Revel Recap: Sept. 15-19
Important Upcoming Dates
Guardian Onboarding - Wednesday, September 24th at 6:00 pm
Grade 3 Soccer Jamboree - Thursday, September 25th 10-12:00pm at Turnbull School
Grade 4-6 Soccer Jamboree - Monday, September 29th from 10-2pm at Wesley Clover Park
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation & Orange Shirt Day - Tuesday, September 30th
Session 1 Exhibitions:
Tuesday, October 7th - Discovery Exhibition, 4:15-5:30
Wednesday, October 8th - Spark Exhibition, 4:15-5:30
Thursday, October 9th - Exploration Exhibition, 4:15-5:30
Exploration & Launchpad Field Trip to Arbraska Laflèche - Friday, October 10th
October 14th to 17th - Registration for Session Break Camp will open on Monday, September 22nd at 8:30 am on BAND
Spark
Mindfulness and Launch
Each day this week, we used the Mindfulness Games Activity Cards by Susan Kaiser Greenland to help the Sparks begin the day calm, focused, and connecting with one another. These short, engaging activities encouraged mindfulness through breathing, listening, movement, and reflection. Since our Quest theme this week was all about emotions, many of the cards focused on emotional regulation. For example, we imagined our worries floating away in a pink bubble and thought of three good things we could focus on when we are disappointed. We practiced different types of calming breaths, listened to guided visualizations, and gave ourselves imaginary hugs. After our mindfulness activities, we enjoyed morning jokes and discussion prompts from Emma the Goose, followed by time for colouring, yoga, and adding to our gratitude journals about things that make us laugh.
Quest
This week in Quest, we focused on learning all about emotions. We talked about different emotions, how they feel in our bodies, and what we can do when they start to feel really big. On Monday, we introduced a feelings chart and began identifying different emotions we experience. We read The Boy With Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee, a story that taught us how to navigate big emotions and that everyone feels them sometimes. On Tuesday, we continued using our feelings chart, checking in with each learner to see how they were doing. We played Emotion Charades to practice showing and recognizing feelings in a fun way. The Sparks were so brave and did a great job acting! We read The Feelings Book by Todd Parr, which talks about how all kinds of feelings are normal. Afterward, we chose different feelings from the book, talked about what they mean and drew pictures to show what those emotions look like for us. Wednesday’s focus was on The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas, a book that matches emotions with colours. This led us into a discussion about the Zones of Regulation, which group emotions into colour-coded “zones”: Green (calm, happy), yellow (frustrated, excited), red (angry, overwhelmed), and blue (sad, tired). The learners illustrated a page for their identity booklets, where they identified two things that might move them out of their green zone and into another emotional zone. On Thursday, we reflected on which zone we were in that day and brainstormed tools we can use to help ourselves return to the green zone when needed. We read I Am Stronger Than Anger by Elizabeth Cole. This story gave us practical ways to manage anger and other strong feelings. Inspired by the book, each Spark created their own personal calming toolbox filled with three tools or strategies they can use when they’re feeling overwhelmed. For example, hugging someone they love, finding a quiet place to take a break, taking deep breaths, jumping jacks, using fidget toys, listening to music, going for a walk, and more! It was a great week full of thoughtful conversations. We are so proud of the learners for all that they shared during discussions this week and how they are learning to recognize and manage their feelings!
Art
For art this week, we had a wonderful time celebrating International Dot Day in our studio! We began by reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. This beautiful story is about creativity, courage, and the power of "just making a mark." After our read-aloud, we had a thoughtful discussion about how everyone is an artist in their own way and how sometimes, all it takes is one small dot to get started. The learners then rotated through three different art centres. They created vibrant dot art using paint sticks, explored colour and creativity with watercolour dot paintings, and coloured a special page featuring Vashti, the main character, along with the inspiring words, “Make a mark and see where it takes you!”
