Revel Recap: March 3 - 7, 2025
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
This week, for mindfulness, the Sparks worked on various breathing exercises such as candle, bunny, bumblebee, and snake breath. They also completed a safari-themed yoga sequence. At the end of the week, we recited an affirmation card about gratitude. We read, "I am grateful. I am happy. I am blessed. I inhale love, exhale gratitude, and give thanks for all my blessings. I am grateful." Afterward, the learners shared what they were grateful for and how it made them feel. They illustrated in their journals after our discussion.
For our Launches this week, we started by reading a book from the popular series Who Would Win? In these books, you learn about two animals' behaviours, adaptations, and interesting facts. Ultimately, the animals engage in a pretend battle to see who will win. We read about the alligator vs. the python, which is a great introduction to March Mammal Madness. Throughout the week, the studio worked together to make our picks, voting on which combatant they thought would win each battle. Our final competition was between the puma and the narwhal. The Sparks took one final vote, and with a majority win, our champion is the PUMA! We can't wait to join the other studios to watch the recaps and see if our pick makes it to the end!
Quest
This week, our Spark zoologists dived into the world of habitats! They explored a variety of places where animals live around the world. On Monday, we brainstormed what we already knew about habitats and defined them as places where animals live. We discussed how a habitat provides animals with food, water, and shelter. We looked at images of habitats worldwide, such as deserts, oceans, rainforests, forests, wetlands, grasslands, and mountains. The Sparks started a habitat journal and completed their first page. Over the next couple of weeks, they will continue to work on this journal during work periods to complete a booklet full of habitat information!
We expanded our knowledge of habitats on Tuesday and Wednesday by reading two books about this topic. With this information, the learners got into pairs and set off to complete habitat research projects. They worked with each other to read through a fact sheet and look at photos. They answered questions about the habitat's weather, location, temperature, animals, and plants that can be found there and added three interesting facts. They then created paper 3D habitats of thedesert, Arctic, rainforest, ocean, grassland, and wetland. They are looking forward to presenting their information at the Exhibition.
On our last day of Quest, we played a habitat-matching game to see if we could place various animals in their correct homes. We then used our imaginations to create new habitats. The Sparks presented these fascinating places to the group. We had a cloud, candy, lava, axolotl, doughnut, unicorn, and rainbow lands, just to name a few! To end the week, we enjoyed watching our Wild Kratt episode titled "Exploring Animal Habitats!"
Art/Sensory
The Sparks had an exciting opportunity to explore their sense of touch while creating animal habitats using kinetic sand, wooden blocks, logs, and rocks. As they played with the soft, kinetic sand, they shaped unique landscapes for animals like giraffes, rhinos, and sharks. The cool, textured rocks made the perfect addition to their habitats, representing natural features like mountains and rivers. Wooden blocks and logs were used to build structures such as trees, shelters, and caves, allowing the Sparks to design environments for their creatures. Lastly, during this time, the Guides overheard many vocabulary words being used that they've been learning during their Quest periods!
French
This week's theme was "Dans la ferme à Maturin" (the French version of Old MacDonald). Monday, we introduced and sang the song "La ferme à Maturin" to learn farm animal vocabulary. On Tuesday, we played Mistigri, a memory game that reinforces the vocabulary of farm animals in an engaging way. Wednesday, the learners worked on a colouring activity to solidify their knowledge of farm animal terminology. Thursday, we played in the gym, where we practiced using the phrases "je suis" (I am) and "tu es" (you are), encouraging movement and language learning through play.
Math Lab
The counting chains in our studio are a very important part of our math area. This material introduces the learners to skip counting, which is concrete preparation for multiplication. This week, the learners worked on counting by 2s. We listened to a song before working with the two short chains. The Sparks in Group One placed the tickets and counted the numbers. They then started a counting chain booklet, writing the numbers 2 to 20.
