Revel Recap: Sept. 2-5, 2025
Important Upcoming Dates
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
October 14th to 17th - Session Break Camp, registration and details will be posted on Band three weeks prior to camp.
Spark Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
Welcome to a new year in the Spark Studio! We had such a wonderful first week together. On Monday, our learners bravely crossed the threshold and gathered in a circle to introduce themselves and share one fun fact. After introductions, the Rebels eased into the day with some calming mindfulness colouring. On Tuesday, they continued building connections by playing a lively Friendship Train game, followed by some energizing movement using our Yoga Spinner to try out a variety of poses. Thursday brought even more fun with a few rounds of Musical Chairs. On Friday, we began our day with a read-aloud of The Grateful Book. This sparked a thoughtful conversation about what it means to be thankful. The learners shared many things they feel grateful for and completed the first page of their gratitude journals, focusing on the food they appreciate.
Quest
This week in Quest, we focused on building a strong studio community by getting to know one another and sharing about ourselves. Each day, we started with a book, followed by teambuilding games that helped us laugh and connect. Some of the inspiring books we read this week included, All Are Welcome Here, I Am Perfectly Designed, and Be Who You Are. These stories sparked meaningful conversations about identity, acceptance, and celebrating all the things that make us unique! Some of the games we played were, That’s Me, Find a Friend, and a Tallest Tower Challenge.
We also began working on our Identity Booklets. Learners drew creative self-portraits, used stickers to show their favourite things, and illustrated their favourite outfits, just in time for our grand studio fashion show to end the week! The learners proudly shared their favourite look with their peers; it was a joyful celebration of self-expression! Next week, we will continue exploring identity by learning more about each other’s families during Quest.
Art
We had a fantastic first art session this week! To begin, we reviewed our art supply expectations to help learners take care of materials and use them safely and responsibly. We practiced how to properly put lids back on markers and glue sticks, and how to roll them up and down to keep them in good condition. We also discussed how to walk safely with scissors and use them appropriately. After our mini lesson, the Sparks explored a variety of self-directed art centres. The options included: stamps and ink pads, stencils and drawing, Perler beads, watercolours, and painting with paint sticks. The learners had a great time expressing their creativity, trying new materials, and learning how to share and clean up their spaces. Our artists did a great job, and we’re excited for more creative adventures ahead!
Reader/Writer and Math Workshops:
During our first week, learners spent time getting used to studio routines and engaged in centre-based activities during work periods. Starting next week, they will begin working in small groups for focused literacy and math workshops.
Geography
For our first Geography lesson of the year, the learners explored the globe. We observed the land and water on Earth and learned that the land is divided into seven continents. Using our continent puzzle map, we named all the continents together. To wrap up the lesson, we enjoyed listening to our favourite continent song, a fun way to help us remember them all!
French
This week in French, we started creating our daily French board. Each day, learners practiced:
saying “Bonjour” (hello), “Comment ça va?” (How are you?) and “Au revoir” (goodbye)
naming the month of September (septembre)
Naming the days of the week
Emma the Goose!
To make learning more fun, we sang the French song “Le roi, La Reine et le Petit Prince” and created a “Days of the Week Train” craft. Learners loved colouring, cutting, and gluing the train cars, as well as putting them back in the correct order to practice the days of the week.
Additional Highlights
This week, Sparks were introduced to our new studio mascot, a silly goose! After exploring some fun outfit options and voting on names, “Emma the Goose” was the studio favourite. Emma helps us start each day with laughter and learning by sharing jokes, questions, and positive messages. This week, her jokes had us giggling ("Who helps bees get to school? A buzz driver!") while her thoughtful questions got us imagining fun things like dream field trips and secret studio tunnels. Emma will be with us all year, helping us build a strong studio community, supporting social-emotional learning (SEL), and celebrating milestones and holidays in the most whimsical way. We’re so excited for all the fun and growth ahead with Emma the Goose leading the way!