Reader/Writer Workshops
Group one continued to practice the letters of the alphabet. Using our new poster in the studio, we reviewed uppercase and lowercase letters. Together, the Sparks recited the alphabet out loud. Next, Sparks paired up and practiced printing letters from each other’s names on the whiteboard. We wrapped up with our team writing their own names on their whiteboard and the poster paper. One area of focus moving forward is to write the letters in their name side by side! Lastly, group one was introduced to their ABC Alphabet Letter workbook. This workbook is used in small groups or 1:1 with a guide to learn about the alphabet and its sounds.
Group Two was introduced to the Waseca Language Booklets, concentrating on the short Aa sound. They practiced sounding out and writing words like flag, mask, bat, raft, sand, man, glad, and cat on their whiteboards. Next, each learner wrote a sentence using the prompt, “I feel happy when…” This tied into our Quest topic, with learners sharing moments that bring them joy. For example, petting their cats or hamsters, spending time with siblings or parents, being at home, or playing with their favourite toys. They then illustrated their sentences. This writing activity also gave us the opportunity to begin exploring starting sentences with capital letters, using punctuation, and leaving appropriately sized spaces between words.
Math Workshops
This week in math, group one was busy building their number knowledge and confidence. We began by reviewing numbers 0-10 using sandpaper numbers. Up next, we ventured into the teen numbers! Using whiteboards, the Sparks followed along with their guide to practice 11-19. Through exploration and practice, Sparks realized that each teen number starts with a number one and it always goes first! To deepen their number sense, we represented teen numbers in different ways, drawing dots or circles to show quantity or tally marks. We will continue exploring numbers 1 through 19 over the next couple of weeks. We strongly encourage counting together with your learner up to 20 during daily routines, whether you’re walking up/down stairs, playing games or just for fun! Repetition will build their confidence! Group two also continued to strengthen their number sense skills through hands-on and collaborative activities. The learners worked in teams to complete a 100 board, helping them recognize number patterns and improve their counting skills. They also practiced identifying numbers that come before and after a given number using a math worksheet. It was great to see their confidence growing as they explored numbers together.
Geography
This week in geography, we began with a review of the continent names. We then listened to the continent song, which got everyone excited and singing along! Next, we played a studio favourite game called Hot and Cold. The learners took turns hiding a continent puzzle piece somewhere in the room while others searched for it. The searchers were given hints like "warmer" or "colder," and the Sparks really enjoyed this activity. After the game, we gathered as a group to identify the continents on our puzzle map. Each learner then coloured in the continents to match the colours on our map. They worked so hard and showed a strong understanding of the continent's names and where they are found on the map.
French
We had a fun and busy week in French! On Monday and Tuesday, we made a colourful craft about the four seasons (été, automne, hiver, printemps) and had great conversations about what makes each season special. On Wednesday, we played a vegetable board game to introduce new words and to review our colours while having fun! Thursday, we headed over to the gym to play active games that reviewed concepts we learned this week.
Discovery
Mindfulness and Launch
We started off the week with a collaborative mural zen doodle, where Rebels picked a spot around a large canvas and contributed their own creative flair to the designs. Monday’s Launch aimed to equip the Rebels to think about their weekly and sessional goals as they head into another week of Core Skills. We started off the conversation with a picture that showed us two perspectives of failure. Rebels discussed what failure meant to them, what it feels like to fail, and how they overcome those initial feelings of loss, anger and giving up. We moved on to the SMART goal acronym and analyzed a Rebel goal tracker to see if her goals were specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Tuesday’s mindful block was dedicated to colour by numbers, followed by our first Rebel-led launch of the school year, all about BIG WORDS, teaching us ten new vocabulary words and testing our pronunciation. For example, you may now notice that your Rebel sounds rather erudite or loquacious in conversation! For Wonder Wednesday, we played the New York Times Pips puzzle and solved the “easy” level before moving on to try Connections. Unfortunately, this week we only figured out one category. We did, however, try a new puzzle this week, Spelling Bee! Wednesday’s Launch was a mini-squad check-in, where Rebels were asked to step into leadership roles and check in on team members to see their progress and goals completed so far this week. Rebels will take turns leading these mini-squads over the next few weeks to see if they take any interest in these responsibilities as we prepare to elect official Squad Leaders for Session 2. Thursday’s “Thank You for Sharing” invited Rebels to share their preference for dogs vs. cats, and which is more difficult: saying sorry when you’ve messed up or accepting an apology when you’re upset? For Launch, Mme. Marianne’s Friendship series focused on bullying as the Rebels watched a short story of a strained friendship between two young girls and discussed what they would do if they were in that situation. Friday morning’s Boomwhackers jam session brought a lof of fun and joy to the studio to kick off the day, including a KPop Demon Hunters song, and Current Events featured Oblique Seville’s 100m record, the world’s quietest room and a young artist who doodled his way to a deal with Nike.
