Revel Recap: January 20 - 24, 2025
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
The Sparks have been enjoying our Quest theme, so we wanted to incorporate even more art activities into the day. This week, for mindfulness, we completed a variety of free exploration art projects. On Monday, we looked at the still-life painting Overboard by Judith Andrews for inspiration. The learners then looked around the studio for objects they might want to draw. They selected toy animals, plants, reading drawers, and pretend food from the play kitchen. They arranged them on the table and then worked on drawing what they saw. To complete their pictures, they used Tempera Paint Sticks to add colour. On Tuesday, we watched a video where an artist was making animals and fruit from clay. We paid attention to the tools and techniques they used to help us with our creations. The learners then designed their items using this fun art medium. We looked through magazines on Wednesday to choose a theme for our pictures. The learners cut out a few images and glued them onto their paper. Using oil pastels, they drew around the pictures to create a background. On Thursday, we looked at a sculpture by Victor Vasarely. This optical illusion art piece inspired our morning activity. The learners used pastels to create many different shaped rectangles on their paper. They then painted around the white with watercolours. To end the week, the learners imagined what kind of picture they wanted to create. With an idea in mind, they were given a piece of sandpaper and crayons. The Sparks were curious about this new medium and experimented with different colours and how hard to press with the crayons. It was fun starting our days utilizing our creativity!
Quest
Our artist of the week was the famous Vincent van Gogh. We started off learning about his life by reading a 4Cats print biography. We read about how he tried various jobs before becoming a painter at 27. We learned that his brother was his biggest fan and would help support Van Gogh by sending him art supplies. Vincent loved the colour yellow, and the Sparks were amazed to learn that he had put candles on his hat so he could paint outside when it was dark! Sadly, he was not a popular artist during his life and only sold one painting. However, now people know and love his art all over the world. We then looked through images of some of his most famous paintings. The learners noticed that he used a lot of yellow and blue and different types of lines, such as dots, dashes, and swirls. They also noted that many of his paintings had images of nature and that there were several self-portraits. We also watched a video of the incredible immersive experience that has visited cities worldwide and brought his work to life!
The first piece of art we were inspired to create was a replica of his painting "Sunflowers." The learners got a few tips for making this beautiful flower in the style of Van Gogh. We then followed along to a directed drawing to create this artwork. It was not easy, and we applaud the artists for their perseverance! After drawing, they used colours similar to the original painting to complete the picture. The result was stunning! Up next was the iconic "The Starry Night" painting. Using blue paper as our background, the Rebels used oil pastels and different types of lines to recreate this beautiful picture. Our final art piece was inspired by the painting titled "Wheatfield with Crows." The Sparks added so many details to create a lovely copy of this work! The learners enjoyed studying Vincent van Gogh’s art this week and have some amazing masterpieces to show at Exhibition!
French
This week, we practiced opposites through a word association game featuring pairs such as wet/dry, hot/cold, and small/big. Additionally, we introduced a new emotions board to expand our vocabulary, alongside continued practice with weather and clothing-related vocabulary. The Sparks also continued learning the song "L'arbre est dans ses feuilles" to hopefully perform soon!
Math Lab
Group One completed their final week of shapes! During the past weeks, they have focused on 2D shapes, counting their sides, playing games and using many materials from the shelves. This week, they played Roll and Cover a Shape. In pairs, they had to get a full card and show the shapes they rolled each time to a guide. Following this, they used wooden shape blocks to make different creatures. They shared how many of each shape they used for each creation.
Group Two was introduced to fractions this week! We started by looking at our fraction insets material. We noticed that it started with one whole circle, and then it was broken up into a number of parts. We described fractions as being a part of a whole. For example, one slice of pizza is a fraction of the whole pizza. To learn more about this concept, we watched a video from Scratch Garden. We then worked on drawing five circles and breaking them into parts. Besides each circle, we practiced writing fractions using both words and numbers. To expand on what a fraction is, learners were paired to play a game called Equal, or Unequal? Four in A Row. They took turns spinning a spinner. They would look at a paper filled with images and determine if it was split into equal or unequal parts. Depending on what the spinner landed on, they would colour in a shape. The object was to colour in the most rows of four.
