Author: The Saklan School Friday Blog

The Saklan School is a private Pre-K through 8 school located in Moraga, CA. Our mission is to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.

Head’s Corner: Be Aware of Wonder

I had quite the “Ah Ha” moment on playground duty with kindergartners yesterday. They were doing something curious, huddled in a tight circle with one student on their knees rhyming. At the end of the rhyme, one student would break out of the huddle.

It dawned on that they were engaged in “counting out by feet.” It was a simple moment that reminded me of Robert Fulgham’s first book, published over 30 years ago. Important values, such as “play fair” and “be aware of wonder” are life lessons that apply as much to us (if not more), as they do to the five-year-olds. We often talk of “modeling” behaviors for children. Maybe we need to pay more attention to what they model for us. 

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life –

Learn some and think some

And draw and paint and sing and dance

And play and work everyday some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world,

Watch out for traffic,

Hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Robert Fulgham

#SaklanHeadsCorner #SaklanWonder

Stars, Planets & Our Solar System

Last week, 5th graders used spectroscopes and glass tube electrifiers to identify the elements that make up the stars and planets of our solar system. By seeing the colors that those elements reflect in gaseous form, the students were able to identify the elements. In other words, from right here on planet Earth, the students can tell what planets are made up of what elements!  This is a rapidly growing field of science and holds much potential for a great career for our budding scientists!

The students also spent time mapping the solar system. The fifth graders cut out scaled planets, and then tried to represent the relative distances from the sun of each planet. They began in the church parking lot, but soon realized that in order to truly represent the distances in the scale they were using they would need much more space, as their map would need to stretch out way beyond Moraga. 

#SaklanScience #SaklanHandsOn

Growing Foods & Treats/Snacks

The Hoot Owls have been learning about health and nutrition! With Maggie, they practiced listing and sorting food into two main categories: growing foods and treats/snacks. They have also been working on identifying foods from different food groups, including: fruits, veggies, dairy, protein and grains.

The class read the book Veggies Don’t Scare Me at All! by Julana Massey to introduce different vegetables and how eating them can help bodies and brains grow. They also played a fun grocery shopping game where each Hoot Owl received a shopping list and shopping cart. The Hoot Owls reinforced their fine motor and early literacy skills by finding everything on their shopping list and placing it in their cart!

Fish in the Lake

The 8th graders finished their proportions unit with an activity that extended their work from the R/V Robert G. Brownlee discovery voyage with the Marine Science Institute last year. On the Brownlee, the 8th graders used a drift net to catch and examine different fish in San Francisco Bay. This year they used mathematics to figure out a population in a large body of water by taking a sample.

Their task was to determine the number of “fish” (beans) in their “lake” (a paper bag) as accurately as possible, without actually counting the fish. To do this, the 8th graders used a “net” (a small cup) to take an initial sample. They measured the number of “fish” in their sample and tagged them by replacing the red beans with white ones.

Then, they returned these tagged fish back into their lake. When they took a second sample, they counted how many tagged fish were in their sample, made a ratio, and set it equal to the ratio. Next, students solved for the unknown number of fish in the lake. The 8th graders repeated this process again. If they thought their calculations were close to the actual number of “fish” in the “lake,” they stopped and recorded their work. If they thought another sample would be helpful to get a more accurate total, they repeated the process again. Finally, they counted the total number of beans in the bag and saw how close they were to their calculations. The three groups had varied success-one was within 10% of their total, but all the groups got extra proportion practice in a real-world science application!

#SaklanMath #SaklanHandsOn

Protecting & Empowering Our Children & Youth

The Saklan Parent Association invites you to join them on Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 p.m for the next Parent Education presentation: Protecting & Empowering Our Children & Youth, presented by Kidpower.

All adults in the Saklan community are invited to join this session in which you will learn how to help children and young people build social-emotional skills to take charge of their own safety, and how to adapt these skills based on their ages, abilities, and life situations in person and online.

You don’t want to miss this event; See you on Zoom!

#SaklanPA

Costume Parade & Dancing

On Monday morning, the Saklan students were very excited to don their Halloween costumes and participate in our annual Costume Parade! The parade route took the students out the admissions door, through the front parking lot, and back to the Sports Court.

The students and teachers waved to the onlookers, as parents cheered and took pictures along the route.

Once on the Sports Court, Grace led the community in some Halloween songs and dancing!

