Revel Recap: Oct 27-31
Important Upcoming Dates
STEAMpunks Discovery Lab Workshop for Sparks - Wednesday, November 5th
Session 2 Exhibitions
Exploration Studio: Monday, November 24th at 4:15 pm
Discovery Studio: Tuesday, November 25th at 4:15 pm
Spark Studio: Wednesday, November 26th at 4:15 pm
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
This week, the Spark Studio embraced the excitement and magic of Halloween! Each morning was filled with festive stories and creative activities. On Monday, we kicked off the week by reading Franklin’s Halloween. The learners followed Franklin and his friends as they prepared for their big Halloween celebration. Afterward, we brainstormed costume ideas for Emma the Goose. Each Spark imagined a unique costume for her, then drew their idea and wrote about what Emma should be and why. Some of the creative suggestions included a witch, vampire, spider, Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters, a butterfly, ninja, cheetah, sailor, firefighter, and ghost! The learners presented their ideas to the class and are looking forward to seeing what costume she chooses! On Tuesday, we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin and explored the life cycle of a pumpkin. From seed to sprout, flower, and finally, the bright orange pumpkin we see at Halloween. Next, we completed a hands-on cut-and-paste activity to sequence the stages. Wednesday brought a local twist with the book A Halloween Scare in Ottawa, a fun and spooky story set right here in our city! After the story, the learners participated in a yoga session. On Thursday, we read A Very Brave Witch, a story that celebrates courage and curiosity. The learners discussed what it means to be brave - and how sometimes being brave can simply mean trying something new. Afterwards, they followed a directed drawing lesson to create their very own witches. Finally, on Friday, we wrapped up the week with the Halloween Runway! We were so proud of all our Sparks for confidently showing off their creative costumes in front of their families. Afterward, we read AlphaOops! a playful alphabet story. We then had a studio discussion on some important topics surrounding Halloween. We talked about safety, how we can respond if we don’t like a certain candy, how to find our calm if we feel scared, what we can say if someone compliments our costume, and how we can show kindness to all on Halloween night. The learners are ready for Halloween and we hope those celebrating have a fun weekend!
Quest
This week in Quest, the Sparks dove into the exciting world of science experiments! On Monday, we kicked things off with an introduction to the Scientific Method, a step-by-step process that helps scientists ask questions, make predictions, and discover new things about the world around them.
Together, we learned each step:
Observation: What do you see?
Problem: What do you want to find out?
Hypothesis: What do you think will happen?
Experiment: What materials will you use and what steps will you follow?
Results: What happened?
Conclusion: What did you learn?
After exploring these steps, we worked on a cut-and-paste activity, putting the stages of the Scientific Method in the correct order. This helped us understand how scientists think before conducting our own experiments. Throughout the week, our studio was buzzing with curiosity and excitement as we put our knowledge into action. Before each experiment, the learners made their hypotheses, read the instructions carefully, reviewed our lab safety rules, and gathered their materials. For our first experiment, we created an eruption inside a carved pumpkin! Using food coloring, baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar, we watched as our mini “volcano” came to life. The learners were amazed to see how the simple combination of ingredients caused such a fun and fizzy reaction. We kept adding more ingredients to see how big we could make the reaction! Next, we took on the Witch’s Brew Challenge. Working in small groups, the learners gathered a variety of wet and dry ingredients, mixing and experimenting to see which combinations created the best bubbling brew. It was wonderful to see their teamwork skills as they tested and adjusted their mixtures. We wrapped up the week by making slime! Using glue and a slime activator, the learners experimented with different amounts of each ingredient to find the perfect texture. Some batches were stretchier, some thicker, but all were fun to explore. It was a great week full of hands-on learning, experimenting, following directions, making predictions, and drawing conclusions. Our little scientists did great! We can’t wait to continue our next adventure into coding next week.
Art
This week in our art workshop, the learners explored their creativity by making spooky night-sky scenes. We began by painting paper plates black to serve as the backdrop for a night sky setting. Once the paint dried, the Sparks coloured a variety of Halloween-themed images, including ghosts, witches, pumpkins, moons, cats, and bats. After carefully cutting out their pictures, they arranged and glued them onto their backgrounds to complete their artwork. This activity encouraged learners to practice their fine motor skills through painting, colouring, and cutting.