Group Two continued their exploration of telling time with a series of engaging activities. They began by making their own clocks, counting by fives, and learning to read time to the half hour. The concept of reading time to the half hour during the lesson caused some confusion, particularly when the Sparks noticed the hour hand positioned between two numbers. To clarify, we discussed how the clock moves gradually from one number to the next and how we read the time by looking at the number closest to the left side of the hour hand. As part of the lab, the Sparks had the opportunity to create clocks using the whiteboards. They then listened carefully as the guide called out specific times, practicing setting their clocks to match the times being read aloud. To reinforce their understanding, the Sparks completed eight questions on a handout to explore their knowledge of telling time. The worksheets helped them practice both reading time to the hour and the half-hour, as well as reinforcing their understanding of how the hour hand moves across the clock. To support your child's learning at home, the guides recommend practicing with an analog clock. This additional practice will help solidify their understanding of how to read time and make them more confident when using clocks in their everyday lives.
Reader/Writer
Group One's sight word this week was the word and. Together, we came up with sentences that had this word in them and worked on identifying and in a group of words and spelling it. Afterward, each learner worked individually with a Guide to complete a reading activity. This included working on UFLI reading passages, reading drawers, Bob books, and spelling CVC words.
Group Two continued to master their writing skills. Using CAPS, (C=capitalization, A= all sentences make sense, P= punctuation, S= spacing/spelling), they were provided with three sentences on the whiteboard where they had to detect the errors. When the errors were corrected, the learner wrote the sentences down. Common errors included capitalization not being used when a person's name or place was written, and words misspelled. Following this activity, the Sparks wrote three complete sentences and had them peer-reviewed. Once all of the mistakes were corrected, they reviewed their writing with a guide who gave them more thorough feedback and explanations when required.
On Friday, some learners had the opportunity to watch a clip called Dust Buddies. This video was animated and three minutes long. It was about a friendship between two dust bunnies, Fuzz and Lint, who live peacefully under a couch. The learners used their CAPS resources and wrote four to five sentences about what they saw happening throughout the clip.
Lastly, this week, the Guides challenged the Sparks to write their names using an upper case at the beginning of their name, followed by lower cases. They are also challenged to review their work continually and specifically look for any letter that may appear backward.
Geography
This week, we learned more about the animals that live in South America. Using our Waseca Continent Biome readers, the Sparks got into groups to read and learn about some of the animals found on this continent. They would read passages together and then match the words to a picture. The Sparks then created booklets and presented what they had learned about the chinchilla, limpkin, vampire bat, rainbow boa, sloth, and capybara. Ask your animal expert to share their knowledge!
Additional Highlights
We have welcomed the Mystery Readers back at the end of the day! Three wonderful mystery readers joined us throughout the week; their stories were a big hit with the learners. One of the standout moments came from a reader who read Two Wheels for Grover. Not only did the reader share this great story, but they also did an incredible Grover voice that had everyone laughing. The next book we read was called That's What Matters Most. This story had a great message and sparked a conversation at the end about what the Rebels are proud of and like about themselves. Our last visitor entertained the studio with a very silly book about vegetables!
This week, we had a fantastic presentation about recycling from the Exploration Studio. The learners were taught about what can and cannot go in the black and blue bins, as well as what should be composted. We learned about the different numbers labelled on containers and food materials we buy to better understand which bin they belong to. The Sparks then had posters placed above their bins in the studio to visualize which items go in which bins.
