Month: April 2024

The Power of Learning by Doing

Embark on an exciting journey with Saklan Middle School’s Learning by Doing (LBD) program! Every Thursday afternoon, students have the unique opportunity to delve into new interests, discover new skills, and make new friends as they choose from a wide array of LBD classes. These vibrant sessions, tailored to student interests, needs, and teacher passions, provide a platform for hands-on learning.

Imagine your student diving into chess strategy, challenging their knowledge with Geography quiz games, or learning about the richness of Indian culture and cuisine. From the rhythm of West African drumming to the camaraderie of basketball, there’s something every student can engage with and enjoy. Also, the fourth Thursday of each month brings the excitement of off-campus lunch—a favorite among students!

What truly distinguishes Saklan is our commitment to nurturing a community of lifelong learners. Our middle school faculty leads engaging LBD classes and invites parents and students to share their expertise. Imagine your student learning and teaching their peers, sparking passion and curiosity in others through their LBD class. This is the spirit of collaboration and inclusion that defines our LBD program.

This year, our sixth-grade students have showcased extraordinary creativity and courage by stepping into the role of LBD instructors. Stephen, Rebecca, and Aliya used Saklan’s new i-Pads (made possible by generous fund-a-need donations to last year’s auction) to film short video skits that were scripted joyfully in the first LBD class. The laughter and fun of each LBD period was palpable. The students learned how to edit by adding sounds and music and incorporating text and images to make their videos silly and fun. Although the film topics were completely student-created, they learned invaluable filming and editing techniques.

Another excellent sixth-grade LBD class just finished this week. It was titled “Rice and Reading,” which are two things that Sam loves. In each class session, Sam brought a new delicious rice dish to share. Students ate the yummy food and then rested in comfort to read their favorite books.

Join us in celebrating the spirit of innovation and empowerment that defines Saklan Middle School’s LBD program—a true highlight of the middle school experience!

Hoot Owl Space Exploration

The Hoot Owls have continued their space exploration! They been been discussing gravity and its effects in space, as well as talking about astronauts. They learned that there are astronauts living in the International Space Station. The astronauts grow plants, do experiments and send the information back to Earth. The class watched videos to see how astronauts go about their lives up in space. They saw a tour of their kitchen, their sleeping quarters and their bathroom. The Hoot Owls also learned that astronauts need to be very strong, and continuously exercise to keep their muscles and bones healthy.

The Hoot Owls recently went on a field experience to the Chabot Space and Science Center. The students brought journals with them to record things they saw and what they learned. The class watched a show in the planetarium about gravity waves and were excited to see parts of rocket ships. The students also enjoyed seeing the different space suits that have been used through time, and some of the Hoot Owls even designed their own!

The Hoot Owls will share their learning with the community on Thursday, May 9th during their Space Unit Culmination event. All Saklan community members are invited to join us to learn about their project!

Pan con Tomate

In Spanish class, students often combine aspects of the Spanish curriculum with other subjects to show how learning a language goes beyond the classroom. Take Spanish and food, for example. Students’ knowledge evolves when they are exposed to different Spanish-speaking countries in the classroom, but that doesn’t compare to tasting what it would be like to be in Spain. Sometimes, the best way to learn is through different experiences, and students love food! In the Middle School Blue Block Spanish class, students prepared pan con tomate, a typical appetizer of Cataluña, a community in Spain. It is a relatively simple recipe with few ingredients required, but the payout is outstanding; the students learn vocabulary while eating and sharing the food they prepare themselves! 

Rainforest Scientists

The Owlets have been very engaged in learning about the rainforest!

Many Owlets were aware that a rainforest is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, as well as being damp and rainy. However, they heard in science class that scientists often pose questions about topics they are not previously familiar with. The Owlets got to practice becoming excellent scientists by brainstorming what they would like to know. These brainstorms were then added to their Wonder Wall.

The rainforest scientists began their investigation by learning that a rainforest is made up of various zones or “stratas” At the top is the emergent layer, followed by the canopy, the understory, with the forest floor at the bottom. After talking about the different zones, the Owlets looked at books showing pictures of the different animals that live in the various stratas. They learned that some animals travel between different zones in the rainforest, such as a macaw can go from the forest floor to the emergent layer because it has wings, and a snake can slither up from the forest floor all the way to the understory or even the canopy. 

Every Owlet was given the opportunity to choose animals to draw, and once they completed their drawing they read about their chosen animal to learn more about it. The Owlets picked up a very helpful skill: reading books can always teach you more! The class looked at the animals together to guess which strata they thought it lived in; most of the time the Owlets guessed correctly!

The Owlet classroom has slowly been turning into a rainforest. Next time you are on campus, stop by their classroom to see the animals and greenery inhabiting their space!

Saklan’s Online Auction

The Peace, Love, Saklan online auction is open! Along with the items from the greater community that have been opening all week, fun experiences with Saklan teachers are also open for bidding. Some of the experiences are available for a flat fee to a set number of people, so be sure to secure your child’s spot today!

We also have 2 experiences hosted by Saklan families that are sure to delight! Students and adults are invited for a night of Taylor Swift karaoke, while parents can sign up for an exciting night of oil and vinegar tasting!