Reader/Writer Workshops
This week, Group One used their imagination to create a story using story cards. They came up with a title called, Tiger Tiger, and the plot was about a tiger who tries to catch the other animals. Group Two enjoyed reading Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. The learners did an excellent job identifying many of the rhyming words throughout the book. After reading, they let their imaginations soar by illustrating and writing about who they would invite to join them on their own magical broomstick adventures! Our phonics focus this week was the digraph “sh.” The learners enjoyed watching our Scratch Garden phonics video to explore the sound, and then used their Waseca phonics booklets to expand their learning. They carefully looked at each picture, identified the “sh” word, and practiced sounding it out before writing it down.
For our whole group book study this week, we made predictions, reviewed the coverpage, and found out who wrote the book, “How to Catch a Witch”. The Sparks were excited to finally read the story! They have waited two weeks for this read aloud! Based on their predictions, one learner guessed correctly - the characters in the story did want to trap the witch on Halloween, but their traps did not work. We will continue to explore more elements of this story in the coming weeks!
Math Workshops
Group One has been practicing their number recognition and played a game of Hot and Cold with the sandpaper numbers. Using the bead-stair Montessori tool, they worked together to match the bead to its color and print the number each bead represents. Group Two continued their exploration of subtraction! We began with a fun and challenging activity called Secret Codes, where students had to crack number clues to form equations and discover the hidden answers. After the game, the learners moved on to their subtraction practice booklets, where they completed three new pages. They had the option of using the Montessori subtraction materials to find their answers or check their work. We see their subtraction fact fluency and understanding growing each week! The Sparks had an extra math workshop this week where they branched into micro groups. Stations such as addition and subtraction, 100 board, skip counting, number rods and puzzling together numbers using shapes. The Sparks helped one another and showed a lot of interest at each station. Way to go, mathematicians!
French
This week, we continued learning the parts of the body in French and practiced some fun Halloween vocabulary. Throughout the week, we also sang the song “C’est l’Halloween” : C'est l'halloween, Matt Maxwell To kick off the week of French workshops, we made a witch puppet of a witch to practice the words head, body, arms, and legs, as well as some clothing vocabulary such as dress, hat, boots, and broom. Wednesday, we played Halloween Bingo to learn common words like citrouille (pumpkin), fantôme (ghost), chauve-souris (bat), and bonbons (candy). The learners also practiced how to ask for candy in French: “J’aimerais des bonbons, s’il-vous-plaît” (I would like some candy, please) and “Merci!” (Thank you!). Thursday, we had lots of fun in the gym playing a game to find Mr. Potato Head body parts (les yeux, nez, bouches, pieds, etc.).
Geography
Calling all Spark travellers, this is your captain speaking! The Sparks went on an exciting flight to Cancún, Mexico. However, due to unexpected circumstances, the plane had to make an emergency landing in New York City. The travelers found a hotel for the night and caught a new flight the following morning. Using real-world examples and scenarios helps bring learning to life. When the learners finally arrived in Mexico, they began exploring different holidays celebrated around North America. Sparks shared the holidays they celebrate with their own families, including Diwali, Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Together, everyone took turns sharing a special holiday and described what makes it meaningful to them.
Additional Highlights
The Sparks had some Discovery Rebels and Mme. Marianne join them during DEAR for readalouds this week. The learners enjoyed hearing fun stories about Gerald and Piggy, and silly French stories about Halloween.