Geography
For geography, we journeyed to the country of Mexico in North America! We found Mexico's location on the map and then read a book on Epic to learn some fun facts. We read about how Mexico is warm most of the year and has many beautiful beaches. Since most people speak Spanish, we learned to say "thank you" (gracias). We also read about how avocados are grown in Mexico and that a popular food is tacos! We then stood and listened to the national anthem before colouring in the Mexican flag.
Reader/Writer
The Sparks in Group One worked together to create words with the letter P. Using the lower and upper case sandpaper Ps, they discovered a difference between them. They observed that the lowercase "p" has a "hat," whereas the uppercase P does not! Together, we read the story, The Pig Picnic. Throughout the story, they had to find things on the pages that started with P. Words such as pineapple, pizza, popcorn, and pig came up many times. To end the lesson, they practiced writing the uppercase and lowercase Ps.
Group Two explored synonyms in our weekly workshop. First, we defined synonyms as two or more words with the same meaning and considered some examples. We then listened to the Hopscotch "Synonyms" song to learn more. Afterwards, we played a game. We spread out synonym label cards around the table. The Guide called out a word, and the learners looked for the label with a different word but the same meaning. For example, the Guide said mad, so the learners needed to find the word angry. After all the matches were found, we took some time to write some of the matches down.
Additional Highlights
This week, we had three Mystery Reader guests join us! Thank you so much for sharing your time and stories with us. The learners love welcoming their families into the studio!
Due to icy and cold temperatures, sledding was postponed this past week. We are hoping to go on Tuesday, January 28th.
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday morning, we played our "How's The Water?" game, and the Rebels discussed if they could be anywhere, where they would want to be as well as shared things that make them nervous. Rebels, we're always so impressed with how well you share and communicate during this game! For Launch, we announced the "Meaning of Home" essay contest run by Habitat for Humanity. Rebels have the opportunity to submit their writing for a chance to win an iPad, a pizza party and a substantial monetary donation for their local Habitat for Humanity.
We had a visitor in our studio on Tuesday morning, so we used our mindful time to do a round of introductions. Rebels said their name, a fun fact about themselves, and their toothbrush colour! At Launch, we had a great discussion about municipal tobogganing bans and safety while sledding. Rebels shared what conditions are important for them to feel safe, including not being too icy, clear from trees, and accessible by emergency services.
For Wednesday's Mindfulness, the Rebels chose a Mandala to colour. We then continued working on our Joy Workbook and discussed what we could contribute to the world. Together, we decided we could share respect, kindness, remaining calm, money, and our time.
Thursday morning started with either yoga with Ms. Mel or Meditation with Ms. Amy. Then, two Rebels created a Launch about Personal and Studio Maintenance and how our studio needs to improve. The learners discussed some solutions, and the vote was to have a Studio Inspector review the quality of the cleaning.
Feel-Good Friday, we practiced descending notes, thirds, ascending notes and chords before playing a "Guess that Song" game on the Boomwhackers. During Current Events, we discussed the details of the New Nintendo Switch 2 coming out and its new features, which most Rebels thought were not worth the investment. We also completed a quiz about animals in the news.
Reader/Writer
For Draw and Anchor, two Rebels stepped up to lead this week! The group focused on using a template to complete their Best Part of Self pieces. Meanwhile, Aim and Release Rebels took their three chosen Book of Awesome brainstorms and began to turn them into paragraphs.
Math Lab
Monday's lab with Aim/Release featured a task called "I'm thinking of a number…" Rebels used clues, including numbers and operations, and were encouraged to represent them as an equation to try and solve for the missing number. They were allowed to use a calculator, but if they did, they had to record the buttons used on their board in the order they used them. All teams worked with the first problem string involving decimal numbers to hundredths and addition and subtraction. Next week, we'll move to problem string two using multiplication and division.
On Wednesday, Draw/Anchor Rebels worked on "Hexagon Havoc," looking for visual solutions to labelling a hexagon tesselation so that the same number never touched an adjacent tile. After warming up, teams moved on to a series of number patterns where they had to predict whether the tenth term would be greater or smaller than the first, with only four or five terms to look to for help.