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
Monday morning, we met to continue essential discussions about revising and reviewing our studio contracts and developing freedom levels. Rebels offered edits to our studio covenants, Rules of Engagement (ROEs) and special technology ROEs. If they were new, they signed the contracts, and some Rebels even re-signed to acknowledge their adoption of the updated versions of the contracts. On Tuesday, we worked on drawing a mythical kitten dragon through Art Hub. For Launch, we were visited by some Exploration Rebels to discuss our current recycling and waste management systems. Rebels reviewed and clarified what the colours of each bin mean, including new green bins we will soon have to reduce our food waste. Wednesday morning, we reviewed our March Mammal Madness brackets and looked more closely at how they are organized: what do the numbers next to the competitors' names mean? How do the lines work to show match-ups? Additionally, Rebels looked through the combatant slides and discussed how just because a competitor is seeded well (low number), they still might not win, depending on the battle environment! For Launch, we revisited our question of the year: How will we use our time, energy and talents to experience more joy? In the past weeks, we have worked on brainstorming what we love, what we are good at, what the world needs, and what we can contribute. The Rebels are trying to combine all four brainstorms into one idea to increase joy. For inspiration, we learned about Kid President, who spread joy through fun YouTube videos, Malala, who stood up for girls' education, Melatti and Isabel, who started 'Bye Bye Plastic Bags,' Marley Dias, who began a campaign for #1000BlackGirl Books, and Jahkil who began 'Project I Am' and creating Blessing Bags. Thursday morning began with the choice to do yoga in the gym with Ms. Mel or meditation with Ms. Amy. Feel Good Friday started with our regular Boomwhacker warm-up before attempting a rendition of Raffi's "Banana Phone" and a song for our Swifties. The Current Events report featured how some religions fast for their faith, and we talked about how some Muslims are fasting right now for Ramadan. We also learned that on Sunday, the clocks will spring forward, and we will lose an hour of sleep.
Math Lab
On Monday, Aim and Release Rebels started their lab with a Canadian Currency Warm-Up! They used life-like money manipulatives to model and tally collections of change, as well as combinations of coins and bills. An extra challenge was for them to represent this as a decimal number to show dollars and cents and as an algebraic expression to show groups of like terms. After warming up, they worked through several word problems involving coupons and taxes, and checked their change on transactions above $100.
During Wednesday's lab with Draw and Anchor, the Rebels also worked on a currency warm-up; however, this one focused on the names and values of each individual Canadian coin and repeated groups of coins. From there, they had to work on problems involving different representations of the same amount of money and using the correct and least amount of coins and bills to change purchases under $100.
Reader/Writer
This week, Rebels learned about three different ways to convince someone. Ethos - using your credentials to prove you know what you are talking about, pathos - convincing someone using their emotions and logos - which deals with facts, figures, and logic. Draw and Anchor discussed what they would say to convince their parents to buy a turtle and used a template to begin to write their speech. Aim and Release also started working on their speech using all three ways of convincing others.
Civilizations
Rebels learned about the "collision" of the East and West this week. They began by mapping key locations in relation tomultiple seas: the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and Arabian Sea. Then, they learned about life in the Ottoman Empire through a story about sieges, croissants, trenches and tulips. They discussed leaders and important roles at the time, like Kara Mustafa, janissaries, and Ahmet III.
French
This week, we focused on learning to name countries and their inhabitants (feminine and masculine) in French. We practiced identifying countries in French and learned how to correctly use "en" or "au" depending on the country. This activity helped reinforce grammatical rules while expanding geographical vocabulary. To celebrate International Women's Rights Day, we participated in a Kahoot in French to learn more about the topic while practicing our language skills.
Quest
Welcome to Market Island! This week, many Rebels sailed their "e-ships" from Motivation Island to Market Island, having completed key tasks last week to jumpstart their own businesses. On Monday, we learned about an incredible young entrepreneur named Alina, who started Zollipops. These sugar-free suckers contain special ingredients to fight cavities. Rebels were very impressed to learn that in its fourth year, Zollipops sold six million dollars worth of product! So, how exactly do you take your ideas to that level? One aspect of this type of success is market research - ensuring your product or service meets the needs of your consumers. As such, Tuesday's challenge was developing at least three survey questions to help Rebels better understand their target audience. On Wednesday, Rebels had the opportunity to watch another young entrepreneur named Mo present his company on Shark Tank! They observed as Mo answered all of the sharks' questions confidently and was then offered two deals: the first was a royalty deal for fifty thousand dollars invested, but Mo would have to pay the investor $3 for every tie ever sold. The other was an offer of mentorship only from a shark with related experience. We figured out that between ten and twenty thousand ties sold, Mo would lose money to the royalty deal - though many of them still thought Mo should have taken this offer. On Thursday, we launched our Quest block with the story of another young entrepreneur, Maddox, who re-invented the shovel to include measurements. Rebels dissected his pitch, looking for evidence of market research, and noted how Maddox referenced feedback from landscapers to convince potential investors and ensure his product is useful to the people he wants to sell it to. By the end of the week, Rebels were aiming to 1) have a completed prototype or detailed diagram of their product or service, 2) have conducted an excellent survey and 3) have reflected on this market research, saying how it has helped shape their business in terms of product, packaging or pricing.