Reader/Writer
Our second challenge in Reader/Writer this session saw the Rebels reflecting on giving and receiving intentional feedback. As our program is learner-driven, Rebels will be taking on a constant role of editing and approving each other’s work over the school year. What is feedback? What kinds of feedback can you offer someone? For written work, what types of things are we looking for when offering suggestions on how one could improve their work? How does it feel when you receive feedback you weren’t expecting? We discussed the Feedback Sandwich and created word walls that encompassed vocabulary/sentence structure for warm, positive feedback as well as constructive feedback for future improvement. Draw and Anchor Rebels tested their feedback-giving skills by applying the Feedback Sandwich to three different journal entries. Once they completed revising and editing peer work, they attempted to write their own journal entry and had another Rebel offer them feedback. What feedback were they surprised to receive? What was harder, giving feedback on the journal entries or having your own work reviewed? Aim and Release Rebels read three short stories, all fictional mysteries that incorporated different styles of writing. They reviewed each story and offered feedback for each. Once complete, Rebels reconvened around our board table to discuss and compare their feedback with others, realizing many felt similarly about components of each story, and discussed what kind of feedback we could give to a piece of work that truly needed “no notes”.
Math Lab
This week’s theme in our Math Lab Crash Course was Toys vs. Tools. We surveyed all of the math manipulatives on our shelves and, over the next few weeks, will hopefully discover some different ways we can use them to model or solve a variety of problems. We have so many things from Canadian currency, timers, coloured tiles, Pattern Blocks, Base Ten Blocks, Cuisenaire rods, a Rekenrek, a fraction wall, all kinds of flashcards, link cubes… a multitude of manipulatives! On Tuesday, Group 2 worked on the Two-Colour Snowflake Task. Rebels designed a paper cutout using origami paper and then taped it to a second, differently coloured sheet as a background to help highlight the negative space. They worked with any tools they wanted to try and estimate how much of the paper was cut away in their design, and then tried to represent this amount as a fraction. They met in small groups to try and convince their team of these estimates and order the snowflakes from least to most cutaway. On Thursday with Group 1, Rebels grappled with sharing 36 crackers in as many ways as possible. Once they found a way, they met with a team to see if they could list and organize all the ways to share the crackers, noting how many people got how many crackers each time. Towards the end of the lab, Rebels then chose to work on a similar problem or try some pips problems, counting how many dots on various collections of dice. It was cool to see how different Rebels grouping the pips, from counting each individual pip to skip counting or combining groups of pips.
French
This week, Group 1 finished answering questions to create their very own passports in French! They practiced answering: Comment tu t’appelles? (What’s your name?), Quelle âge as-tu? (How old are you?), et Où allez-vous? (Where are you going?). Then, they packed their suitcases… on paper! Each learner drew what they would take on a trip and wrote the names of the items in French. Then, the Rebels played a fun Suitcase Bingo game where Mme Marianne called out different items, and the lucky traveller who had everything in their suitcase was the winner! To wrap it up, Rebels played a Kahoot to review all the new vocabulary we learned during our travel-themed activities. Group 2 finished creating their French suitcases and played Suitcase Bingo. We also started practicing how to answer more advanced questions you might hear at the airport. To put it all into action, we did a fun airport role-play. Mme Marianne took on the role of the border agent and asked the learners lots of questions in French, just like what learners would experience at a real airport. Everyone did a great job staying in character and using their new vocabulary.