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday morning, Rebels were greeted with a Mindful Skeleton colouring challenge. From the skull bones, to the vertebral column, to the thorax, Rebels were introduced to several scientific names of the human skeleton as we embark on our first human body systems this week in Quest. For Launch, in anticipation of Halloween this Friday, Rebels completed several Halloween themed logic puzzles in teams of two or three. Tuesday morning Rebels worked on a Halloween Mosaic that lead into a launch where we watched Inner Workings, a Disney short movie, about a young man named Paul. We got to see his internal systems reacting throughout his day, from his brain’s response to potential dangers, to his stomach’s signal for food, to his bladder’s cue to find a bathroom! Rebels discussed connections to our Quest as well as deeper questions like: is it better to be sensible or spontaneous? Wednesday morning’s Squad Chickens gave the Rebels an opportunity to earn some Rebel Bucks for taking ownership of their education! Each leader challenged their squad to set two goals to attempt to complete during Wednesday morning’s Core Skills period - for every goal completed, the Squad would earn a point. The Squad with the most points at the end of Core Skills would earn a Rebel Buck. Thursday morning we had a wonderful discussion: what makes you feel brave and would you rather have wings or a tail? Thank you for sharing, Rebels! At launch, Rebels explored more common conflicts that friendships endure. What should you do if someone is ignoring or “ghosting” you? Should you try to initiate a conversation with someone who’s actively avoiding you, or should you give them space? On Friday, Rebels from all studios had a blast participating in our annual Halloween Runway. For the Current Events report, we checked out the top five costumes for 2025 which included K-Pop Demon Hunters, Labubus and Wednesday Addams as the top three most popular this year. Rebels also looked in depth at a weather report and discussed the graphs and infographics tracking hourly precipitation to determine the probability of rain during their Trick or Treating outing on Friday evening. Rebels predicted the rain would be ongoing into the evening but according to the data, looked as though it would only be a light drizzle of rain - which wouldn’t stop them from getting their treats!
Reader/Writer
In Reader/Writer this week, Rebels in Draw and Anchor had the option to read/follow along or listened to an audio recording of an article all about the Muscular system. Before starting the article, we reviewed what makes a fact a fact? Rebels reflected on our conversation from the previous workshop and concluded that a fact gives us more information and helps us to learn more about a topic. We got to work straight away, learning about the complexities of our muscles and how without them, we wouldn’t be able to move or function properly at all. Rebels highlighted key words and vocabulary such as skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscles, striations, involuntary and voluntary movements. Rebels added information they thought was most important from this article into their Human Body Journals. Week two of our Aim and Release workshop saw the Rebels hard at work on their introductory paragraphs and first body paragraph of their human system reports. Many had completed a paragraph or two already, and shared them with a Guide or fellow teammate for editing. We came to an important learning moment on informational writing - how to organize information so that a paragraph or essay has a distinct and logical flow. What kinds of sentences belong in an introductory paragraph? Should they define every body part and function of the system in the first sentence, or clearly state what the report will be about? Rebels referred back to their Report Guide and started to strategically sort information they have gathered into different paragraph topics (for example, body paragraph one will focus on main function and what the system does, paragraph two will be about the major organs involved and how they work together, and paragraph three will cover why it’s important and how it connects to other systems). The rest of the workshop was spent on developing more of their reports.
Math Lab
This week’s measurement topic was perimeter! On Tuesday with Group 2, we went outside to the fenced in area to walk around the fence line and make Metric estimates about how far we had walked. Then we moved across the street to the community garden and Rebels tried to estimate the perimeter of the long rectangular garden beds. Back inside, they had to use rulers and/or metre sticks with a partner to measure the total distance of a taped, segmented route through the studio and hallway. On Thursday with Group 1, we met in the gym and the Rebels worked in small teams to try and construct 25 metre segments and then join them together to make one longer 100 metre jogging track! Then, they tried to time their teammates jogging the track in a relay! After each group participated in the embodied cognition challenge, they worked on some independent problem-solving tasks related to perimeter and area.
Quest
This week’s focus was the Musculoskeletal system! By the end of the week, Rebels explored the structure and function of major muscles and bones, how they are interrelated to allow movement, as well as health concerns and applications related to these body systems. On Monday, Rebels had the opportunity to investigate chicken drumsticks (i.e. the tibia and fibula bones) before conducting an experiment. They noted that the bones had hard parts and softer “fleshier” parts (like the small remaining bits of tendons and cartilage). We put the bones in 500 mL jars with cleaning vinegar and made hypotheses about what would happen by the end of the week. Some Rebels think the bones will grow mould, others think the cartilage and tendons will disintegrate but the bones will remain and a few think the bones themselves will become soft. We then broke into smaller teams to complete our first tasks: label the major bones and muscles of the human body and create a mini 2D model of the human skeleton using cotton swabs and black paper.