French
This week, the Rebels participated in a game of BINGO on the theme of family vocabulary, a fun exercise to reinforce their knowledge in this area. Afterwards, they continued building their family tree, an activity combining creativity and interactive learning. We also continued to explore the vocabulary of tree parts with the expression, "The tree is in its leaves." This exercise lets participants learn the parts that make up a tree while expanding their vocabulary and practicing pronunciation.
Civilizations
This week in Civilizations, we focused on Peter the Great and his ambitious efforts to modernize and expand Russia. We also highlighted a crucial historical note about Frederick, the ruler of Prussia. The Holy Roman Emperor had informed Frederick that he could call himself "King in Prussia" rather than "King of Prussia" to emphasize that his authority was limited to one part of his lands. However, Frederick ignored this distinction and acted like he was the full-fledged King of Prussia, asserting his power and independence.
Meanwhile, Peter the Great sought to transform Russia into a modern European power. He travelled to Europe in disguise to learn about shipbuilding, technology, and government, bringing these ideas back to Russia. Peter reformed the military, built a modern navy, and constructed St. Petersburg, a new capital symbolizing Russia's turn toward the West. Although his modernization efforts strengthened Russia, they came at the expense of heavy taxes and forced labour, leaving many Russians to suffer. Both Peter and Frederick left lasting legacies as rulers who centralized power and shaped their nations' futures.
Quest
This week's theme of The Needs Quest was Love and Belonging. On Monday, we completed a connection survey designed to measure how closely knit our studio is by each Rebel anonymously reflecting on how connected they feel to every other studio member. Then we talked about public health and revisited plans for Exhibition. How will the Rebels promote health and wellness for their friends and family in a few weeks? Next, without naming it as such, Rebels tried to brainstorm social determinants of health during an instant challenge based on an image of two cartoon people involved in a car accident. What does each person need? Rebels thought of many things, from medical care to driving lessons to insurance and legal aid! On Tuesday, we stretched our developing understanding of public health with a wonderful guest speaker! Dr. Maddy challenged us to think about the hierarchy in a different order and how love, belonging, and social capital can ensure some of the more foundational needs are met. On Wednesday, we learned about how friendships affect our brains. In groups, Rebels were given conflict scenarios and asked to roleplay the CONFLICT and a PEACE TABLE. They performed their skits in front of our studio, and we discussed what is easy and hard about this conflict resolution process. On Thursday, we had another guest speaker! This time, therapist Kelly informed us about the importance of friendship on our overall well-being and mental and physical health. Did you know that people with satisfying friendships are less likely to experience heart attacks or strokes? Beyond this, she also talked to us about setting boundaries and self-care.
Physical Development
On Tuesday, there was an indoor and outdoor option for P.E. Those braving the cold had fun playing in the field. The other group started with a 7-minute stretching exercise routine to warm up before playing Hula Hoop Hot Potato and Pool Noodle Hockey. On Thursday, many learners voted to continue their game of Pool Noodle Hockey because they had so much fun last time! The other group was busy practicing their dance skills!
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
After our free-choice mindfulness, where we peacefully worked on puzzles and coloured, learners began filling out their Character Sheets for an interactive role-playing game (RPG) campaign that we began playing at Monday's closing. Tuesday morning, we broke out the Boomwhackers and learned to play "Believer" by Imagine Dragons and "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King. We then introduced ourselves to a visiting learner before heading into Core Skills. We played drama games on Wednesday morning to further develop our creativity, drama skills, and comfort with one another. We began with improv skits as groups were given three words and seven minutes to craft a short play. Who knew the words wand, donkey, and pizza could inspire such amusing entertainment?! Learners then played a quick game of Zip, Zap, Zop before taking on the "Alien, Tiger, Chicken" game. We ended our drama games with Ten Questions - Character Edition. Thursday's yoga followed a classic Sun Salutation flow, moving from standing in mountain pose to forward fold, to plank or half-plank, to our bellies for cobra pose. We repeated this several times, focusing on marrying our breath to the movements and ending in an extended child's pose for our relaxation to close the practice. Upon returning from the gym, Rebels reviewed how to fill in their Weekly Challenges each day and week for their sessional badges, as well as how to add or remove badges from their Journey Tracker Badge Plan. We also discussed an Audit Committee experiment another Acton is completing this session and voted that it may be something we could take on in Session 5. After our Friday Connections and Contexto puzzles, we had an informative Current Events presentation on TikTok, The Toronto Tempo, and Polar Vortexes.