Civilizations
This week’s story moved us slightly south-west from the ancient Fertile Crescent to the Nile River and delta in Africa. Rebels mapped the Nile’s path, Upper and Lower Egypt, and drew two crowns to represent the leadership of two kings at the time (about five thousand years ago). Then we heard about the annual flooding and recession of the river and how ancient Egyptians were able to continue to figure out farming methods that would work in this environment. For example, they would dig and later block canals in order to use water from the river during dry seasons. Also, the silt from the flooding brought rich minerals and nutrients that allowed crops to grow well. Finally, we watched a video about maps and how cartographers have tried different projections to balance both the size and shape of locations. Rebels considered what the most important purpose of a map is and decided between: navigation, telling us about the past or telling us about the present. At the end of the workshop, we had fun with an Instant Challenge: without leaving their desk, Rebels tried to draw a map that would help a visitor get from the east door to the guide’s desk in Discovery Studio One!
Quest
This week’s Quest theme was “Think Like a Rebel”, focusing on all things mindset, brain health and the Rebel perspective. We kicked off the week with a conversation about Growth Mindset, the power of yet and the type of language to use when facing an obstacle, a challenge or a new, unfamiliar thing. Diving deeper, we asked the Rebels if they knew what was actually happening to the neurons in our brain when we learn something new or try something challenging. Rebels enjoyed a clip from National Geographic’s Limitless documentary to make some more connections (literally!) about the neurons in our brain and how they’re not only activated, but they’re also strengthened when we learn something new. Rebels learned about the corpus callosum and how learning something like an instrument, or learning how to play a sport can actually be incredibly beneficial to brain health as they activate both sides of the brain. We moved into the gym to practice a “brain boosting” activity for a body break, reconvening in the library to read “After the Fall” by Dan Staton, a story about growth mindset. Rebels split off into groups and completed a series of book club questions about the story, and wrapped up the Quest block, connecting everything back to The Challenge Donut. What area of the donut do you think activates your corpus callosum the most? When you’re in your panic zone, do you think your brain is communicating clearly, or has it been hijacked? When you’re in your comfort zone, do you think neurons are firing as rapidly as your challenge zone? Tuesday’s Quest block revisited Growth Mindset and the importance of our Mindfulness program. What is mindfulness, and how do we practice it? Why is it beneficial? What is happening to our brains when we practice mindfulness? Why is it on the schedule at Revel every day? Rebels were inspired to learn that even just 15 minutes of mindful practice each day reduces stress, improves focus and attention, boosts mood and can enhance overall well-being. Rebels took another deep dive into the mind to find out what happens to our brains when practicing mindfulness. This time, we learned about the prefrontal cortex and how we are actually shifting brain wave activity from high-energy, stress-related waves to more relaxed ones associated with deeper focus and calmness. Rebels broke off into pairs to complete a series of logic puzzles focused on activating the prefrontal cortex. Rebels wrapped up the Quest block by making a list of different activities that they considered mindful - from brain-boosting logic puzzles, puzzles, zen doodling/colouring, to meditation, yoga and breathing exercises. Wednesday’s Quest block focused on leadership roles in the Discovery Studio. If we’re thinking like a Rebel, what do we think the people who lead our studio should aspire to be like? How can you earn the position of Squad Leader, and other responsibilities in the studio? Rebels discussed what they thought were the most important attributes of a leadership team by discussing the following questions: Would it be more important for our Council members to make the studio more fun, or raise standards? What do we think is a leader’s most important job and responsibility when it comes to leading our studio? When describing what would make YOU a great leader, what do you think other Rebels want to hear? What traits do you think they are looking for? Rebels split off into small groups to create a “Job Posting” for Squad Leaders. We came back together at the end of Quest to select an election day and compiled their answers to create a final copy of a Squad Leader application. Thursday’s final Quest block of the week gave Rebels the opportunity to catch up on their building “To-Do” list. As Quest weeks unfold, so do the assignments! Rebels prioritized which assignments they wanted to wrap up this week, many working on finishing their Hero Boards, completing Squad Leader applications, completing our Studio Mascot STEM activity, book report questions, mindful canvases and more, so they could head into Week 4 with a lighter load. Rebels, you proved this week that you’re thinking like a true Rebel! Way to go!