On Tuesday, we watched part of an interview with Tilly Lockey and Joel Gibbard, CEO and founder of Open Bionics, where Tilly demonstrates the incredible ability of her bionic arms! Back in small teams, Rebels then had to engineer a mechanical hand and a prosthetic arm to show the way the bones and muscles work together to allow fingers and elbows to bend. On Wednesday we had an incredible guest, Jason Ma, from Little Medical School come to the studio for a BONES workshop! Rebels got to make an anatomically correct clay model of the human skeleton and practiced the scientific names of the major bones. On Thursday, Rebels had one final task: to create a public service announcement (PSA) about a disease or syndrome that affects the skeletal and or muscular system. They needed to gather information and record only the key points to inform the public about these health concerns. For example, what is osteoporosis and how does it affect your bones? Can it be prevented and if so, how?
Civilizations
This week we learned all about Hammurabi’s code and Babylonian Empire. Rebels mapped the city of Babylon and shaded the greater region of Babylonia (formerly southern Mesopotamia). We went through each rule of the code and talked about fairness and justice. Rebels thought one of the rules that was the least fair and made them the most nervous (had they been living at that time) was how if you were a doctor and a patient died under your care, the court would cut off your hand! However, they did think that some of the consequences were just. For example: if you flooded your neighbour’s field you would have to pay for the spoiled grain or if you cut down a tree on someone else’s property, you would have to pay for it. At the core of our discussion was the issue of intent: if you don’t intend to hurt someone, but you do, what consequences are fair and just? Ultimately, Rebels were impressed that Hammurabi’s code applied to all citizens, including the king himself (even if they disagreed with parts of the code).
French
We explored new vocabulary through interactive games and group activities while enjoying the Halloween spirit. To start, we played two Kahoot quizzes: one focused on vocabulary related to the human body and another on common words used on/around Halloween. Next, the Rebels worked on a matching activity where they had to associate monster descriptions with the correct pictures. This exercise encouraged them to read carefully and pay attention to descriptive details in French. We also sang the song C'est l'halloween, Matt Maxwell, which was a fun way to practice pronunciation and review more Halloween vocabulary like sorcière (witch), citrouille (pumpkin), and fantôme (ghost). We wrapped up our week with the game «Gauche-Droite». In this activity, the Rebels had to perform specific movement each time they heard certain words in French to practice their listening and comprehension skills.
Additional Highlights
During Elective this week, Rebels had the opportunity to try three activities. They tried to measure their resting, walking and elevated heart rate (after all, the heart is a muscle!). They also saw a clip of Chris Hadfield exercising in space and discussed the extra care that human bodies require to keep our bones strong and healthy in a weightless environment. Then, they had to try Chris’s workout! Lastly, they watched a TEDEd video about x-ray technology, a Nobel prize winning discovery, and got to try “x-raying” their skulls, hands and chests!
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness & Launch
Adaptability is about staying flexible and adjusting to change. It's the key to being resilient and effective, no matter what comes our way. On Monday morning, we discussed open-mindedness, flexibility, emotional regulation, creative problem-solving, learning from experience, and proactivity in relation to adaptability. Rebels then reflected on how adaptable they consider themselves to be and journaled about an area of their life where they often struggle with unexpected changes, as well as the steps they can take to become more flexible in these situations. During Launch, we explored various poverty interventions and aid programs, and how direct cash giving can address a community's needs. In 2018, a nonprofit gave every adult in the Ahenyo village $500. Most families had lived in extreme poverty for generations, and this sum was roughly equivalent to their annual salaries. The money came with no strings attached to how it could be spent. Before watching the video, we predicted whether or not we believed this act would lift villagers out of poverty or be another failed philanthropic endeavour. We had an interesting discussion after the video, relating it to our Biomimicry Quest and our reason for choosing local problems over those we may not fully understand in other parts of the world. After our Becoming a Critical Thinker lesson (see below) on Tuesday, Rebels had a few minutes for their next technical drawing lesson, during which they drew a 3D chair. On Wednesday, we continued our Fauvist-inspired animal portraits, painting the background with at least three bold analogous watercolours. A few even began to paint in the dark areas of their animal's face with a cool colour! All of the Rebels went for a walk on Thursday morning however due to the chill, many came back a bit early and continued to work on their animal portrait art. Friday, Exploration joined the other studios for the annual Red Carpet Halloween Parade! Great costumes, Rebels!
