Session 7 - The Countdown is On!
Spark Studio
Over the next six weeks, the Sparks will be diving into an exciting exploration of health and fitness! We'll focus on sports and the importance of exercise, the human body, nutrition, and the Olympics. Throughout this journey, they will engage in hands-on activities, sports challenges, and group exercises led by visiting fitness instructors! To wrap up this Quest, we will host a Family Health and Wellness Expo where the Sparks will showcase their learning and even lead a workout routine for their families. Show and Share will coincide with our Quest theme.
This French session will be musical! The Sparks will learn or revisit ten nursery rhymes or fun songs designed to help them review and strengthen the language skills and pronunciation they have learned throughout this school year.
We are also looking forward to some end-of-the-year traditions such as the Cardboard Challenge, Revel Olympics, Spirit Week, Mr. Sundae, Summer Birthday Celebration with piñatas, and swimming at the pool in the last week of school! Stay tuned on Band for more information on these exciting events!
Discovery Studio
For our last session, we are taking games to a whole new level! Rebels will be creating carnival games inspired by Caine's Arcade. We will be studying games and what makes them fun, virtually touring various theme parks for inspiration, and completing various challenges to learn how to use and incorporate a Microbit into our games. Let the Games Begin!
In Reader Writer, we will create our own newspaper, "The Revel Academy Press." Learners will write a piece and partake in photography, editing, or design.
For our final series of Math Labs this year, Rebels will have fun investigating probability through The Math Fair! Week to week, we'll complete various challenges related to spinners, dice, and card games while expanding their language of probability to describe events, list possible outcomes, and evaluate fairness. There will also be many opportunities to work with, visualize, and compare fractions (and decimals and percents) using hands-on tools and important models like number lines.
In French, the learners will explore Francophone music and discover different French artists. They will strengthen their French pronunciation through fun activities and songs by Les Cowboys Fringants, Mes Aïeux, Stromae, Kids United, etc. At the end of the session, each learner will create a music notebook about their favourite French song or musician.
Exploration Studio
Québec City
Slip into your most comfortable walking shoes and prepare to take in 400 years of history! Rebels have planned and pitched their upcoming trip to Québec City and also fundraised to cover nearly half the expenses required for travel, accommodations, dinners, and excursions for an action-packed two-night stay. After hard work in Session 3 and 5 Quests and detailed research in Civ last session, now it's time to celebrate and have fun, getting to see many of the things we've been learning about like the Plains of Abraham, Dufferin Terrace, Quartier Petit Champlain, and the fortified walls and ramparts that still stand. Together, we'll enjoy riding the VIA Rail train right into the heart of the city and venture by foot to visit two museums, checking off many stunning architectural gems from our selfie list that make Old Québec a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
Quest
This session Quest is going LIVE! Rebels will explore Poetry and Performing Arts, stepping outside of their comfort zones and more clearly defining their challenge zones in the arts of public speaking, improv, acting, expression through movement and dancing, and music. Culminating with a showcase of LIVE performances, Rebels will first need to build TRUST. From simple improv exercises like "Yes, and…" to sharing more enigmatic or personal work aloud like poems, Rebels will focus on showing up, encouraging one another, participating in challenges even when it feels hard, and mastering their ability to offer constructive criticism as they approve and curate excellent performances for the Exhibition lineup.
Reader/Writer
In this session, we will reflect on our Hero's Journey in Reader Writer. We will learn about the Hero's Journey and then write about how we were heroes this year through a five-paragraph essay format. Our session will include Socratic discussion questions - A/B questions where the learners will be forced to make a choice, reflect on their experience this year, and provide evidence for their Hero's journey.
Math Lab
It's probably fun, right? In this session, Rebels will explore probability by engaging in weekly tasks requiring them to evaluate likelihood and certainty. They will use hands-on, concrete items like spinners, dice, cards, and mysterious bags of treasure to explore and bring the relationship between theoretical and experimental probabilities to life. Along the way, they'll find and use ways to represent, with precision, the chances or odds of various outcomes with fractions, decimals, and percentages, using tree diagrams or area models to organize information. At the heart of each lab lies an opportunity to justify arguments they may be inclined to make about fairness, leading to an energetic and fun series of labs for our final session.
French
The learners will take part in a project exploring Francophone music. They will discover a variety of musical styles and artists from French-speaking countries such as Québec, France, Senegal, and Belgium. We aim to open our musical horizons and enjoy developing our French language skills together.
Civilizations
Are you ready for a Socratic Smackdown?! A "Socratic Smackdown" refers to a structured discussion, often based on a text or topic, where learners engage in a debate or debate-like exchange. It's a form of Socratic Seminar that incorporates elements of competition and gamification, aiming to encourage critical thinking and argumentation skills. Over the last six weeks of the year, we will practice our Socratic Seminar skills as we research and participate in gamified debates regarding modern concerns, poetry analysis, and topics chosen by the Rebels.
Health
In health, we will continue to talk about boundaries and consent while also discussing the role of texting in a relationship, staying safe online, and identifying healthy vs unhealthy relationships. We will also learn about substance use and its risks from two med school students from the University of Ottawa before learning more about reproduction, birth control, and STDs.
Along the way, we will also be taking part in the Revel traditions, including the Late-Night Hang, which learners will need to earn their way into!
Launchpad Studio
With one Launchpad Rebel heading off to Costa Rica for a marine conservation trip, another making their way to southern Ontario for SHAD, and a third preparing for graduation, this session will be all about completing coursework, focusing on priorities, and closing loops.
In the studio, learners will work to complete their independent math, language, coding, and online courses. To close out our biology study, our learners will read up on the various systems, organs, and functions before dissecting a fetal pig. We will also finish our last Deep Books and choose a writing piece to get feedback and polish up for submission.
To celebrate all of the year's hard work, we will also be taking several excursions to eateries, escape rooms, and local haunts before the year comes to a close. Based on the learners’ request, we will also venture each week to Hintonburg Pottery Studio for a beginner wheel pottery course. Rebels will learn how to throw on a wheel, create cylinders, make handles, trim, and glaze!
Important Upcoming Dates
Launchpad Lunch Out - Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Monday, May 26th
Exploration Québec City Trip - Wednesday, May 28th - Friday, May 30th
Tuesday, June 3rd - Collective Movement workshop with Mandie (Sparks and Discovery, then Exploration)
Friday, June 6th - Launchpad Pride Prom
Cardboard Challenge - Friday, June 13th
Exploration Late Night Hang (Learners must EARN their ticket in!) - Friday, June 13th
Graduation Ceremony - Thursday, June 19th
Session 7 Exhibitions
Discovery - Tuesday, June 24th
Spark - Wednesday, June 25th
Exploration - Thursday, June 26th
Spirit Week - Monday, June 30th - Friday, July 4th
Canada Day - No School - Tuesday, July 1st
Mr. Sundae's Ice Cream Truck visit - Thursday, July 3rd