Additional Highlights
Rebels began our first Book Club, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. We met in the library during Tuesday and Thursday’s DEAR periods and will continue to meet to read and listen to the story over the next few weeks. Rebels will be choosing their Book Club celebration for this novel over the coming weeks, and they have already discussed options such as a Book Club Cafe or movie afternoon in the library to watch The Wild Robot movie.
PE workshops continued to focus on soccer as an outdoor option to help Rebels prepare for the upcoming soccer jamborees. Revel’s very own Discovery Jiu Jitsu coaches were back in action this week to run a second workshop with Rebels, focusing on throws and take-downs when facing off with an opponent.
Exploration
Mindfulness & Launch
We began our week by introducing the second topic, Emotional Recognition, on our Emotional Intelligence pyramid. We discussed how emotional recognition differs from self-awareness. We spoke about identifying our emotions, understanding emotional triggers, recognizing emotions in others, differentiating similar emotions, expressing emotions clearly and reflecting on our emotional patterns. Rebels then took time to journal with the help of a few prompts. During our Launch, we discussed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and what Revel systems help to encourage each. Tuesday, we completed our Becoming a Critical Thinker lesson (see below), and on Wednesday, learners crafted Selfie Sculptures! Using strips of paper and a series of statements, Rebels made colour-specific arches, zigzags, spiral curls, tabs, and fringes associated with the statements that rang true for them. Some statements were about how they prefer to learn, while others were about their interests. We look forward to sharing these with our families at Exhibition! Thursday, learners walked in Carlington Park and up the hill before convening to debrief their observations from the Day of Silence. For Free Choice Mindfulness on Friday, Rebels worked on the Rivendell Lego set, Escape Room Puzzles, or went outside for sun and fresh air. We then discussed the Challenge Donut in preparation for today's afternoon Squad reflections.
Reading Challenge
This week, learners worked in groups of three to complete their reading challenge assignment on summarizing. Each learner received an astronaut log that they had to read, and then a series of brief sentences was used to summarize their log adequately. When their series was in the correct order and combined with the other two astronauts in their group, they discovered a pass phrase! It was a challenging exercise as all three learners had to summarize their passage to complete the activity successfully.
Paragraph of the Week (Expository)
This week, learners wrote a short newspaper article to inform the public about the truth behind the terrifying sightings of dinosaurs in a nearby forest. After their Monday free write, they had to transform the paragraph on Tuesday by reorganizing their article to follow the inverted pyramid structure. On Wednesday, learners wrote a strong headline that was concise and attention-grabbing, and Thursday, they edited their piece to ensure they had verb consistency. Lastly, they wrote or typed their final copy on Friday, ensuring that they double-checked for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
Grammar
Homophones were the focus of this week's grammar lesson. After listing common homophones, they chose the correct homophone in each provided sentence. They also wrote a paragraph that correctly used at least five pairs of given homophones and, with a partner, fixed errors to decode a secret phrase. Lastly, learners identified and corrected all of the homophone errors in a paragraph.
Reader/Writer Workshop
We reviewed how to write a five-paragraph literary essay on Monday. We learned how to properly integrate quotes after handing out a writing reference sheet and a handy essay writing guide. Learners were also given pre-writing guides for their chosen essays to keep track of quotes and evidence as we read. We used the remaining time to complete our Hobbit vocabulary pages, reading analysis questions, write our expository paragraphs, or solve the remaining "Riddles in the Dark."
The Hobbit
Learners completed the Chapter 1 - 4 Vocabulary pages and handed them in on Monday before breaking off into pairs to review their Chapter 2-4 questions with an answer key. We read Chapter 5 - Riddles in the Dark on Tuesday, and learners were excited to finally "meet" Gollum. On Wednesday, we finished Chapter 5, and Rebels completed a free write using the prompt, "If you were in Bilbo's place, would you have killed Gollum when you had the chance? Or would you have spared his life as Bilbo did?" They were asked to justify their position using specific text-based details. Thursday, we reviewed our Chapter 5 questions and began Chapter 6 aloud. We finished Chapter 6 on Friday and wrote whether Bilbo should have told Gandalf and the others about the ring.
