Revel Recap: April 28 - May 2, 2025
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
Every day this week, we started our morning learning about 14 of the world's strangest insects from CBC Kids. After observing pictures of these cool creatures, we learned some fun facts about them. For example, the Hercules beetle can carry 850 times its weight, equivalent to a person carrying seven elephants! Ask your Spark which cool bug they liked learning about! After hearing about the fascinating insects on Monday, we read a book called Zinnia’s Flower Garden. We learned how to care for a garden and the joy it brings when everything starts blooming. We also talked about how important gardens are for insects. At the end of the story, we read a fact sheet about how to start seeds inside and the steps to take care of them. We then planted some nasturtium seeds that a learner kindly donated. We will watch them grow inside and transplant them to our outdoor planters when ready! On Tuesday, we followed along with a directed drawing of a beautiful hummingbird. Learners added their own flowers to it, remembering a fact we had learned that this pollinator likes deep, funnel-shaped flowers to drink nectar from. Wednesday’s yoga sequence followed the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We read this same story on Thursday morning and then completed a butterfly life cycle craft. To end the week, we wrote and illustrated an entry in our journals about which pollinator we are grateful for and why.
Quest
This week's Quest focused on a significant topic: pollinators! To launch our first discussion, we read the book Achoo! Why Pollen Counts, which introduced the pollination process. It follows along with a bear who is learning why pollen is so vital for forest plants and animals. He finds out about the animals that help pollinate plants in different ways. At the end of the book, we played a pollinator matching game where we studied different pollinators and the flowers they prefer. We then created a pollinator diagram craft that showed a hummingbird, bee, or butterfly collecting pollen from one flower and moving it to another. On Tuesday, we looked at an infographic to learn about pollen, the parts of the flower, how pollination works, and the pollinators' role in this process. We discovered that bees are responsible for about 80 percent of all pollination, so we shifted our focus to this incredible pollinator for the day. We read Save the Bees, which outlined some critical steps we can take to help them, such as planting more flowers. The learners then worked on a cut-and-paste activity, where they needed to identify what was hurting the bees and how we could save them. We talked about pesticide use, droughts, habitat destruction, global warming, and lack of food as things hurting the bees. We can help them by creating new homes, planting native flowers, teaching others about pollinators, and banning dangerous pesticides. On Wednesday, we had a guest visitor, a Discovery Rebels parent, who came to give us a special presentation on pollinators. We started off playing a game where each learner was given a different insect to be, such as ants, beetles, bees, butterflies, caterpillars, and millipedes. We learned some rules for each insect, such as whether another insect could eat them or if they were a social species. The Rebel insects entered the main space, which had been turned into an insect habitat. Their goal was to find flowers for food and keep a tally of how much they found and ate. When they came back together, many learners had collected a good amount of food, meaning we had a healthy ecosystem. For the next round, some changes were made to the environment. Roads were put in place, large patches of grass were planted, pesticides were sprayed, destroying many native plants, invasive species began taking over, and all the dead leaves were removed, leaving no way for the millipedes to survive. The insects found it much harder to survive and find food. This game highlighted the issues in our neighbourhoods affecting our important pollinators. After playing, we watched a video about two high school students working in their community to plant pollinator gardens with native species to help support the local butterfly and bee population. At the end of the discussion, our visitor handed out envelopes containing native seeds for Rebels to plant at their home! Thank you! On Thursday, we learned about some of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts that pollinators help to produce. We noticed that some of our favourites were on the list, such as apples, strawberries, cucumbers, watermelon, blueberries, avocados, and so much more! We realized that to continue to enjoy our favourite foods, we need to take care of the pollinators! To get our message out about their importance, each learner worked on creating a poster. They included examples of pollinators, what foods they help make, and, of course, flowers! Afterwards, we started a plant experiment. We placed sunflower and bean seeds on a wet paper towel and put them inside a Ziploc bag. We have placed them on the window and are excited to see which one sprouts first and watch their growth. They will then be sent home for learners to plant! Ask your entomologist all about pollinators; they learned so much this week, and we had some really great discussions!
Math Lab
Group One continued their journey through addition using the Golden Beads. We counted by 1s to 10, 10s to 100, and then by thousands to 9 thousand. They placed the numbers in order from ones, tens, hundreds and thousands to visualize the unit's place. We reviewed that hundreds have two additional numbers and thousands have three additional numbers. Continuing with hands-on learning, the Sparks were provided with four images of blocks. The learners had to figure out what number it would make and say it out loud. We completed the steps four times before ending with two rounds of addition.
