up the Boomwhackers, had some lovely pan flute accompaniment, and then played a new-to-us, more challenging version of the "Wellerman" sea shanty. Rebels had to play their note by its name rather than just colour - for example, when "Bb" was highlighted, Rebels played the B flat note instead of just looking for their colour (purple)! For Current Events, we read and celebrated the Canadian World Women's Under 18 Hockey Team winning gold against the USA 3-0. Way to go, Canada. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to impose a sweeping 25 percent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico, leading to a conversation about what tariffs are. Finally, we watched a video asking teens if they believe that rudeness is on the rise, and we discussed it as a studio as well.
Reader/Writer
Draw and Anchor Rebels reviewed the five senses and brainstormed the senses they would use when drinking a hot chocolate. Then, they had to choose two different body parts that they loved and brainstorm the senses they used with that body part.
For Aim and Release, we continued discussing the Book of Awesome. We read a passage from the book about the "Core of a Cinnamon Roll" and described the cinnamon roll using all of our senses. Last week, the learners brainstormed 15 Awesomes and worked on narrowing it down to their favourite three. They then brainstormed ideas for their Awesomes using their senses and being as descriptive as possible.
Math Lab
Without realizing it at first, Aim/Release Rebels explored more iterations of triangular number patterns at Monday's lab. First, they worked on a problem about guests high-fiving each other at a party. They used re-enactments for smaller numbers of guests and then tried to make diagrams to keep track of the number of high-fives with larger numbers of guests. Eventually, we organized the pattern information into a t-chart to investigate if a pattern rule could help us solve larger numbers of guests without having to draw them out. Then Rebels attempted the Wrecked Tangles problem and soon recognized the numeric representations of rectangle diagrams matched up to the pattern they had just worked on. So far, they know the first few triangular number terms are 1, 3, 6, 10, 15… but need to know the previous term to solve for the next.
On Wednesday, Draw/Anchor Rebels investigated a string of number patterns. They were given the first three terms for each set of patterns and had to figure out the next three. They also worked to write a pattern rule that someone else could use to generate the pattern. Along the way, many teams noticed interesting elements! For example, if you start at a number and subtract by nine each time, there is a repeating pattern in the one digit. Rebels noticed this when exploring patterns like 59, 50, 41… or 84, 75, 66… They found that the value in the one digit increases by one each time!
French
This week, we learned the song L'arbre est dans ses feuilles to practice tree-related vocabulary. Following this, we began creating our own family trees in French. This activity reinforced tree vocabulary but introduced family-related terms in French. As part of this project, learners may have questions about their family members to help complete their trees.
Civilizations
This week in Civilization, we focused on Louis XIV of France, famously known as the Sun King. Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years, making it one of Europe's most powerful and wealthy nations. Our reading highlighted his absolute monarchy, where he centralized power, stating, "I am the State," and controlled the nobility by requiring them to live at his extravagant palace at Versailles. We discussed the splendour of Versailles, showcasing Louis's wealth and power, but noted the heavy taxes and hardships this placed on the French people. Louis' reign expanded French territory through wars, but these conflicts drained the country's resources. While Louis XIV's reign left a legacy of cultural brilliance and centralized governance, it also set the stage for future unrest in France.
Quest
For our Quest this week, we are heading up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs tier to Safety. On Monday, we learned about our brains and how they keep us safe. Our brains have a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. We react by running away (flight), fighting back (fight), freezing in place (freeze), befriending the attacker to keep ourselves safe (fawn) and playing dead (flop). We worked on some deliverables that showcase the different parts of the brain, put together brain hats and discovered what parts of the brain do what activities. We ended the day discussing how our brains only focus on survival when we feel strong emotions, are afraid or feel unsafe. Our brains can not be logical in this state; we need to wait until we calm down for our logical brain to be able to think again.