Quest
During Quest on Monday, learners were introduced to our Escape Room project. After discussing the five main escaper types, Rebels were put in groups of five to complete an Escape Room puzzle. Teamwork, delegation, and positive communication were essential for assembling the puzzle and solving the mystery. While none of the groups fully completed their puzzle on Monday, many learners could be found working on theirs during free periods throughout the week. Groans and cheers could be heard in the studio during Tuesday's double-Quest period. Groups of four were each given a challenging Lord of the Rings EXIT Escape Room board game to solve! Rebels worked together for almost two hours, and while not every group "escaped," we were impressed with their perseverance! Since we didn't have Quest on Wednesday, we used our Closing to play a couple of online escape rooms. Rebels were then asked which type of clues they enjoy most to begin planning for our Escape Room creation. Thursday afternoon, we met to start planning our Exhibition Escape Rooms! Rebels decided they should create three different options and chose the themes for each. Rebels then each picked one of the rooms to work on and began brainstorming their ideas for the clues. Next week, they will begin the production phase and be ready to test by the end of the week!
Math Lab
This week's Mathematical Mindset lesson was about our perceived view of mistakes and speed in mathematics. When you make a mistake in math, your brain grows, and synapses fire in your brain. In fact, your brain grows when you make a mistake, but when you get work right, no brain growth happens. You don't need to get the correct answer when you make a mistake; you just need to struggle and think about the mistake, for synapses to fire. That is because struggle and hard thinking are times when your brain grows the most! Rebels also learned that something else that is really important to know about math is that being good at math does not mean being fast at math. In fact, the opposite may be true.
To finish our review, Rebels will research their favourite/lucky number over the next couple of weeks! Using their number, they will be tasked with answering questions about their number and showing what they know about several number sense, geometry, and measurement concepts. This week, learners reviewed expanded form, word form, base ten form, factors, multiples, prime and composites and also had to write a challenging word problem. They also drew their angle, discovered the name of their polygon and calculated or converted several measurements, including length, weight, time, area, and volume. Once all of the mathematical concepts were covered, they researched some fun facts about their number, including athletes who wear the number, celebrities of that age, and more! Those who needed a challenge were given an extra set of problems to solve.
French
This week in French, we continued an exciting project: creating our very own TV commercials entirely in French! To kick things off, we watched a selection of the ten most well-known French commercials. The learners enjoyed analyzing these ads to understand how commercials are created. Together, we identified the key parts of a successful advertisement: the hook, the product presentation, persuasive language, and, of course, a memorable ending. With these examples in mind, the Rebels got to work writing their own French scripts. They chose a product (real or imaginary), brainstormed ideas, and started crafting their dialogue using the vocabulary and grammar they've been learning.
Civilizations - Big History
Humans have asked questions about the origins of the Universe, Earth, and humanity for thousands of years. After completing a learner-led Cosmic Mad Lib on Wednesday, learners read an article comparing origin stories. Since we can tell a lot about a culture by looking at the stories it tells about where it came from, in pairs, learners read origin stories from the Chinese, Judeo-Christian, Iroquois, Maya, Greek, Efik, and Maori. On Thursday, each pair presented to the studio to compare and contrast each culture's tale with the help of a graphic organizer. We finished with a Socratic discussion on which story most closely resembles our views and an independent reflection on our takeaways.
Becoming a Critical Thinker
Tuesday morning, we worked on Lesson 3: Fab Vocab Quick-Write. Rebels each picked a word from a list and wrote down what they believed the word to mean before looking it up in a dictionary. They then looked up their word for a definition in a specific field of study, such as science, law, or philosophy, to see how the definition changed, after discussing the definitions of fact, interpretation, evidence, perspective, opinion, prejudice, bias, belief, story, and worldview. We then looked up "climate change + definition + a particular field of study (environment, law, politics, science, etc.) to discover any points of comparison. Lastly, Rebels journaled on whether they disagreed with any of the definitions and, if so, based on current usage among their peers, their family's usage, what they've learned in school, how they've heard the term used in the media, and how their community (religious, political, etc.) uses the term.
