Month: January 2024

Diving Deep

The Hoot Owls have been diving deep into the ocean and exploring the many living things that call the ocean home! First, the class shared what they already knew about the ocean, and then mapped out a topic web. Next, the Hoot Owls started a new wonder wall for all their ocean questions, wonders, and what they hope to learn more about.

Then they started reading books about the ocean and sea animals. First up was “Ocean! Waves for All” by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield. It gave the class a great overview of the world underwater. The students learned that there are many different creatures that live deep in the ocean and some can glow in the dark! The Owls learned that people need to help protect the water and animals that live in it. They also learned about the different zones in the ocean: Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight, Abyss and the Trenches. To further illustrate their learning, the Hoot Owls recreated the ocean zones on their classroom door. The students have also enjoyed tracing and decorating different ocean animals, and then determining which zone of the ocean they live in.

Importance of a Backbone

The Kindergarten class has been going to the Science Lab in January to learn about living and nonliving things. Once they determined what was living and what was not, they discussed many of the varieties of life on our planet. From worms, to dancing spiders, to turtles, and even themselves!

They spent one day learning about the importance of a backbone, and how cartilage helps us move and not splinter our bones when we bend. The students enjoyed protecting their spinal cord with noodle bones and gummy cartilage, and enjoyed munching on them afterwards!

#SaklanHandsOn #ScienceLab

The Mystery Spinner

Sixth grade math students are exploring probability. They recently investigated the role that the number of trials plays in the relationship between experimental and theoretical probability.

Mr. Zippin started the lesson by telling the sixth graders that he would be spinning a mystery spinner. He asked, “What do you need to know to figure out what the mystery spinner looks like?”

They answered that they would need to know what colors were on the spinner and the size of each sector. Instead of answering, Mr. Zippin spun the spinner once and announced “Green!” and asked “Do you think you have enough information to draw the spinner now?” The consensus was no, unless the spinner was all green.

Mr. Zippin then spun the spinner 5 more times and had the students keep track of the results. They then drew what they thought the spinner looked like after 6 spins. He spun the spinner 6 more times and again stopped. The students discussed with their teams what the spinner looked like and then drew the spinner based on the new information they received.

As a class, the sixth graders discussed when they thought they would have enough information to draw an exact spinner. There was a large range of opinions from 24 to 100. Mr. Zippin spun the spinner 36 more times for a total of 48 and had the students draw their final predictions of the spinner.

Then, the class looked at the spinner Mr. Zippin had spun and the teams discussed which of their predicted spinners was closest to the actual spinner. They noticed how the actual occurrences of each color compared to their theoretical predictions. As they spun the spinner more times, the experimental outcomes got closer to the theoretical probability. Take a look at the included pictures and see if you can guess what the Mystery Spinner looked like!

#HandsOnMath

Basketball Club

All 4th – 8th graders who are interested in playing basketball are encouraged to join the Basketball Club which will meet on the Sports Court from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning next week.

The Basketball Club will participate in 2 games to be held in February:

  • Tuesday, February 13th  against the Contra Costa Jewish Day School Grizzlies on the Saklan Sports Court at 4 p.m.
  • Tuesday, February 20th at Contra Costa Jewish Day School at 4 p.m.

Students who want to play in the games are asked to attend as many Basketball Club meetings as possible.

Reach out to Mr. Crabtree with any questions you have.

#SaklanWellRounded

Movie Night Feb. 4th

The Movie Night that was planned for this Sunday has been postponed to Sunday, February 4th. Please join the PA from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Founders Auditorium at the Orinda Community Center to watch Sing.

Popcorn will be provided for all attendees. Please bring your reusable water bottle with you, as well as nut-free snacks, blankets, chairs, beanbags, pillows, or other items to get cozy (limited folding chair seating will be available).

See look forward to seeing you there!

#SaklanCommunity

Community Spaces

In their first semester of Humanities, the 7th grade students engaged in a project based learning unit called Community Spaces. Their project work centered around the driving question, “How can we create public spaces based on the values and needs of our community?” For this project, the 7th graders examined and evaluated both contemporary community spaces and those designed and built by the three pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations: the Mexica/Aztecs, the Incas, and the Maya. As part of their project work, the students engaged in three field experiences to Moraga Commons and Moraga Shopping Center, Temple Hill in Oakland, and the Student Wellness Center at Los Perales School in Moraga.