Discovery Studio
Mindfulness and Launch
Welcome to Discovery, Rebels! On Tuesday morning, we played hexagon connections. First, Rebels designed hexagons and filled them in with details about themselves, like their favourite colour, quote or food, and then worked to organize the hexagons into groupings by linking matching details - like a giant get-to-know-you puzzle! For launch, we hosted our first Socratic discussion of the year: Rebels could choose to share their opinion on whether it’s better to be cautious or risky, or whether it’s better to be warm-hearted or tough-minded. We also took a peek at our Overarching Question of the Year, and some Rebels shared their plans for their wild and precious lives: open a stuffed animal-themed ice cream shop, become a veterinarian, or improve mental health by working in psychology. Wednesday morning, we played Wordle and Connections from the New York Times - Rebels solved the Wordle in only five guesses and also solved all four Connections categories with a few lives remaining! For launch, there was a hilarious draw without looking challenge - on a book on top of our heads! Rebels tried to capture images like a circle inside a cloud or a house with a garden, but even with these basic steps, it was much more challenging than you might think! Thursday, Rebels participated in “Thank You For Sharing”, an intentional sharing activity that gives Rebels the opportunity to reflect and share with teammates. This week’s questions gave Rebels the opportunity to discuss past challenges and how they overcame obstacles in their lives, what they are feeling most excited and nervous about this school year, and if they could go back and have one conversation again, what would it be and why? For launch, we talked about an important tool for building healthy friendships. Before we speak, we should ask ourselves three questions:
Is it true? – What we say should be honest, but not every thought needs to be shared.
Is it helpful? – Words should support or serve a purpose, not hurt or discourage others.
Is it kind? – We should aim to be kind in tone, in intent, and in how we say things.
This launch is part of a weekly series on friendship and connection with Madame Marianne. Through these discussions, Rebels are learning how to communicate in ways that strengthen their friendships and relationships with others. Friday morning, we set up our Boomwhacker ensemble in the launch space, organizing the notes by the Major C scale and then played an ascending warm-up, an exercise focusing on musical thirds and chords. Friday’s Current Events report featured an introduction to reporting on news stories we find online, and how to tell the difference between a real story and AI. Rebels discussed the importance of thinking critically as we consume media stories and images online, and why it’s always good to double-check our sources. We read an article on Taylor Swift’s engagement, and enjoyed a hilarious segment of “Live From Snacktime.”
Teambuilding
As this week was dedicated to team-building and forming strong connections in our studio, our Reader/Writer, Math Lab, French and Civilizations workshops will officially begin next week. The past four days were jam-packed with fun challenges like the legend of rock, paper, scissors, “Never Have I Ever”, building towers with blocks based on things Rebels have in common with each other, Rebel-led tours of the school and outdoor spaces, “Which is Worse?”, “Up, Up and Away!” and a very fun game of “Disappearing Rebels”. After teambuilding, our mornings were dedicated to getting our goal sheets set up, setting short-term and long-term goals, and technology onboarding, which included an introduction to all of our adaptive software applications and Google Workspace. Rebels helped each other learn how to share a Google Doc with a Guide, copy and paste images from the internet into a Google Slides presentation, how to email a Guide if they have a question about something, and where to find information on Journey Tracker, like our Discovery Schedule, Rebel Bucks, how to track JT points and more. Rebels will officially begin Core Skills next week, which means they will need to complete a set number of goals in order to participate in Fun Friday next Friday afternoon. We had such an incredibly fun first week back and left feeling very grateful for the team we have and the culture we’re creating. Great work, Rebels!