Our 8th graders have put together some creative and exciting legacy baskets for the community to bid on too! Check out what their offerings below.

All proceeds from the auction support the unique programs offered at Saklan, including: field experiences, guest experts, project based learning, family groups, and professional development opportunities for our amazing teachers. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Bidding in the online auction will continue through Monday, April 29th at 8:30 p.m. As we like to say, bid early and bid often!

Field Experiences That Intentionally Enrich Learning

The 6th grade humanities class recently went to the San Francisco Legion of Honor to explore key ancient Greek artifacts as part of the kick off to their final humanities Project Based Learning unit of the year. 

PBL units traditionally begin with an entry event, the purpose of which is to intentionally ignite student authentic curiosity about the driving question, “How are we still connected to ancient Greek culture, language, and mythology today?” Students explored the Hall of Antiquities searching for 3 key artifacts, a statue of Asklepios, a rare gold wreath, and an amphora of Herakles, before finding other artifacts that were of interest to them and generating need to know questions.

In addition to an engaging entry event, another cornerstone of Project Based Learning is honoring student voice and choice and creating opportunities for sustained, authentic inquiry. As they continue to build knowledge and consider their need to know questions, students will not just cover the standards on ancient Greece but select their own way to answer their driving question and pursue one research area in more depth. Last year students researched a wide variety of connections on themes from education to health care, military power to the role of Olympic athletes, and much more! We can’t wait to see what sparks the interest of students this year!

A fun bonus was seeing the excitement on students’ faces when a few of them were able to locate the mystery artifact they researched in our fall PBL on ancient Egypt! It was a fun challenge to see if they could spot the artifact they spent so much time researching back in October! Many were surprised at either how big or how tiny it looked in person! 

#SaklanPBL

Chain Reactions

Third grade has been learning about the famous cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Goldberg is well known for the elaborate crazy contraptions he drew of complicated chain reactions that, in the end, performed a simple task. Each of the third graders were inspired to use the engineering design process, along with what they learned about forces and motion in science, to create their own Rube Goldberg Machines. They each came up with their own design for a contraption with at least 5 chain reactions to complete a simple task.  The third graders used great perseverance to keep trying and redesigning until their machine worked! The students really enjoyed sharing their machines with each other and the second graders!

Why You Should Attend the Auction

We are very excited for this year’s Peace, Love, Saklan auction, and hope you will join us next Friday, April 26th, from 6 – 10:00 PM at The Garden in Walnut Creek. This adults-only event will feature a cocktail reception, seated dinner, live auction, paddle raise, and loads of fun! 

Wondering why you should attend?

  1. To support a great cause! Proceeds from the auction support the unique programs offered at Saklan, including: field experiences, guest experts, project based learning, family groups, and professional development opportunities for our amazing teachers.
  2. To hang out with old friends and make new ones! Many Saklan parents, teachers and staff members will be in attendance. This is an opportunity to get to know fellow parents and Saklan teachers better!
  3. To bid on fantastic auction items! This year’s live auction is full of must-have items:
  4. To dress up and have an adults-only night out! Dust off your leisure suits, bell bottoms, platforms and peace-sign necklaces, or whatever makes you happy, and join us for a night of fun! Signature cocktails, disco ball centerpieces, groovy tunes, and a massive game of rock, paper, scissors await you!

Ticket sales close on Monday, so don’t delay – get your tickets today!

Can’t make the auction?

There are several ways to participate in this year’s event even if you can’t attend: underwrite a teacher ticket, contribute to this year’s Fund-a-Need to elevate our classrooms to align with our gold-standard PBL curriculum, and/or participate in our online auction.

Thank you for your support of the auction and The Saklan School.

#SaklanAuction

Moraga Rotary Field Day

All Saklan students in 3rd through 5th grades are invited to participate in the 29th Annual Moraga Rotary Field Day on Wednesday, May 1st from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School. This event involves all schools in Moraga and is always a ton of fun for our students. Sign-in begins at 3:30 p.m., with the events beginning at 4:00. Mr. Crabtree and David are offering to take the students from Saklan to JM at 3:00 p.m. Students will need to be picked up at JM at 6:00 p.m.

Please complete the form linked below if your child wants to participate.

Field Day Sign Up Form
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Look for additional information in Friday Folders. Everyone is invited to come out and cheer for the Saklan team. Go Suns!

#SaklanWellRounded

Spring Service Social

All Saklan community members are invited to join the PA for our Spring Service Social this Sunday, April 21st from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at The Saklan School. Pizza lunch will be provided; please bring your water bottles. 

Participants will be assembling kits of food for White Pony Express to distribute to local unhoused neighbors who do not have kitchen appliances. We will have some donated food items on site but would love your donations of:

  • Protein Bars
  • Tuna/Chicken Pouches
  • Small Containers/Individual-sized Peanut Butter
  • Jerky

Please bring your donations with you to the event. Materials will also be available for children to make notes or pictures to go with the kits. We hope you can join us!

#SaklanCompassionate #SaklanCommunity