Reader/Writer Workshop & The Hobbit
Rebels tackled another escape room this week, using Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Tell-Tale Heart." They began with the first portion of the story and, after a close read, defined a series of words, identified the type of figurative language used, answered a few close reading questions and identified the plot point of the story so far. With all of the information, they used their cipher wheel and number code bar to find their next clue. With the discovery of each new passage, they continued to define vocabulary, identify the figurative language in various passages, answer questions, and determine plot points. Did your learner find the old man's heart?! We ended our day listening to a recorded version while colouring Tell-Tale Heart-inspired pictures.
We read Chapter 15 of The Hobbit on Monday afternoon before answering the free-write questions focusing on compromise. On Tuesday, we read Chapter 16, and on Wednesday, we reviewed the chapter analysis questions for both Chapters 15 and 16 before beginning Chapter 17. We finished Chapter 17 and 18 on Thursday. The novel came to an end on Friday afternoon, and with The Hobbit complete, Rebels will begin reading their independent Deep Books on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and voted in a new read-aloud (The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise) for the other two days of the week.
Reading Challenge, Paragraph of the Week and Grammar
The Reading Challenge of the week was all about sorting Fact vs. Opinion. Rebels had to identify facts and opinions in different sports articles and solve a puzzle by determining the right combination.
Learners also wrote an expository paragraph this week, comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between two ideas. After the free-write on Monday, learners reorganized their paragraphs to ensure they had an introduction, body, and concluding statement. On Wednesday, they identified areas to improve the transitions and further revised their piece to correct any run-on sentences on Thursday. Their final draft was submitted on Friday.
We reviewed how commas are used to separate three or more items in a list and to place a comma before the final "and" (also known as the Oxford comma). They corrected sentences, wrote a paragraph using commas to separate times in their list, teamed up to insert missing commas in a passage, and fixed up the comma mistakes in a section before we reviewed it as a full studio on Friday.
Math Lab
On Wednesday, we began our Math Lab workshop with a Data Talk based on this data visualization of Stephen Curry's shots in the 2015-2016 season. Learners discussed what they noticed, what they wondered, and how the visualization could be utilized. It was then time for the Rebels to look for patterns and meaning in the data they had collected for their personal 'Dear Data' project. They were asked to find one "traditional" way to organize their data (bar graph, pie chart, etc.) before getting creative and organizing their data! Next week, learners will make their final drafts for display at Exhibition.
Becoming a Critical Thinker
This week's lesson was titled "Headlines and Chyrons: How News Media Push a Viewpoint." We learned how news organizations are skilled at shaping our thinking. Headlines and chyrons are potent forces in shaping our opinions, especially when we rely on a single source. Rebels began their lesson by examining a series of headlines regarding the recent tariff ad run by Ontario that angered Trump. We identified adjectives used, as well as words with positive, neutral, and negative connotations, before watching the news and writing down, categorizing, and analyzing the chyrons we saw.