Reader/Writer
As this is our third week and our characters are developing personalities and backstories, it felt like the right time to bring the physical attributes to fruition! Rebels used their Reader/Writer period to draw, paint, and use Canva or Adobe Firefly to create their character's picture for their profile. It was so much fun to see the personalities visually come to life!
Math Lab
This week's lab continued the idea of sampling populations. Rebels reflected on strategies they used when looking at last week's colour block, dot painting, and bead art and considered two types of sampling: probability and nonprobability sampling. Then, they pushed their understanding by taking samples of random "populations" or collections of various beads in small teams. Through the investigation, Rebels came up with different ways to organize and interpret their samples, with some sorting things to visulize relative magnitude, others using sorting containers to assign a rough value by volume, and others conducting a census and counting each and every bead. They reflected on how they could use their data to draw conclusions and what would allow them to be confident about the generalizations they had made. Next week, we'll continue to study these populations but will try a "catch and release" technique to describe the makeup of the population and estimate size.
French
The «Apprends-moi quelque chose!» (Teach Me a Few Things) project is progressing very well! Most of the Rebels have completed writing their presentations and will be presenting them next week. In addition, we continue to practice travel-related vocabulary and essential questions as part of our preparation for the trip to Quebec City. This week, we focused on reviewing how to ask for directions in French and how to apologize politely. These practical skills are sure to come in handy during their spring trip!
Quest
We began Quest this week with a Hero Visit! One of our Launchpad Rebels is an experienced worldbuilder who walked us through various aspects of their work, including their continent map, climates, various governance structures, cultures, and how they make choices when they come to a fork in the road! They were incredibly inspiring and are excited to be a judge at our Exhibition! Learners had the rest of Monday and Tuesday's Quest period to finish their Worldbuilding Workbooks! Any and all prompts completed will be included for viewing at the end of the session. On Wednesday and Thursday, the learners spent their time creating mood boards! After showing a few examples of excellence, Rebels got to work hand-drawing images or finding visuals that capture the essence or vibe of their world. Once they had at least six images, they were tasked with arranging them on a slide or Canva template to share with families and judges at Exhibition. Way to go, Rebels!
Apprenticeship Prep
This week was all about creating a list of ten possible apprenticeships that the learners are interested in pursuing. To come up with their ten options, they were provided with industry lists, thought about businesses in their neighbourhood, used JP Michel's Spark Path cards, and thought about their gifts and when they are in flow. They also thought about why they would want each apprenticeship. Do they want to explore a new industry? Follow a passion as they practice a skill to improve? Learn from a successful person? Prove you have what it takes to succeed? Or something else? For learners who were able to come up with their Top Ten, they identified at least one apprenticeship they know they can get, even if the task is menial, at least one apprenticeship that's a better fit with their passions and skills, even if it's harder to secure, and at least one dream apprenticeship, even if it has a low probability of success.
Civilizations - Cartography
After learning about distortions and perceptions in cartography over the past couple of weeks, Rebels focused on making their world from Quest come to life in the form of a map! They were asked to remember everything they'd said about their world. What is the climate like? What land masses are there? If you have cities or towns, where is the freshwater located? Whether partial to deep dark forests, tall mountains, or vast plains, Rebels learned a few techniques to bring their vision of their fictional world to the page using pencils or a digital mapmaking program.
Physical Development
Due to the freezing temperatures on Monday, Rebels played games in the gym or participated in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Yoga Flow hosted by Peloton. On Wednesday, one group enjoyed the warmer temperatures outside at the park while another played soccer in the gym. The third group giggled their way through a series of fitness videos and dance routines.
Additional Highlights
Our Westing Game Book Club met on Thursday to discuss chapters 9 -12. We went over the chapter summaries, reviewed the week's vocabulary words, answered comprehension questions, and made predictions for next week's readings.
At each closing this week, we participated in a role-playing game called Classrooms and Chimeras. Throughout the activity, we had to choose which way to go and whether to hide or ambush. We're excited to see what happens to our adventurers next week!