Thank you to all the parents that joined us and cheered the students on. The students enjoyed waving to you and spotting their parents along the parade route!

#SaklanCommunity #SaklanCreative

Catching Criminals

The seventh graders have been learning about DNA. They explored the traits found on DNA, learned about the human genome project to map those traits, and then studied how technology can be used to isolate traits. The seventh graders now understand how technology is used to determine genetic similarities between parents and evolutionary family lines.

The students conducted an experiment to help them understand how criminals can be caught using DNA found at a crime scene. Through the process of gel electrophoresis, students separated colored dyes and tried to find out which colors were more closely related.

Next the seventh graders will learn about genetic engineering.

#SaklanScience #SaklanHandsOn

Visiting Cafe Ohlone

The fourth and third grade classes are both working on projects that are designed to answer their project driving questions:

“Why does learning the whole truth of the CA missions matter?”

4th Grade

 

“How can we show respect to the people whose ancestral lands Saklan is on?”

3rd Grade

As part of this work, the 4th and 3rd graders had the unique opportunity to visit Cafe Ohlone on the UC Berkeley campus. The students were excited and honored to meet with the owners and founders of the cafe, Vincent Medina (East Bay Ohlone) and Louis Trevino (Rumsen Ohlone), who also both have some Saclan ancestry.

To represent and share the living culture of Ohlone and Bay Miwok people, Vincent and Louis taught the students some words in the Ohlone language and shared some traditional games.

They also talked about the types of local species that are used in their foods, such as acorns, and the process of turning the acorns into flour. The students loved trying some delicious acorn flour brownies and tea!

Our students were very lucky to also get to ask Vincent and Louis questions about what they have been learning in the classroom, and see what they thought about each classes’ driving question for their unit. It was an incredibly enlightening experience for both classes and they are looking forward to using what they learned to help them finish their units!

#SaklanPBL #SaklanFieldExperience

Connecting with Experts

An important part of project-based learning is connecting with experts in relevant fields of study. The sixth grade class had two opportunities to be in conversation with experts in order to help them best answer the driving question, “Who does art truly belong to?” 

They have been learning about ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Sumer through a selection of artifacts. After researching these artifacts and their cultural significance, students have been grappling with the modern arguments around repatriation of ancient artifacts. To where do these pieces truly belong?

On October 31st, the sixth graders interviewed Director of School and Family Programs at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Emily Jennings, via Zoom. She helped students understand perspectives, constraints, and considerations of large encyclopedic museums that hold ancient artifacts in their collections.

To follow up that conversation, students met with Dr. Aaron Brody, archeologist, Professor of Bible and Archaeology, and Director of the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology in Berkeley, on November 2nd. The sixth graders got to hold ancient artifacts and engage him in larger conversations around the laws and ethics of excavations as they seek to understand the circumstances under which the artifacts they have been researching were collected. 

#SaklanGuestExperts #SaklanPBL

Orange Envelope Day Success

Tuesday, October 25th, marked our second annual Orange Envelope Day! Kicking off our Annual Giving Fund (AGF) with lots of enthusiasm, students and parents were able to drop their orange donation envelopes in the orange box and ring our cowbell to mark the occasion – it brought lots of joy and attention to drop off and pick up!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in Orange Envelope Day!

It speaks volumes about our community that families are willing to contribute a meaningful gift to the AGF. Each gift supports our commitment to fostering a sense of belonging and being connected to every student. Moreover, it strengthens the bond of shared common values between all of us. Those values of belonging and connectedness are instrumental to who we are and what we do.

This year, in addition to raising funds to support personal attention from dedicated teachers, an engaging curriculum, and specialist classes at all grade levels, we are hoping to raise enough funds through the AGF to purchase an additional Saklan van. An additional van will allow us to more easily take students out into the field for authentic learning experiences, as well as to consider expanding our transportation services in the future.

Thank you for believing in us to partner with you in your child’s educational journey. Thank you to those who have already shown their support for the AGF. We are about halfway to our goals of raising $170,000 and reaching 100% participation, and I am confident that both will continue to rise.

Help us reach 100% participation by making a gift that is meaningful to you and your family today. Gifts can be made online or by completing the donor form that was included in your AGF mailing and returning it to the Saklan Office.

In gratitude,

David

#SaklanGiving #HeadsCorner