Quest
This week in Quest, we kicked off “Create the Culture” with a variety of discussions around the introduction of Revel Systems. Rebels learned about Studio Guardrails and how they keep us safe and the studio functioning in a kind and respectful way as we develop our studio contracts. We talked about the Question of the Year, holding each other accountable using the Guardrails, and discussed the Hero’s Journey. Rebels made connections to the personal and academic journeys that they are on this school year, and how they relate to the Hero’s Journey. What obstacles do you think you’ll need to overcome? Who could be your mentors or helpers along the way? What ways do you hope you grow or change by the end of the year? As a part of our teambuilding and “Discovery Dynamics” activities in Quest, we introduced our Studio Mascot and began attempting to make decisions as a Studio and in small groups. While these activities are centred around fun and making connections, they challenge the Rebels to learn more intentional ways to communicate with each other. How would you tell a friend that their idea may not work in a certain situation? What if you don’t like the suggestions another teammate is making, how could you compromise? How does it feel when a team or studio vote doesn’t go your way, even though you were really hopeful it would? After several debates and our first experiences with group work during Quest this week, the Rebels named our Mascot, Mr. Flaming Yawn and collaborated on their first Maker Space project to create a special space for our mascot to sit this year.
Coming up next week, Rebels will dive deeper into the systems that make Revel unique, such as our studio contracts (Covenants and Rules of Engagement), building our Hero Boards, The Alert System and using our Peace Table for conflict resolution.
Additional Highlights
For Elective this session, Rebels participated in a team discussion about the criteria and expectations for taking on a passion project (or multiple projects) this year. Kicking off Elective in session one means figuring out what it takes to manage our own block of time for six weeks, how a project is going to come together, what the timeline will be, what materials will be needed, whether Rebels will be working independently or in a pair/small group…and much more! To begin, Rebels had the choice this week for a Games Elective, where they planned and prepped an Elective block to play a variety of games like chess, checkers, Life, Catan and Twister. How was the setup? Were you able to make the most of your time playing, or did it take a long time to read the rules? Would you play the same game next time or switch it up? Did the clean-up take longer than you thought? What could you change next week so that you can maximize your time during Elective?
Mme. Marianne spent time one on one with each Discovery Rebel this week to assess their French language skills. Through a series of questions, a reading comprehension passage and conversational exchange, Rebels have been placed in French 1 or French 2 for the upcoming workshops beginning next week.
Discovery Studio’s Reader/Writer, Math Lab, French and Civilizations Workshops will all begin in Week 2, September 8th to 12th.
Exploration Studio
Mindfulness & Launch
Welcome to the Exploration Studio, Rebels! We began our year by welcoming our new learners and catching up with our returning Rebels. As a group, we thought about this year’s Overarching Question and how it will help us to set goals and live with purpose. We also went over our three guardrails for the studio, as our learners will write our covenants in the next couple of weeks. We spent the rest of the morning playing games and getting to know each other!
On Wednesday, we learned that on average, people our learners' age spend at least five hours per day in front of a screen (which doesn’t include school work). After discussing our own screen habits and other things that seem to take up a lot of our time, we shared that when we embrace responsibility, work hard, and have fun in pursuit of a worthy aim, we feel really good about ourselves. Returning to our Overarching Question about how we want to live our “one wild and precious life,” learners were asked to identify their gifts, think about when they are in flow, and if there are any opportunities or injustices in the world that inspire them to take action. We closed our Launch by choosing one thing they feel they could do right now to have a more meaningful life: use social media/gaming less frequently, exercise more often, practice mindfulness, or something else. Rebels were then introduced to WordArt and created an art piece using several words of importance to them, in a shape of their choice and in their favourite colours for their notebook cover page.
Thursday, we began our day reflecting on our strengths and identifying skills that we want to work on throughout the year. We then reintroduced the importance of our Rules of Engagement for our Socratic discussions, including how they help us to participate and lead in the studio and the real world. We then looked over our Rules of Engagement from last year and debated which one was the most important to engage in thoughtful dialogue during a discussion, which one we need to focus on most so far, and which one we personally think will be the most difficult to uphold. Next week, we will begin drafting this year’s version of the ROEs with this year’s needs in mind.