Quest - Biomimicry
How will we decide which specific problem will be the focus of our design challenge, and who might be impacted by our designs? Rebels spent Monday writing their group contract and then identifying the specific SDG they want to address. They identified the context, criteria, and constraints and used a Reframing Problems activity and a Define the Challenge handout to turn the challenge into possible areas of action. On Tuesday, they revisited the Design Brief and talked about what they will need to know before designing. In their sketchbooks, they created a list of questions considering the context (climate, temperature constraints, location, and other factors that affect how and where the design is used, as well as by whom). Rebels also learned about empathy interviews, a type of research done in an interview format with peoplewho are affected by the problem we want to solve and might be impacted by our designs. Rebels brainstormed who they could contact (local social organizations, businesses, colleagues on campus, administration, or parent groups), with most choosing to write an email with their questions. (By the end of the week, several groups had heard back from the people they emailed and were given great suggestions!) Once groups had sent at least one email to a stakeholder, learners drafted a poster on Canva explaining their SDG. After a Biomimicry Mash-Up, Rebels had time to catch up on the week's challenges or participate in a submersible design challenge. After learning about the challenges and constraints a manned underwater vehicle could face when exploring the Mariana Trench, Rebels researched various organisms that live in the deep sea to discover how they've adapted to the environment for design clues.
French
This week, the Rebels began playing the game "Loups-Garous" (Werewolves) with all 13 of the new characters. This game allows us to practice vocabulary, pronunciation, and listening comprehension in a fun and interactive way.
Civilizations
How did the Universe begin? In an instant, the Universe went from nothing to producing the building blocks for everything we know. The Big Bang helps explain how these massive changes took place. Rebels began our Civilizations lesson with a quick poll to gauge their agreement or disagreement with a series of statements. We then developed our causal thinking. Using a fictional story about Alphonse the Camel, learners investigated and categorized the causes over time. Which event was the one that literally broke the camel's back? We then learned that the first threshold in Big History was passed billions of years ago, but it wouldn't have happened without certain "ingredients" and a just-right set of conditions. After completing the Threshold 1 Card, we watched a video on the Origin of the Universe before exploring and analyzing a map of the Universe to help us make sense of the vastness of time and space.
Personal Finance
Welcome to budgeting! This week, we began with a discussion on "What is Money?" and "What is Wealth?" We also reviewed the distinction between needs and wants before watching an overview of how to play the Personal Finance Lab budget game. Rebels played "one month" of the game, where they had to review their monthly fixed and variable expenses, their projected income, and set savings goals based on the surplus or deficit they would have. There were surprise expenses along the way, and learners could earn or lose money based on embedded quizzes. The studio was buzzing with energy as the Rebels exchanged pointers, commiserated on losses, and vigilantly watched their credit score as well as their quality of life points. They can't wait to play again!
Additional Highlights
We had a fun-filled Halloween celebration on Friday! Exploration and Launchpad Rebels organized and ran a Trick-or-Treating event for the entire school, and they enjoyed taking turns to collect some treats themselves as well! Happy Halloween, Rebels!
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel
Spark Studio
What did you think Emma the Goose's costume should have been? Which costume that she tried on was your favourite?
What was your favourite experiment you completed this week? (Pumpkin Volcano Explosion, Potion Making, or Slime)
What ingredients did you use to make the pumpkin erupt?
What rules do you need to follow to stay safe when doing science experiments?
What happened in the story, How to Catch a Witch?
French: Can you sing me the song "C'est l'Halloween" in French?
Discovery Studio
What makes our bones strong? How do we take care of our bones?
Which muscles make your arm move and your hand open?
Which body systems are involved in making Tilly Lockey's bionic arms work?
What is the perimeter of your bedroom in metres? Centimetres?
Reader/Writer Draw and Anchor: Can you tell me what some of your key words from the muscle article mean? (Striation, involuntary and voluntary movements, smooth muscles, cardiac muscles, skeletal muscles)
Reader/Writer Aim and Release: Why is it important to organize your paragraphs into specific topics? How does this help your whole report "flow"?
French: How do you say arm and leg in French? (bras et jambe)
Exploration Studio
On a scale of 1 to 10, how adaptable do you consider yourself when facing changes? What are your strengths in adapting, and where do you see room for improvement? How can you work on becoming more adaptable?
Thorin refuses to compromise with Bard, even if it costs him "the friendship and honour" of others. Should Thorin compromise at this point? Does Bard deserve a share of the treasure?
Which SDG did your team choose, and how are you narrowing down the problem you would like to solve with biomimicry?
Have you chosen a Deep Book to read?
How is your Dear Data project shaping up? Will you be able to complete it next week?
French: Which character were you in the Werewolves game? Did the villagers win?