Elective/Band
The band met with Tim to analyze some songs and make a plan. Meanwhile, five other learners went out to begin their park clean-up! Armed with garbage bags, gloves, and grabbers, they cleaned up a full garbage bag and brought back a chair to clean up and donate! The remaining learners worked on their personal passion projects, including research on family genealogy and ASL!
Additional Highlights
All Rebels participated in a Fire Drill on Monday morning to practice what we would do in case of an emergency.
On Wednesday, the Guide in the Exploration Studio enacted a Day of Silence where she could not speak for the entirety of the day. While learners were sometimes frustrated, they recognized how many questions they could have answered themselves had they read the instructions they were given either on Journey Tracker, the whiteboard or their handouts. While it was apparent we have more work to do to truly claim we are a learner-driven community, the Rebels are on their way!
Launchpad
With two weeks under our belt and our first semester courses underway, Launchpad Rebels met to solidify their schedule, with one opting to organize by optimum time slots, while the other scheduled courses in specific times of the day.
AP Chemistry
This week in AP Chemistry, learners completed the first lab of the course: Gravimetric Analysis, which took extreme patience and days to finish! They also began Unit 1.2 with readings and quizzes on stoichiometry and its calculations.
Mathematics
One learner continued their preparation for the upcoming SAT by reviewing a problem-solving and data analysis unit, focusing on graphs through exponential growth, proportional relationships, and quantitative and categorical data. Another learner worked on completing the Integrated Math 3 course before beginning Pre-Calculus.
Communication and Literature
Our learner, who is taking Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices, met with their mentor and discussed which novel to read and analyze. They also began to design a potential end-of-semester project. After viewing the University of King's College Foundation Year Program's book list, our other Launchpad learner has chosen to read Harrison's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. She will begin a pre-reading introduction next week and one-on-one analysis meetings the week after.
Volunteering
For the community service portion of their Gold International Duke of Edinburgh award, one learner continued their work for Zoonivese, specifically on the Back Bay Bird Identification project. This study's purpose is to monitor the birds of Back Bay Biloxi, Mississippi, due to the rebuilding of the coastline due to erosion. It is currently in workflow one, so she is combing through the pictures taken every 5 minutes of the coast for wildlife, especially birds, to later be identified.
Life Beyond Revel
With applications opening at several universities, our Grade 12 learner is adding evidence to her Mastery Transcript and booking meetings with admissions counsellors for visits in October! While a stressful process, it has been rewarding to see her hard work come together to form a clear picture of the person she is and would like to become.
Potential Questions/Ideas to Ask Your Rebel
Spark Studio
What are the four zones of regulation? (Green, Blue, Red, Yellow) How do you feel when you are in the green zone? Red?
What tools can you use to feel better when you are sad? What did you put in your toolbox?
Can you show me a breathing exercise you practiced this week?
French: How do we say summer in French? (été)
Discovery Studio
What programs at Revel activate your corpus callosum?
What types of activities do you do at school that activate your prefrontal cortex? Can you explain what the “lizard brain” is and what the “smart part” of your brain is, using your fist?
Do you think you’ll run for Squad Leader? Why or why not?
What do you think is the most important quality to have as a Squad Leader?
Would you stay overnight in the world’s quietest room for $1 million?
French
Group 1: How do you say suitcase in French? (valise).
Group 2: Would you be comfortable speaking only French at the airport?
Exploration Studio
What would you rather have?
$1 million per year—but you were guaranteed misery, or
$50,000 per year—but you were guaranteed fulfillment?
The narrator of The Hobbit tells us, "Gandalf thought of most things, and though he could not do everything, he could do a great deal for friends in a tight corner." Do you know someone like Gandalf? If so, who?
Which origin story did you present to the studio in Civ? What was similar between all of the origin stories?
French: What product are you selling in your commercial?
Launchpad Studio
What would be most helpful to you at this stage in your learning journey?
Knowing who you are and your vision for the future
Learning the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate life after leaving home
Mastering study skills and test-taking strategies
Or something else?