Group Two continued their exploration of multiplication this week. Each learner received their own colour-coded multiplication chart to use as a visual aid to help learn and memorize multiplication facts. While looking at the numbers on the chart, we noticed the number patterns and began writing our multiplication equations and using the chart to find the answers. Afterwards, the learners worked on completing their multiplication table booklet using the bead board as a tool.
French
On Monday, we coloured new verbs and worked on daily routine verbs such as I get up, I eat, I wash my hands, I sleep, and so on. Tuesday, the Sparks learned two songs focusing on the verbs to be and to have. Wednesday, Group 1 played the game Ou est? (Where is...?) to review everyday questions. Meanwhile, Group 2 took part in La Roue des sons (The Sound Wheel) activity to practice French letter combinations such as in, ou, on, etc. Lastly, on Thursday, we reinforced the week's learning through games in the gym.
Reader/Writer
Many learners from Group One started their week by reading their UFLI stories to a guide. Some stories focused on the phonetic sound i or e, which was a good start, as they were introduced to the vowels during their Reader-Writer Lab. The learners went over each vowel and its sound. Following this, we focused on the letter R. Together, the Sparks practiced printing their R's on their whiteboards. Next, we used the movable alphabet to spell six words starting with R, such as rat, rug, and red. We encourage your families to practice this sound throughout the weekend!
Group Two started our workshop by taking turns reading out loud to the group from an informational text about honeybees. After learning about this vital pollinator, we worked together to answer comprehension questions about the text. We focused on writing in complete sentences and using capital letters and punctuation. This warm-up activity led to our next task, editing various sentences. Learners worked independently to read sentences, identify the mistakes, and rewrite them correctly.
Additionally, as a group on Thursday, we used our second Reader-Writer period to focus on rhyming and the digraph th. During the rhyming activity, the learners were split into four groups. Each group was provided with 16 photos, and they had to find their matching rhyming pair —for example, pig and fig, goat and boat and van and fan. Next, we listened to a Scratch Garden video about the sound th. The Sparks would follow along with the video to get a stronger sense of sound and practice it out loud. The words they came up with were think and thing. We then read a book called The Thing That Went Thump, which contained many words with this sound. To practice, we completed a worksheet where they identified all the th words they could find.
Art
We started our art workshop by reading the fun story, Make Way for Butterfly. We then created pollinator puppets of bees, butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds. The learners enjoyed testing their puppets out after creating them!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
To start the week, Rebels tried their dance challenge for Mindful Movement Monday, and they are beginning to be able to achieve the "weave" of people in the dance grid! At Launch, the Rebels were asked, "What do we need to consider as spring turns into summer, and how can we remain safe?" The Rebels led and facilitated a 10-minute conversation by themselves, and Ms. Amy mapped it out. At the end of the conversation, we discussed whether we thought it was a successful conversation and looked at the conversation map. Many Rebels felt the conversation was chaotic, too loud and frustrating. We will try again to improve next week! On Tuesday, we started our day with a mindful drawing tutorial of a firefly in a jar through Art Hub. For Launch, we explored the interactive news page on CBC's website and analyzed the elected and projected results of Monday's federal election. We reviewed the colour-coded map of ridings and how the physical size of a riding can be misleading compared to a bar graph showing the number of seats or a table of percentages showing the popular vote. We looked for Prime Minister candidates we knew and their results in their riding, and discussed minority vs. majority governments, what it means to "lose" a seat, and how this all relates to our Squad Leadership election process. On Wednesday mornings, we completed a Rebel's Joy Project. His Joy project was to clean up the neighbourhood and park in collaboration with the Cleaning Up the Capital campaign. The Rebels collected one full garbage bag! Congratulations, Rebels, on making a difference! On Thursday morning, the Rebels chose yoga with Ms. Mel in the gym or an outdoor walk with Ms. Amy. While we took a quick walk around the neighbourhood, we noticed the buds growing on trees, tulips about to pop, and some small wooden debris from the previous night's thunderstorm. For Feel-Good Friday, the Rebels warmed up the Boomwhackers and then played a rendition of the song "APT." During Friday's Current Events report, we learned about Root, a wood turtle who only had three legs, so the museum staff where he lives made him a Lego scooter. We also learned that the Ice Bucket Challenge is back. However, the cause has changed from ALS research to Mental Health. Lastly, we had a big debate about what the Rebels believed the voting age should be.
