Plasticine Art

The grades 3 and 4 worked with Plasticine to create a picture the way Barbara Reid does in her famous children's picture books. The modelling must be applied in layers to achieve a 3-D effect.

For more information about Olivet School, Toronto Private School, please visit our website.

Decorating Boxes

The students brought in boxes, the other week, and had a great time imagining all the different things they could be or do with the boxes. There were many boats, castles, mountains and towers. Now the Playschoolers have decorated the boxes. Take a look at what they have made!

 This friend is playing with another friend's princess box.



This is a horse! Notice the four legs.

 

These friends are still decorating their boxes. I wonder what they will be!

 

Look how detailed the decorations are on these two friends' boxes!

This is a castle!

Look at the wings on that plane!

Take a look at the princess castle!

The students did a great job decorating their boxes! I look forward to seeing their next project.

Playschool Goes to the Orchard

“A” was for apple in Playschool last week. The students and their parents went to Carl Laidlaw Orchards to learn about apples from the farmers.

During our time at the orchard Playschool enjoyed several sensory activities.

These students had fun playing with tractors in corn and grain.

Romping in piles of hay was fun!

Before going out to the orchard we had the opportunity to try different apples.

It was a gorgeous day for a tractor ride to the orchard to pick apples.

 

Some families made pies. 

Making pies required some effort, as the students had to peel, break apart the apples,

mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg

before preparing the pie crusts.

Here is a pie before it goes into the oven.

Doesn’t it look delicious!

For more information about Olivet School visit our website at www.olivetschool.ca.

Taking soil samples at school

Soil samples are being taken around the school this week and the kids are enjoying being able to watch these mighty machines at work. They were so interested in fact that the engineer in charge of the job offered to speak to the students in KG to Grade 6 and answer any questions they might have about what they have seen the crew doing. It was a learning experience for all!

The Junior Room students watch as the drilling machine is being prepped for boring the first hole.

The first drill piece is put in place.

The first step is for the machine to dig past the asphalt so that is can get to the soil to collect samples. 

The engineer speaking to the students about the job.

The engineer drew a diagram showing the different components of the job. The picture of the far left shows the soil composition from the first sample set they took. The picture at the top of the page is a cross cut diagram of the building and what they think is under the foundation. The bottom picture is a top view of the school showing all the different areas the machines will be taking samples. The last picture on the right is the drilling machine, showing how is sends its drill 15 feet into the ground and collects samples as it goes.

The students enjoyed his talk and gave him a round of applause when he had finished.

For more information about Olivet School visit our website at www.olivetschool.ca.

Our Mural of Summer Time

The Kindergarteners painted their impressions of summer time in two large murals. Be sure to take a look! The murals are in the hallway of the Principal’s office.

Forest of Reading Awards

Last week the Grade 2-6 students attended the Forest of Reading Awards. This year was particularly exciting as we had 3 Olivet students on stage during the ceremony! One of our grade 3 students was the official sign holder for author Angus Mike Deas. Another of our grade 5 students introduced author, Ingrid Lee. We even had one of our grade 6 students help to announce the nominees for the 2013 Silver Birch Fiction Awards! We are so proud of all our students!

The Forest of Reading Awards is an event much anticipated by the students and teachers. Every year a box of new books is delivered to the school and the teachers almost have as much fun as the students going through it and reading the new arrivals.

The students are required to read a certain number of books for their reading level to be able to vote on their favourites. To ensure that the students comprehend the stories they are reading they are also tested on the books they have read. These book reports are always captivating to hear, as a student describes their favourite part of the book.

But the best part of the Forest of Reading is going down to the Harbourfront each year and hearing the cheers of excitement from the young audience members as their favourite authors take the stage. It is great to see these authors being greeted like rock stars! After the award ceremony the students have a chance to meet the authors and get their autographs.

For more information about Olivet School visit us at www.olivetschool.ca.

Earth Day 2013

Olivet School celebrated Earth Day yesterday!

The students collected litter around the school and in the hydro field. The Kindergarteners were partnered up. One student was in charge of collecting recyclable items and the other collecting non-recyclable items.

 

 

The kindergarten students made models of the planet Earth.

For more information about Olivet School please visit our website www.olivetschool.ca.

 

Today cellist William Findlay of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra came and performed two concerts. The first was for the younger students and was enjoyed by the Playschool, Kindergarten, and Primary Class. He demonstrated to the students how he could play a song two different ways a happy way (in a major key) and in a sad way (in a minor key) William Findlay played a few children’s songs and had the students guess which one he was playing. Finally, he told the students a story and used his cello. He used different music to depict different characters in the story. The students had to tell him what animal or character he was playing at different parts and what the characters were feeling based on the music. One of the favourite animals he played was the cheeky squirrel.

 

 

The next performance was for the older students and any staff or parents who wanted to watch as well. For the older students he talked about the cello and about the composition of the bow. I was very impressed to see every students’ hand shoot up when he asked what the bow was made of. He discussed how important it is for the beat and the melody to work together. He played “O’ Canada” using different beats and showed us how it could completely change the song. He then got the students to be the “beat” of a song by clapping their hands and saying “chhh” to imitate a drum and cymbal while he played his cello beautifully. The students and faculty had many questions for him and he eagerly answered them all.

Both were great performances which I very much enjoyed!

To learn more about Olivet School please visit our website http://olivetschool.ca/.