On Tuesday, we shared people, spaces, and activities that make us feel safe. Then, the Rebels were challenged to come up with as many emotions as possible in groups and then organize them into their chosen categories. Our groups came back with a range from 10 emotions to 55 emotions. We discussed why some groups had a smaller number while others had many. The learners thought we all have the same emotions, but some may have felt more variations or intense emotions. Also, with age and experience comes more knowledge and vocabulary of different emotions. On Wednesday, Ms Amy introduced the Feeling Wheel, and the Rebels worked in groups to determine what emotion corresponded to a specific scenario. Then, the Rebels created a flow chart to show when they are feeling certain emotions and how they can feel better. We started our Quest on Thursday with a game of privilege versus disadvantages to highlight what we would discuss. One player had lots of privilege and had great things happening to them and therefore advanced in the game. The other player struggled and had many disadvantages, resulting in going backward. The Rebels got upset and claimed that this game was "unfair." Then, we discussed the Wheel of Power and Privilege. The Rebels used the Wheel to determine where they held power and where they had disadvantages. We then discussed how, if we are in a position of power, we can advocate for those who have less. Many of our Rebels were very moved and wanted to create change immediately. Next week, we will be focusing on Love and Belonging.
Physical Development
Tuesday was a double day at Carlington Hill. The learners enjoyed sledding or playing in the snow at both recess and P.E. On Thursday, the Rebels started by completing their Wizard of Oz yoga story from last week. Afterwards, they played a fun few rounds of Hungry, Hungry, Hippo. Ask your learner to explain the gym version of this fun game!
Additional Highlights
Rebels have been using their Flock of Birds BINGO to raise civility through team-building at breaks! They have been building cats with Keva planks, making up fancy handshakes, and talking with each other!
This week, the Rebels suggested a bunch of read-aloud options, and we watched book trailers for each one before voting. The Rebels chose Paddington by Michael Bond, which we began reading this week.
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
After our relaxing Free Choice Mindfulness Monday, where learners chose to colour, complete puzzles, and write in their Gratitude journals, we warmed up our brains with a Ted-Ed riddle. In trying to solve the puzzle, we learned about Boolean algebra, a branch of mathematics that deals with operations on logical values with binary variables. We began our Tuesday with a 15-minute walk through the snow. It was a beautiful morning, although the wind became chilly toward the end! We then completed an ICEE reflection with learners thinking about what type of community they most want to be a part of and how to build or change our current culture. After a Socratic discussion, most Rebels voted that we could still improve our intentionality but felt, for the most part, they were proud of the work they had done to create a hardworking studio. On Wednesday morning, Rebels took the first thirty minutes of the day to work on art projects. Some completed their avatars for the Apprenticeship Prep tracker, and others worked on their Word of the Year Art piece. In contrast, others worked on watercolour paintings, colouring, or drawing projects with a lovely calm music backdrop. Thursday morning's yoga practice focused on standing tall and rooting down in our mats. We began our flow in mountain pose, tried a new pose (dancer pose) to challenge our balance, and then ended in a reclined position with our legs up the wall. After yoga, the Rebels organized and held a funeral for our fish, Pinkalicious, who passed away earlier in the week. It was a lovely service, complete with music, candles, and speeches. We started the last day of the week with a game of Contexto and our Current Events presentation on tariffs and the Under 18 Women's Hockey Gold Medal win!
Math Lab
This week's Our World in Data question was: How do we sample a population? Rebels worked with various artworks to break down representations of colours and shapes. This activity drew on their knowledge of fractions, decimals, and percentages and challenged them to invent a way to summarize a complex pattern. In their warm-up, Rebels used colour block art inspired by Piet Mondrian and used a ten-by-ten grid system to assign percentages to each part. Things quickly ramped up when they looked at dot painting or bead art, however, when it was no longer straightforward to account for every element in the design. Ultimately, Rebels discovered why sampling techniques are needed, but we will investigate how they work next week.
French
This week, the Rebels completed writing their "Apprends-moi quelque chose" presentations in French. This project allowed them to dive deep into a topic of their choice while practicing their language skills. Now, they are moving on to the creative phase, where they will focus on the layout and format of their presentations. They have the freedom to choose how to showcase their work, whether through a video, a zine, or a slide presentation.
Reader/Writer
Last week, we began designing a character with a personality and depth by answering a series of prompts. This week, we began Reader/Writer by listening to an example of a backstory and discussing how better understanding one's past can help to make connections to one's current motivations and character. Rebels then used the work period to develop their character profiles further and begin writing their backstory if they were ready.