Friday morning, we left straight for Britannia for our white water rafting adventure!
Team Building
In order to trust our community, it’s important to spend time getting to know one another and taking part in team-building challenges. On Tuesday, we played several games such as Guess Who, Common Ground Shuffle, Rebel BINGO, Interview Dice, and completed a school-wide Scavenger Hunt to locate important items they may need. We also took part in several teambuilding stations, including building the tallest KEVA plank tower, creating the most creative and cohesive Magnatile structure, making the most and longest words with Scrabble tiles, and putting together a puzzle of the world in the fastest time possible. We witnessed stellar teamwork and great communication skills! On Wednesday, we played 5-seconds and closed the day with two games of Empire. Thursday, the Rebels played 21, making it to 19 during our first time playing! In the afternoon, we broke into groups and played Categories while trying to keep balloons in the air. We have a quick-thinking, athletic group! We closed our week with a board and card game session on Friday afternoon.
Read-Aloud - The Hobbit
Over the next several weeks, we will be reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit. On Tuesday, Rebels each received their own copy of the novel, and we discussed our plans for vocabulary, comprehension checks, character analysis, and the final essay. After reading the essay topics, we briefly discussed annotations such as highlighting important quotes or making notes regarding connections. We then learned a bit about the author and when the book was written before we began reading Chapter 1 aloud. On Wednesday, we continued to read Chapter 1, pausing to watch a scene from the movie when the dwarves come to Bilbo’s house for their meeting. We finished up Chapter 1 on Thursday with enough time to complete a free write on how they feel about doing things that are adventurous. Do you welcome adventures or shy away from them? If you could go on an adventure, what type of adventure would it be?
Quest
This session’s Quest is focused on creating our studio culture and setting off on our Hero’s Journey. On Tuesday, we began in the comfort of home, just like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. We discussed the sights, smells, and sounds that make us feel at ease when we walk in the door and for some who have moved, how long it takes to feel at home in a new dwelling. Learners brainstormed a few ways to make our studio feel more comfortable before learning how to make butter in a jar with cream! There may have been a few explosions, but for the most part, the Rebels came away with their own butter to use on the bread that was made by the Launchpad Rebels that day! We ended our Quest period with a brief review of the Hero’s Journey stages.
We began on Wednesday with a review of the first six stages of the Hero’s Journey. We then focused on the mentors and allies stage as we spent time interviewing and getting to know two other learners more deeply. Rebels were given three levels of quesitons to work through that went far beyond “What is your favourite ____.” By the end of the class, learners had learned about one another's fears, dreams, struggles, and accomplishments!
On Thursday, the Rebels were split into companies/fellowships for a journey. They first had to each select seven items from a supply list that they felt were the most important to take with them. The Rebels then had to come together in their group and negotiate which seven items were most important. Once the final seven items were chosen, they began their adventure. During their trip, event cards were revealed one by one, and if the group had the matching items, they continued on. If they did not, they had to invent a clever solution for how to solve the problem before moving on. The learners showed incredible creativity and did their best to work as a team to combat the challenges! They ended the Quest period by working together to solve riddles that will appear later in the text and write their name in the three Tolkien languages!
Math Lab
This session is all about developing our Mathematical Mindsets, reviewing concepts, and also getting to know one another. In this session, we will begin each Math Lab with a portion of Stanford University’s “How to Learn Math” course. This week’s lesson was all about “Knocking Down the Myths About Math,” including various stereotypes and how there is no such thing as a “math person.” We then reviewed the coordinate plane, the four quadrants, and how to plot positive and negative x and y coordinates. Learners then answered questions about themselves and plotted the corresponding coordinates, creating unique graphs about themselves! Those who finished were sent on a Geometry Scavenger Hunt throughout the studio.