Math Lab
Aim and Release Rebels worked on three tasks in the lab this week: a stacked and multiple-bar graph warm-up, an analysis task related to data about pollinators (aka honeybees), and a research template for their infographic project. Rebels made awesome connections to the different types of bar graphs and how they work, like how Journey Tracker shows us our Journey Tracker points in a stacked bar graph, with each segment representing points for a different Core Skills goal. When analyzing the data about pollinators, Rebels made some critical observations, such as the loss of bee populations over time (a downward trend), as well as the age of the data (from ten years ago) and how it's important to find more recent data to help inform solutions to problems.
On Wednesday, Draw and Anchor Rebels reviewed the terms of their research projects and worked hard to gather quantitative data about their selected species and similar species in order to make comparisons. As they found their information, they noticed some barriers to being able to make their pictographs. For example, if you know the average length of an armadillidiidae (aka pill bug) in inches but you find the length of another comparable species like Porcellio laevis (aka dairy cow) in millimetres, what needs to happen before you can make a pictograph? As some Rebels started to draft their first graphs of their data, they also found it was another challenge to ensure that their symbol or key could clearly show their data in whole and in parts. One Rebel tried to reconcile this by making a tiny ruler symbol with tick marks to show partial groups of her data.
Reader/Writer
This week in our Reader/Writer workshop, Draw and Anchor Rebels continued their research on the insect or bug they chose. As a group, the Aim and Release Rebels discussed what would make a non-fiction book excellent. The group decided their book should include a title page, facts, pictures, colours, a graph or chart, a table of contents, and a labelled picture of their insect's body parts. They then continued to research their insect, and some of the learners began putting their research into paragraphs and inserting it into their template on Canva.
Civilizations
Last week the Rebels heard about George Washington and the American Constitution, and this week we ventured south - way south! The story showed how European explorers, including Captain James Cook, sailed south in search of new lands and trade routes. Cook explored the Pacific Ocean, charted the coasts of New Zealand and Australia, and made contact with Indigenous peoples. He also sailed far into the southern seas, looking for a mysterious southern continent (Terra Australis), which was never found. Using different colours, Rebels mapped three of Cook's voyages: from Tahiti to New Zealand and Australia, a second voyage to Antarctica, and a third along the western coast of North America to try and find the Northwest Passage.
French
This week, the Rebels finished answering personal questions and then practiced asking their friends questions in French. They focused on both physical and personality descriptions. They are now beginning the presentations, which will be created on a poster board or as a slideshow.
Quest
This week, our Entomology Quest focused on insect habitats and how this affects their survival ability. On Monday, the Rebels were challenged to explore different habitats, describe these habitats and name some insects in these areas. On Tuesday, we discussed how insects stay safe from their many predators and dangers. We watched some videos about camouflage and adaptations. In Hang Sơn Đoòng, the world's largest cave, they just discovered insects that have become blind because the cave is pitch black, so they do not need their sight. The Rebels' challenge was to take a paper butterfly and camouflage it so well that others could not see it. The Rebels hid their camouflaged butterflies around our studio and we tried to find them. Some were so camouflaged that we still haven't found them! On Wednesday, we had a special guest visitor! Jess, who works at The Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative and is also a parent at Revel, came to run a couple of games to help us learn about the importance of pollinators. All the learners were given different species of insects, such as ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, caterpillars, and millipedes. Ants and bees can work together because they are social species. The insects had to roam around, find flowers for food, and count how much food they could find. In the second round of the game, the conditions changed to be more like our neighbourhoods. There were two roads that flying insects could only cross once, and crawling insects were not allowed to cross to avoid danger. Lots of grass was put around the studio, which provides no food to any insects. Pesticides were sprayed, removing half the flowers because the homeowners thought they weren't pretty. Invasive species such as Lily of the Valley have taken over other native plants, and unfortunately, because we clean up dead leaves, there were no millipedes in the game. After playing the second round, the learners, aka insects, noticed it was much harder to survive and that the grass in our neighbourhoods is useless and provides no food for the insects. After playing both games, we watched a video about The Butterfly Way Project, started by two high school students who plant pollinator gardens of native species to help butterflies and bees. At the end of the discussion, Jess handed out envelopes of different native seeds to each Rebel to plant at their home! Thank you, Jess! On Thursday, we wrapped up our week by learning about and comparing the life cycles of humans, butterflies, insects and beetles. We then had some time to finish previous challenges and start a new area of study next week!
Physical Development
On Tuesday, the Rebels chose the PE options of World Domination and a HIIT Workout in the gym. On Thursday, in the gym, we played Knock 'em Down Dodgeball, and outside, we played Cross Country Canada.