Quest
This week, we learned about various forms of government so that the Rebels could be more knowledgeable about the options and create believable governance systems for their world. On Monday, Rebels got into assigned groups and completed a simulation on Clan governance. Afterward, we met to discuss what they thought the pros and cons were of decision-making in a clan. Tuesday groups were divided, and two studied kingdoms while the other two researched empires. Wednesday, we covered Democracies and Republics, while on Thursday, Rebels learned about Start-Up Nations, Cloud Governance and Holacracies. Each simulation put the learners in various roles, with some having the ultimate say while others lost their voices completely. With time remaining in each period, the Rebels could work on developing their structure, laws, or succession plans for their world.
Civilizations
Maps shape how individuals see their world and thus impact whether a civilization rises or falls. We began our Civilizations class by learning about the uses (pros) and distortions (cons) of the Mercator, Robinson, Goode Interrupted, and Hammer maps. We then read about a school board that switched all of their maps from the Mercator map, which physically diminished Africa and South America, to the Peters projection, which cut the developed world down to size. Rebels participated in a Socratic discussion about what they would do if they were the Minister for Education and felt that we really should rely on globes more as while they aren't perfect, they are closer than flat maps. We also discussed whether all information should be available to everyone at all times; for example, should all maps of the Canadian electricity grid and nuclear power plants be public? Should the details of where a famous person lives be available? Next week, learners will have time to work on their own map for their world and will need to decide whether they will draw their map or use digital software to create a full-colour or a monochromatic version.
Apprenticeship Prep
This week, learners reflected on their heroes, gifts, and times when they felt most in Flow. They began by thinking about who they looked up to and what they admired about them. Learners then thought about their greatest personal gifts. For learners who did not complete the exercise in the fall, they were asked to survey at least five people, asking them what they felt their unique abilities, talents, or gifts are, as well as one word to describe a role in which they could use those talents. Lastly, learners read an article on finding and harnessing flow before committing to paying attention over the next few days to when they enter the "Flow state."
Elective
During our Elective time this week, learners practiced their band songs, divided up yearbook roles, baked a cake and practiced decorating techniques, and pitched the new projects they would like to take on this session, such as digital music creation!
Additional Highlights
Our Westing Game Book Club is eight chapters in, and with a stronger understanding of the cast of characters, we are starting to make predictions for the remainder of the book. We also reviewed some vocabulary, read a brief summary of chapters four through eight, and answered a series of comprehension questions.
We had a fun time during this week’s closings, and we had a hilarious game of Drawing Telephone and an engaging game of Empire. To enhance our Reader/Writer character challenge and preparation for the Exhibition, in small groups, we answered questions as if we were the character we were designing. We also spent time playing drama games, including one where learners had to work together in small groups to create tableaus based on a given scenario.
Launchpad Studio
SAT Prep, mathematics courses, coding, and Deep Book reading all took up some of our learners' personalized core skills time this week. The rest of their time was spent on their individual coursework and helping in the Exploration Studio.
Communication/Literature
We read Part 1 of Franz Kafka's work The Metamorphosis this week. After reading, learners used their time to write a well-stated response supported by the text to one of a series of questions regarding the first portion of the book. During our Friday meeting, we learned that the last word of the book's first line has been difficult for translators to agree on. Some translations use "cockroach," "beetle," or "vermin," but the original German word translates to "an unclean animal unfit for sacrifice," belonging to "the class of nasty creepy-crawly things." This new knowledge led to an interesting discussion on why Kafka had strict instructions to his publisher that Gregor was never to be drawn as an insect or depicted in any way. Why would he want this to remain mysterious and unclear? We ended by discussing the various themes we saw developing and making predictions for Part 2, which we will read and discuss next week.