Physical Development
Since the Exploration Rebels plan and lead their Physical Development sessions each week, we began by reviewing the badge requirements. We then thought about what our healthy lifestyle goals are. Do we want to have better cardiovascular health? More flexibility? Do we want to drink more water or get outside more often? Rebels took some time to write and submit a SMART healthy lifestyle goal before running off to the park or gym for PD.
Civilizations - Big History
Welcome to Big History! We began our Civilizations course discussing, What is History? We then read an article outlining the eight thresholds from the Big Bang through modern history, as well as the ingredients and Goldilocks conditions that allowed each threshold of increasing complexity to occur. Rebels then read a comic about the eight thresholds before answering some questions about what they are most excited to learn about this year! Many were most intrigued by Threshold 3: New Chemical Elements, while others are looking forward to Threshold 5: Life Emerges.
Becoming a Critical Thinker
How will you tell fact from fiction in social media posts and recognize bias in news sources? How can we think for ourselves in a world that's trying to convince us to think like everyone else? Using Julie Boggart's workbook, Becoming a Critical Thinker, we are working to develop valuable insights by responding to thought-provoking questions. We will expand our perspectives, skillfully navigate the thorny issues, identify misinformation, and become more comfortable with dissent and differences of opinion. This week, Rebels received their workbook, and we began Lesson 1: The Academic Selfie. After completing a survey, learners selected controversial topics and conducted some research before journaling about their findings.
White Water Rafting
On Friday morning, the Exploration and Launchpad Rebels drove to Britannia for a white water rafting adventure! We paddled and floated down the Ottawa River, taking in the sights and traversing the rapids! There was even time to swim/float in a section of the “lazy river” and cliff jump. A huge thank you to Wilderness Tours for the awesome adventure and to our volunteers for driving and rafting with us!
Additional Highlights
On Tuesday, learners went for a long walk around the area, up Carlington Hill, past Dulude, and back to the school, passing several key locations along the way. We stopped at The Woodward to pick up cookies and say hello to the crew before heading back to the school past Miss Molly’s and Kim’s. We’re lucky to have such amazing neighbours looking out for us!
Launchpad Studio
As we ease into the year and wait for various online courses to begin, the Launchpad Rebels took part in several of the teambuilding exercises on Tuesday. They also baked bread for the Exploration Rebels to eat with the butter they made!
Learners spent the rest of the week planning out their year, identifying priorities, and getting started on their Advanced Functions, AP Chemistry, English, and other coursework.
Our Grade 12 learner also spent time developing her transcript through the Mastery Transcript Consortium in preparation for applying to universities in the coming months.
They accompanied us on our white water rafting adventure on Friday!
Potential Ideas or Questions to Ask Your Rebel
Spark Studio
What games did you play at recess?
How do you know when it is time to clean up in the studio? (The chime rings)
How many continents are there?
What food did you draw that you are grateful for?
Can you tell me about one new person you met this week?
French: Can you tell me the days of the week in French? (lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche)
Discovery Studio
What are the Studio Guardrails and how do they work?
What do you think is more important for a healthy studio culture: strong connections or clear studio contracts/rules?
What was your highlight from the teambuilding games this week?
With Core Skills starting next week, which goal are you most excited to work on? Which one do you think will be the most challenging to achieve?
Exploration Studio
What do you think the most important part of the Create the Culture Quest will be?
Building deep, real relationships with your studio-mates;
Establishing systems that help to balance warm-heartedness and tough-mindedness;
Having fun, or
Something else?
What do you think your closest friends would say is your strongest character trait? Where would they say you have the most room to improve?
Math Lab: What quadrant would the coordinate (3, -2) be in?
Big History: When you think about the future, what do you imagine the next threshold might be?
Launchpad Studio
What type of support do you feel you will need this session? This year?
How can you ensure that you are getting the social, academic, and mental stimulation you need to feel productive, healthy and happy? (Are there outside activities you could add to your schedule?)
Are you on the path to living the life you want?