Physical Development
On Tuesday, all of the Discovery Rebels headed to the gym. We started with the game Octopus as a warm-up. The learners then voted to play the game from last week, Hideout. They decided to use a couple more mats to make even more barriers to hide behind, making it a little more difficult for the person throwing the snowballs! On Thursday, the learners headed outside for a walk and then headed to the park to play in the fresh snow.
Additional Highlights
We continued reading our new Read Aloud, The Startup Squad, by Brain Weisfled and Nicole C. Kear. The story is about making the most money at an assigned class lemonade stand, and the team that makes the most money wins VIP tickets to a local theme park.
On Friday, we finally honoured a sacred Revel tradition - we had real donuts with our weekly "Challenge Donuts!" Rebels took time in between delicious bites to reflect on a moment from the year that helped them define their challenge zone. Answers varied from things like working hard and completing double the amount of units in Lexia and still earning Fun Friday, to taking on a new goal on top of their regular workload (like a grammar workbook), to choosing a spot in the studio that is distraction-free and then getting work done. We hope you're proud of all your hard work so far this year, Rebels!
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
After Monday's free choice mindfulness, one of our learners led a Launch about his aunt's t-shirt-making business, gathering ideas for potential shirts to be made. Tuesday morning, we went for a walk in the mild weather; it was a lovely way to start the day! Upon our return, four learners ventured to the Discovery and Spark Studios to teach them about recycling and how to sort our bins better. This will help our school do a better job and keep us from throwing out items that should be recycled. Meanwhile, the rest of the studio discussed cultural appropriation and appreciation differences. We watched a short video entitled My Culture is Not a Costume, where we heard from six young adults about Halloween costumes that co-opt their culture and how they make them feel. We connected this to our Quest as we turn to sustainable fashion this week and considered whether aspects of cultural identity can be used as inspiration for designing clothes. We continued our embroidery and cross-stitch projects on Wednesday, with several learners making significant progress. Thursday's yoga and pilates session featured a series of gentle seated stretches to warm up, followed by a swift sun salutation flow. We ended with tree poses on each leg before heading into our day. Rebels then returned for another learner-led Launch on card shuffling before beginning our core skills period. Lastly, we conquered multiple New York Times puzzles on Friday before completing our March Mammal Madness brackets.
Math Lab
This week, by working with a radial pattern, Rebels extended their developing ideas from last week about how to clearly and precisely describe patterns. Rebels worked in small teams to build, sketch, and examine the pattern, and then they tried to find words to explain a pattern rule. For example, throughout the lab, teams moved from counting the number of different types of pattern blocks in a physical case, using words to describe that it was growing by 3 squares, 3 trapezoids and 6 rhombuses each time, to assigning these variables a letter name, to developing an algebraic equation that would solve for the total number of blocks for any case (without needing to know the value of the case that came before!). Rebels described how to do this as, "minus one from the case number you want, multiply by 12 and then add 1." One team turned this into c - 1 x 12 + 1 = a, where c is the case number, and a is the answer. Next week, we will explore recipes and use tables of values and graphs to connect our learning to the skill of scaling up ingredients.
French
This week, we explored storytelling by reading the book "La belle histoire d'une vieille chose" (The Beautiful Story of an Old Thing) by Louis Émond. We read this story from the perspective of an old car sharing its adventures. This point of view allowed us to discuss narrative structure and the use of objects as central elements in storytelling. After deconstructing the story and identifying its main events and plot twists, the Rebels were challenged to write a new adventure for the car.
