It has been an exciting week at the Lower School with lots of opportunities for hands on learning.
Children’s Author Visit
On October 14, many laughs were heard from the Resource Centre, as students had a chance to listen to author Loris Lesynski read her collections of funny rhyming poems. Through choral reading and reciting, the students learned that poems can be played with through the use of rhythm and voice. She inspired many students to capture their own ideas by illustrating their thoughts and keeping them safe in a folder over many years because “you never know when that idea might resurface and help you to write a story.” She shared the realities of hard work and how long it can take to write, illustrate, and publish a book by demonstrating the process of making thumbnail illustrations for her book, Boy Soup. Three students were chosen to sit with Loris during lunch and write a story. She led them with literary talk and eventually, Chapter One of the book called, The Bunny Burglar was written! Each student writer kept a copy of this work as a souvenir of his or her writing experience with Ms. Lesynski.
Authentic Experiences at AGO and Science Centre
On Friday, October 17, the Grade 5 and 6 classes participated in PYP Authentic Experiences connected to their current units of inquiry. The Grade 6 classes visited the Art Gallery of Ontario, where they participated in a guided tour of Canadian artwork, including paintings by the Group of Seven, Norval Morrisseau, Cornelius Krieghoff and William Kurelek. Students compared and contrasted these artists’ visions of life in Canada, identity, and the migration experience. The cross-disciplinary trip was successful in bringing together the concepts explored by students in our first unit of inquiry.
The Grade 5 class kicked-off their second unit of inquiry at the Ontario Science Centre. Students participated in an interactive science presentation where they explored the respiratory and circulatory systems. They observed real human lungs by comparing those of a healthy individual to those of a smoker. Students also got to inflate a pair of pig lungs, and listened to a student’s beating heart. The second portion of our trip was an IMAX experience. Students witnessed the journey our food takes when being digested, and many other miraculous things that our body can do!
Grade 8 Entrepreneurs Present Their Ideas at 2nd Annual Dragon’s Den Event
This past Monday October 20th, the Grade 8 students participated in the 2nd Annual Dragon’s Den Event!
As part of the Grade 8 geography unit, “The Economics of Development,” the students learned about the Four Economic resources – one of which is entrepreneurship. The students had the opportunity to learn more about this resource by becoming entrepreneurs themselves!
The Grade 8s were tasked with developing a product or service, and then creating a business proposal to pitch to their classmates. In each Grade 8 class, the students voted to select the top three presenters; these students were then asked to present at the 2nd Annual Dragon’s Den Event, which took place in the Mandeville Theatre. The nine presenters bravely pitched their proposals to the entire Grade 8 class, parents, faculty, and two “Dragons” – Ms. Jessica Potts of NEXTNiagara and Mr. Igor Lukac, an entrepreneur and franchise owner from Oakville.
Congratulations to Jared Sloan, Jaden Kidd and Erin Broski who were selected by the Dragons as the first, second and third place candidates respectively. Big congratulations as well to all the student participants on their exceptional work, and for being risk-takers! It certainly is exciting to see what the next generation of entrepreneurs brings to the table!