AP Language and Composition
In terms of analysis, our learner is striving to think more in-depth regarding her responses. What kind of information is being added? What is the purpose of the interruptions and the additional points? What is the purpose of humour? Thinking about this, we prepared to write another rhetorical analysis in Unit 7 with added attention to complexity. There was a lesson on the different types of claims in an argumentative essay, and the Rebel had to provide feedback on two peers' previous essays before starting the Unit 7 synthesis essay. Their instructor reminded them to set a goal for one new element with each essay and practice it. Just like practicing a scale on an instrument or an initial skill in a sport, it is awkward at first, then your mind adjusts, and the moves, even in writing, become more automatic.
AP Literature and Composition
The second semester of our learner's AP Literature and Composition course begins next week with a reading of Jane Eyre.
Rice University Introduction to Archaeology
This four-course specialization program is intended to help learn scientific methods, concepts, and models for interpretation, as well as the broader impact of archaeology, providing first-hand knowledge of archaeology's most exciting contemporary debates. Our learner is working on the second course entitled Archaeology as Science and completed modules "The Science of Living Spaces," "The Science of Environments," and "The Science of Human Diets."They discussed paleoethnobotany, the study of ancient greenery via pollen (for example, from sediment or river cores) or phytoliths (silica bodies that form in some living plants). For fun, they took the opportunity to research the application of paleoethnobotany in the context of göbekli tepe and found some interesting pollen studies of sediment samples at the site, which proved there was a small tree population surrounding the area in the early and mid-Holocene when this temple was first built.
AP Biology
Our learner began an Ecology unit this week with the usual readings and quiz. They also participated in a peer review discussion on our lowest-marked FRQ answer on a unit test in order to review and learn from one another's mistakes. This week's lab, "Energy Transfer and Productivity Lab as Demonstrated by Yeast Fermentation of Corn Sugar into Ethanol and Carbon Dioxide," was performed on Thursday, and a formal lab report was submitted on Friday. The week ended with studying for the unit test, which will be taken on Sunday.
Canadian and International Law
With the R.I.S.E. showcase on Thursday, January 23rd, our learner continued editing and putting the finishing touches on their video essay.
Additional Highlights
As our Exploration Rebels tackle the nitty-gritty of creating their worlds next week, one of our Launchpad learners prepared a presentation for next Monday. Our LP Rebel will show Exploration learners the vast world that they've developed over the past few years as a form of inspiration and an example of excellence for the younger learners.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What did Roy Lichtenstein focus on within his art projects?
How many stars are on the American Flag, and what do they represent?
French: How do you say "closed" and "open" in French? (fermé/ouvert)
Group 2 Reader/Writer: What is an antonym? Can you give me an example?
Discovery Studio
French: Did you know the names of all your grandparents when you made your family tree?
Aim/Release Math Lab: Think about the triangular number pattern: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15… How do you find the next term? Is there a way to solve for any term without knowing the previous term's value?
Draw/Anchor Math Lab: Extend the patterns and write a pattern rule to describe the pattern:
34, 43, 52…
50, 42, 34…
74, 69, 64…
What was your biggest takeaway from Quest this week?
Exploration Studio
Quest: What form of government will your world have? If it isn't a formal government, will there be any laws or consequences? Is there a leader? How will important decisions be made?
Civilizations: In ancient times only the wealthy, educated, or those with certain jobs had access to maps. Today, anyone with internet access can see hundreds of maps. Is the Mercator projection another example of the rich and powerful trying to influence others or not?
Math Lab: What is a percent, and when is it useful? Why or when would a sample be helpful? How do we sample a population?
French: What topic did you choose for your "Apprends-moi quelque chose" presentation, and How's your presentation coming along?
Launchpad Studio
Which course are you currently enjoying the most?
What piece could you add or work on developing to enhance your Mastery Transcript? Are there any credits you feel you've earned?
Important Upcoming Dates
Spark Sledding at Carlington Hill (They will need a helmet!) - Tuesday, January 21st
Photo Retake Day - Monday, January 27th
Spark and Discovery Field Trip to the Ottawa Art Gallery - Friday, February 7th
Session 4 Exhibitions
Discovery Studio - Tuesday, February 11th at 4:15 pm
Spark Studio - Wednesday, February 12th at 4:15 pm
Exploration Studio - Thursday, February 13th at 4:15 pm
Sessional Break and Camp: February 18th - 21st