Launchpad Studio
AP Literature and Composition
The second half of our learner's AP Lit course began, and they started with Jane Eyre, delving into the recurring foreshadowing, the narrator's strong observations about the world around her, themes of romance & uncertainty, feminism, religion & hypocrisy, and class discussions. They also wrote one casual analysis and thesis statement dissecting Jane's thoughts on male vs female privilege in Victorian society while further researching Victorian-era authors, developments (social, cultural, economic, and so on), and literature forms.
AP Language and Composition
In the second week of Unit 7, our learner finished a synthesis essay about the most important considerations for museums, as well as the rhetorical essay on a passage from Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. They also finished a reflection on their Unit 6 rhetorical analysis and a multiple choice quiz analyzing a piece's different claim types.
Communication & Literature
This week, our learners read the second part of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. On Thursday, we met to discuss evidence for the themes of personal identity, isolation of many, duty to the family, and individual purpose. We also thought about how Gregor's room contributed to his identity, who the real antagonist of the story is, and the significance of the apple used against Gregor. Next week, learners will finish the last part of the novel before writing up their analysis.
AP Biology
This week was all about Biochemistry in our learner's AP Biology course. They investigated the classes of macromolecules involved in obtaining energy and raw material for organisms. The flow of energy through an organism is managed through careful regulation of anabolic and catabolic reactions, which control the overall balance of energy and of raw materials for growth and repair. After completing the weekly homework, they discussed the "Big Answers to Big Questions." Our learner created a detailed Concept Map on the Impact of evolution on a population. On Thursday, they completed a lab on the effect of pH on enzyme activity and completed the lab report on Friday. They then took a unit exam on Sunday.
Introduction to Archaeology
Our Rebel more deeply explored the use of paleoethnobotany in the context of Gobekli Tepe and also learned about some new dating methods, such as sediment coring in lakes, collagen in teeth, and the presence of N15 and C13 in animals and plants at various heights on the food chain. This was, in turn, built upon to discover the diets and hunting/gathering habits of early-Holocene populations, which eventually tied back to palynology to reconfirm the notions currently held about plant diets (they ate a lot of wild onions) in early Clovis cultures in Mexico.
Canadian and International Law
This week was the RISE Showcase and the last week of the Canadian and International Law Course. Our learner finished their video essay and discussed the merits of their project, its impacts, and how they grew as a person while working on it with the other participants. They also identified what they might do differently in the future if they were ever to write another similar paper.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What common colours or themes did you notice in Vincent van Gogh's art? Which one was your favourite to recreate?
Can you share a fact you learned about Mexico?
What items did you draw for your still life painting?
Reader/Writer: What is a synonym? Please tell me the synonym for the word quick. Mad? Where can you find "P" items around your house?
Discovery Studio
Quest: There were two guest speakers this week: Dr. Maddy and therapist Kelly. If you could meet either of them again, what would you ask them?
Have you ever wanted to have a Peace Table with someone? How did it go?
What is your Healthy Friendship recipe? What are the ingredients, and what are the directions?
Draw/Anchor Math Lab - would the 10th number be bigger or smaller than the first?
9, 14, 10, …
50, 45, 48…
14, 6, 12, 4…
Math Lab Aim/Release - What's my number?
? + 1.46 = 3.71
? - 7.5 = 7.13
13.24 - ? = 3.04
Exploration Studio
What types of apprenticeships did you put on your Top Ten list? How did you choose them?
What are you most excited to show your families at the Exhibition: your map, your Reader/Writer character profile, your Worldbuilding Workbook, or your Mood Board?
Have you decided what your final Worldbuilding project will be?
How did you choose to create your map? (Digital or hand-drawn)
How did your team sample the population of beads to come up with accurate estimates about the population's makeup and size?
Launchpad Studio
The Metamorphosis - Both Grete and Gregor's mother have been seen running towards the window and breathing through it hungrily. Thematically, what could this signify in regards to how they feel about their apartment and their lives?
What personal projects are you working on that you'd like more time to pursue?
With a few old courses ending and new courses beginning, what will you work hardest on throughout the last half of the year?
Important Upcoming Dates
Photo Retake Day - Monday, January 27th
Spark Sledding (Rescheduled Date) - Tuesday, January 28th
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