Reader/Writer
This week, for Reader/Writer, we learned about colour theory, and Rebels chose their colour palettes using the Coolors website. Then, they created the URL for their website and started designing their own portfolio on Weebly. For this week, the deliverable is to have a colour palate selected, a URL for their portfolio and a website in the works.
Civilizations
Silver has shaped civilizations throughout history. While watching a Big History documentary on the story of silver, we learned about its creation from supernovas, where it is found on Earth, and its conductive and antibacterial properties. Rebels also learned that silver was used as a currency as early as 2700 BCE and continued to be used by the Minoans, Myceneans, Greeks, and Romans. Silver helped advance global civilization by connecting East and West through trade. During the Middle Ages, Europeans used silver to buy Chinese goods — gunpowder, tea, ceramics, and silk — which were then carried over the fabled "Silk Road." Later, when the Spanish discovered silver mines in Mexico and Peru, they established a sailing route across the Pacific, trading South American silver, some plundered, for Chinese silk. By the 17th century, Mexican "pieces of eight" — also known as "Spanish dollars" — had become the world's first global currency. After our research, we met to discuss what we would do if we were the leaders in Britain or China during the Opium Wars and where silver has had the greatest impact on society: as a currency, as scientific innovation (such as what is used in electronics, jet engines and nuclear power plants), or as a health tool in killing bacteria.
Quest
This week, we turned to Sustainable Fashion, a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impacts, protect workers producing garments, and uphold animal welfare. On Monday, we learned about Fast vs. Slow Fashion. Rebels watched a series of videos and read articles on the H&M Recycle Clothing Program, how recycling machines make new clothes, what upcycling is, and the definition of slow fashion. They then answered a series of questions about what they had learned, including the pros and cons of each program. The learners watched The True Cost, a documentary about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. We learned that the price of clothing has been decreasing for decades while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. Filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and featuring interviews with the world's leading influencers, including Stella McCartney, Livia Firth, and Vandana Shiva, The True Cost is an eye-opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes. We began our Quest on Wednesday by learning the history of the pattern on bandanas. We then learned about Katharine Hamnett and the history of graphic and slogan tees (slogan t-shirts are simple fashion garments with impactful messages). Rebels reflected on causes that are important to them, including issues related to health, politics, environment, education, technology, or something else. They then used Canva to create a slogan utilizing bold fonts and a strong statement. On Thursday, we turned to colour and marketing. We began with a debate on whether someone can own or have exclusive rights to a specific colour. As they already had a primer in Reader/Writer, we focused on how an understanding of colour theory is essential when designing a fashion line or creating a logo and company branding. They began by using an interactive colour wheel on Canva to learn about the various combinations and complete a Colour Theory document. They then learned how to match colours and how hex colour codes work before learning about famous examples such as Tiffany Blue, Bottega Green, and Louboutin Red. Rebels ended the class by choosing four colours that will represent their brand, their hex codes, the meaning, and why they chose each colour.
Apprenticeship Prep
This week, we focused on who we might know and who could help us to secure our apprenticeships. After making a copy of an Apprenticeship Contact and hour tracker, we read an article entitled "Name Your Network." Rebels then spent the remaining time making a list of True Believers, Connectors, and Loose Ties they could contact as we move forward through this process.
Launchpad Studio
Learners also continued working on their mathematics, AP Lit and Communication, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Archaeology, and Challenge and Change courses. There was also time set aside to prepare for the Capital Model UN, and one of our learners spent a portion of their week studying and taking practice tests for the SATs, which they took on Saturday. Great work!
Communication & Literature
The Launchpad learners got together to read Act I of the Importance of Being Earnest. You could hear the laughter outside their room as they recited the play's lines, grasped the meaning, and came to appreciate Oscar Wilde's wit. Before we meet next week, learners will answer a series of analysis and discussion questions on theme, plot, setting, and textual details about a character's perspective and motives.