Additional Highlights
Many of our Vanessa cardui (aka Painted Lady) caterpillars have moved to the next stage in their life cycle, forming a chrysalis suspended from the top of their environments. We transferred them into larger butterfly nets this week so that their wings can develop, and, likely, by the end of next week, adult butterflies will emerge! A huge Character Callout goes to Ms. Megan for preparing healthy homes for the caterpillars and then taking such great care when transferring these delicate creatures.
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
On Monday morning, Exploration Rebels eased into their week by either working on a reverse colouring page, reading their novel Thirst, working on a 1,000-piece space puzzle, or solving this week's Problem of the Week, which is all about balancing chemical equations. We then met to debrief on Weeks 1 and 2 of Quest and the schedule for the week. To further enjoy the weather, learners went for a walk around the neighbourhood on Tuesday morning before discussing the Federal Election results. We looked at national trends, talked about the winners in our area, and discussed the difference between a majority and minority government. We held our Rights, Respect, Responsibility lesson on Wednesday entitled "Everybody's Got Body Parts." We learned about the internal and external parts of the reproductive systems of those born with a uterus before learning about the menstrual cycle. Lastly, Rebels were given a crossword to complete alone or with their families. At Thursday's yoga practice, Rebels were invited to try a breathing exercise where they placed one hand on their chest and the other on their belly and closed their eyes or lowered their gaze. As they breathed in and out, they were prompted to notice the rise and fall of their chest and the expansion and deflation of their belly. The last invitation was to try to extend their exhalation longer than their inhalation. We then moved through a brief Sun Salutation flow and used the mantra, "I am strong," as we moved through plank pose. For Thursday's Geography Launch, Rebels tackled North, Central, and South American countries, flags, and capitals. On Friday, our Current Events crew spoke more about the federal election, the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Senators series, and ended with some great "Live from Snacktime" quotes. This week, we've been using many of our Closings to test what we've been learning. On Tuesday, learners competed in Newton's Laws Kahoot to earn more money for their rocket budgets, and on Thursday, we put our geography knowledge to the test!
Reader/Writer
For our novel study this week, we started our discussion by trying some Chai tea, which we read about last week. Most of the Rebels loved it! We then discussed various questions based on Chapters 13-25 about privilege, such as stereotypes, whether money makes everything better, and whether we take our parents for granted. We ended our week playing UNO, just like Minni and Pinky (two characters in the book). Next week, we will discuss Chapters 26-37.
French
This week, the Rebels worked on following written directions in French. Using an interactive activity with Google Maps, they answered real-world questions that encouraged observation and comprehension, such as: What is to the right of this hotel? What colour are the shutters on the museum? And what is at the end of this street? To reinforce vocabulary related to directions and questions, the Rebels also participated in active gym games. They reviewed common French terms and question words like on, under, in front of, behind, left, right, who, how many, when, and why.
Civilizations
This week, Rebels continued their research on their Quebec City projects, but first, we looked at a few ways to complete their displays. We discussed appropriate titles and colour coding and viewed examples of informative and engaging timelines. Next week, they will finish writing up their research and begin creating their displays.
Math Lab
This week's lab theme was "Moving Shapes and Finding Fakes." Rebels could select from three tasks: plotting triangles on a coordinate plane, naming and making a series of transformations on mini-grids, and exploring similar triangles as well as a series of figures, with some being similar and some being "fakes." As teams completed the activities, they were encouraged to check in with other teams to see how they described different movements, if there was more than one way to describe the movement and to debate, reason and justify whether or not shapes are similar using mathematical proof. Some great lingering questions emerged, for example: What is the difference between a vertical reflection and a horizontal reflection?
Quest
The goal of Quest this week was to launch a film canister as high into the air as possible while having a 10-second delay and neutralized fuel. We began our exploration on Monday by recognizing that in order to get our rocket into the air, we need fuel that will produce enough thrust to overcome drag and gravity. Rebels then began researching fuel formulas given the materials provided, which included vinegar, lemon juice, water, club soda, baking soda, citric acid, calcium carbonate, calcium chloride, Alka Seltzer tablets, and Redaxon. Rebels also had to be thoughtful as they designed their fuel and experimented with different combinations because they were required to purchase all their materials. Each team was given an equal amount in their account; however, with each completed assignment and additional enrichment challenges, they earned more money to buy supplies. On Tuesday, teams gathered for a quick huddle to rate themselves and their teammates on a scale of 1-10, giving suggestions for how they could be better team members this week. We then learned about acids and bases and their proton-exchanging ways. Teams then continued to work on their fuel experimentation. However, they also focused on environmental protection, working to ensure any liquids that escaped during launch were fully neutralized. In preparation for our final Quest project in Weeks 4 and 5, teams received their team notebooks, divided team roles, submitted a Certificate of Assumed Name, and learned how to fill out a cheque and register on Wednesday. They then had the rest of the class to experiment with various fuel combinations. Finally, the big Launch Day was upon us, and learners had the first thirty minutes of the period to buy their supplies and complete their final tests, making adjustments here and there to get as close as possible to a 10-second delay and neutral fuel while still launching as high as possible. While not every group was successful, all teams did a great job justifying their choices and learning from their failed launches!