They also met with two guest experts, an urban planner and a designer/builder. For their culminating project product, each student designed their own community space or re-designed an existing space by incorporating elements of architecture, urban design, and infrastructure from the one or more of the three civilizations they studied and from present-day community spaces to meet the needs and reflect the values of a community near where they live.

All Saklan community members are invited to view the community spaces the 7th graders designed on Friday, January 26th after CLAS. The designs will be on display in the Humanities Room, and the students will be standing by to share their designs and answer questions.

#SaklanPBL

Snow Much Fun

The 3rd graders are exploring measurement in their current math unit which provides for lots of hands-on learning! Last week they focused on estimating and measuring mass using balance scales, and learned that mass and weight are not the same thing.

To begin math each day, the third graders work on a math warm up called number corner. In the number corner this month, the 3rd graders have been looking for patterns in shapes and colors, and identifying fractions/equivalent fractions on the calendar, as well as working on determining elapsed time and their multiplication fact fluency with their calendar collector. The Bridges math program that the class is piloting this year does a wonderful job of spiraling through multiple concepts each unit, while helping to build connections and a deeper understanding of the big ideas in mathematics. 

Building fact fluency of multiplication facts is a focus for the 3rd graders. The students love to play math games and sing songs to help them practice their facts. Last week the class had a “snowball fight” where they tossed paper “snowballs” with multiplication problems printed on it, then when it was time to “freeze” students picked up three snowballs and solved the equations.  The students had “SNOW” much fun!!

#HandsOnLearning

The Martian Project

The entry event into the newest fifth grade project was an engaging watch-party featuring Ridley Scott/20th Century FOX studios’ The Martian.  Students’ interest was peaked when Mark Watley (Matt Damon) was left for dead on Mars after his suit was breached in a storm and he awoke to realize he had survived, but perhaps not for long. With a food supply of about 9 months, but four years before a rescue mission arrives, Mark has to put his botany skills to the test if he is to survive.  Munching potato chips, students watched Mark cultivate one dozen potatoes NASA had sent with them for Thanksgiving dinner (which NASA actually does for the ISS Astronauts), and create a water cycle to help his crop grow.  

In this unit, students will call on their prior learning of hydrology and the water cycle, as well as the planets and solar system, as they design and create their own ecosystems that cycle hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, to germinate and grow an edible plant for at least 35 Sols (and they’ll do the math to figure out how many Earth days that is).  Along the way, students will learn about food chains, food webs, producers, consumers, decomposers, photosynthesis, the carbon/oxygen cycle, and a total system collapse, in seven milestone lessons. Math, language arts, scientific illustration and history/social studies are all threaded through the project, alongside games such as the “food chain game” which students enjoyed playing last week.

And the Winner is…

Receiving over 60% of the votes, Peace, Love, Saklan will be the theme of the 2024 auction! Thank you to everyone who participated in the selection process.

The Saklan faculty and staff are very excited, and we hope you are too! Peace, Love, Saklan pairs well with our focus on belonging, is a nod to the sixty-nine years that Saklan has been a school, and ties in nicely with this year’s concert theme of Love.

Volunteers Needed

We are in need of volunteers to help make this year’s auction successful. We have roles big and small, including:

  • Picking up Items from Donors
  • Auction Items Acquisitions
  • Creating Event Decor
  • Designing a Logo for the Event
  • Event Set Up
  • Communications

We would love your help; click on the button below to volunteer!

Auction Volunteer Opportunities

Save the Date!

Please save the date to celebrate our great school and community with our Peace, Love, Saklan auction on Friday, April 26th at The Garden in Walnut Creek. Book your babysitter now for this adults-only event; you don’t want to miss it!

Picture Day Next Tuesday

Roots & Shoots Photography will be taking individual and class portraits of Saklan students next Tuesday, January 23rd. These pictures will be used in the yearbook and are available for purchase.

Pictures will be taken outside on the play yard during the school day. Please note that 1st – 8th grade students need to be dressed in uniform for the pictures.

For students who are absent on picture day, a make up day will be held on Tuesday, February 27th.

Portrait Ordering Process

Portraits will be available to order online approximately 4 weeks AFTER picture day. Complimentary proofs will be provided for every student, so you can decide whether you would like to order them. If you do order, all portrait packages will be shipped directly to your home (a $7.25 shipping fee will apply). There will be no school package drop off.

Questions? Please contact Roots & Shoot directly at grow@roots-shoots.com. They will be happy to assist you!