AP Language and Composition
This week, we started the Unit 9 synthesis essay on our society's energy consumption and use. This was followed by a lengthy quiz analyzing different passages for rhetorical choices and assumptions about the reader and editing a draft. Lastly, we reflected on a previous rhetorical essay in order to further improve our writing.
AP Biology
This week in AP Biology, our learner worked on the second half of Unit 14: Gene Regulation and Cell Communication. Their highlight was completing a lab on gene editing and transforming bacteria. Our learner transformed E. coli bacteria using a plasmid containing resistance to ampicillin and identifying which persisted when the bacteria, plasmid, and ampicillin were combined. They also spent significant time studying for and taking the unit test about all the material learned throughout the unit.
Leadership
Launchpad learners worked hard this week to help the community, including leading the Discovery Civilizations course, auditing the Exploration Studio Maintenance, and welcoming various families on tour into their studio to answer questions. Their leadership is greatly appreciated!
Additional Highlights
The Launchpad Rebels had an amazing opportunity to participate in a special career workshop with JP Michel, the founder of SparkPath! After completing a survey, they received their very own custom Challenge Profile—a personalized guide to career options tailored to their unique challenges and interests! Thank you to JP, Jodie, and Ally for providing clarity and helping equip our learners for their next steps!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel:
Spark Studio
What three things does an animal need in its habitat?
Which habitat did you create? What animals live there? What is the weather like?
Which animal from South America did you learn about?
Can you show me one of the breathing exercises you practiced this week?
French: Can you name some farm animals in French? (vache, cochon, mouton, cheval, poule, poussin, lapin, chat, chien)
Discovery Studio
Does your product or service meet your customers' needs? How do you know?
What materials do you need for your business, how much do they cost, and how do you plan to recover those costs?
French: What do we call the people who live in France? (les français/françaises)
Math Lab Challenges:
When out shopping, challenge your Rebel to keep a tally of the items in your bag or cart and compare the total they come up with to the receipt.
When paying the total, ask what combination of coins and bills would cover the cost.
Exploration Studio
In your opinion, who is responsible for reducing textile waste the most - the big companies that make the clothes or the people who buy the clothes? Why do you feel that way?
Is it ok to use symbols, patterns, or other cultural elements to design clothing?
Where has silver had the greatest impact on society: as a currency, as scientific innovation (such as what is used in electronics, jet engines, and nuclear power plants), or as a health tool for killing bacteria? Why?
Math Lab: How do you know what will be needed in the next case of a radial pattern? How do you describe this relationship?
French: Who narrated the story «La vieille histoire d'une belle chose»?
What do you feel we should learn about in next session's health class?
Launchpad Studio
Comm/Lit: Considering the importance of an origin story, analyze Jack's and how it contributes to his actions as an adult.
What did you discover during your meeting with JP from SparkPath?
When do you hope to have your position paper written for CAPMUN?
What goal are you struggling the most with? How can we support you while allowing you to grow from the experience?
Important Upcoming Dates
Pi Day and Leprechaun Traps - Friday, March 14th
Discovery Journey Meetings (sign-up on BAND)
with Mel - Monday, March 17th - Friday, March 21st
with Amy - Monday, March 24th - Friday, March 28th
Launchpad Model UN - Friday, March 21st - Sunday, March 23rd
The Zoo Crew Presentation for Sparks- Thursday, March 27th at 1:00 pm
Session 5 Exhibitions
Discovery Exhibition - Tuesday, April 1st at 4:15 pm
Spark Exhibition - Wednesday, April 2nd at 4:15 pm
Exploration Exhibition - Thursday, April 3rd at 4:15 pm
Sessional Break and Camp - Monday, April 7th - Friday, April 11th
Good Friday (No School) - Friday, April 18th
Easter Monday (No School) - Monday, April 21st
The Anxious Generation Book Club - Date and Time TBD