Apprenticeship Prep
This week, Rebels worked hard to complete an email draft requesting the opportunity to meet to discuss the potential of acquiring an apprenticeship. The email should show a deep understanding of the company/organization, be personal yet professional, and be specific in what the learner would bring to the table. Several Rebels then met as a group to read over one another's drafts and provide feedback before getting the green light to send. At the end of the class, we read a few examples to help inspire those feeling stuck with their emails.
Additional Highlights
Our studio visited the Canada Space and Aviation Museum on Friday for their "Aviation and Technology" workshop and a self-guided tour of the exhibits before lunch. After eating, we toured the space exhibit before returning to the school for our squads and Fun Friday.
Launchpad Studio
Piano, Russian, coding, mathematics, musical theory, French, American Sign Language, and digital art are only a sampling of the courses and activities our Launchpad Rebels dove into during their independent studies this week.
AP Language and Composition
Our learner used her time to complete practice tests and analyze passages' rhetorical choices in more detail. She also worked on an argumentative essay on Jimmy Baca's assertion of the value of material possessions.
AP Literature and Composition
One Launchpad Rebel read several short literature pieces, including the short story "Sonny's Blues" and excerpts from "The House on Mango Street." They also read some poems by Bishop, their favourite of which was "Fish," a narrative about endurance and hope in the face of struggle.
Communication & Literature
Before meeting on Monday to discuss Chapters 10 & 11 from Khaled Hosseini's novel The Kite Runner, learners focused on contrasts, including characters, settings, values, perspectives, events, and choices. Learners identified three different contrasts that exist in The Kite Runner. Then, they explained their function or why they matter and connected their answers with conflicts, themes, and cultural or social contexts. Our group discussion reviewed the historical context and what was occurring in Afghanistan in the late 70s and early 80s. We also examined the symbolism of Baba's snuffbox and wristwatch, the conflicts between fathers and sons, and starting over in America. Wednesday, we discussed Chapter 12 and Amir's growing feelings for Soraya, cultural responsibility, and the consequences between genders. We also thought about how, while both Amir and Soraya were raised with Pushtin advantages, they used their education and literacy differently. Chapters 13 - 14 introduce some new characters in Amir's life. Rebels considered the details provided in the text about each character and wrote down their motives and aspirations as well as how they contrast or complement the protagonist. We met to learn more about Afghani Wedding customs and discuss Baba's death, the role of fathers, the role of women, Amir and fatherhood, and Amir's new purpose.
AP Biology
As the AP Biology test is on Monday, May 5th, our learner used this last week to finish reading through the chapters of the AP textbook. She focused more on studying with the help of her flashcards and took another practice test to determine which units needed further review.
Challenge and Change
This week, our learner covered the evolution of social movements with an emphasis on the American Civil Rights Movement and discussed how social media influences (to the benefit and detriment of) social justice campaigns.
Potential Discussion Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel
Spark Studio
What are some examples of pollinators? What can we do to help them?
What is the lifecycle of a butterfly? Have you noticed any of these stages happening with the larvae at school?
What foods do pollinators help to grow?
Discovery Studio
What is a stacked bar graph, and how does it work? Can you show me the JT points graph in Journey Tracker and how many points you earned this week?
When you look up data about your species, how do you know the source is trustworthy?
Exploration Studio
What does it mean in math that two shapes or figures are similar? How can you prove that they are or are not?
How did your final launch in Quest go? How long was your delay, what was the pH, and how high did your rocket travel?
With only two weeks remaining in the session, how do you feel about your Civilization and Apprenticeship Prep progress?
What was your favourite plane, artifact, or exhibit at the Canada Space and Aviation Museum?
Important Upcoming Dates
Spark & Discovery Field Trip to the Experimental Farm - Friday, May 9th
Session 6 Exhibitions
Discovery and Spark Exhibition - Wednesday, May 14th at 4:15 pm
Exploration Exhibition - Thursday, May 15th at 4:15 pm
Launchpad Field Trip to Room Escape - Friday, May 16th
Spark Pyjama and Movie Day- Friday, May 16th
Sessional Break and Camp - Tuesday, May 20th - Friday, May 23rd