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.

4th Grade

Last week the fourth graders blasted off into space exploration! They began their study with the big question – why should/shouldn’t we explore space? Opinions were mixed at first, but after viewing NASA videos and taking a deeper look at the real Mars Rover program, students agreed that we should explore space. The class decided to make their own mission to an unknown planet and send a remote rover to explore it for them first. They looked at how real rover “drivers” operate their machines from earth by writing code. Then, the fourth graders each wrote a working code for their partner to read and follow exactly as a “human rover.” The goal for each rover was to successfully navigate obstacles on an “alien planet” to reach a “crater”  and retrieve a “rock sample.”

The students quickly discovered that their codes needed to be very specific or they wouldn’t work. After testing and improving the codes, the class re-launched their rovers and completed several successful missions. This week, the fourth graders have been using the engineering design process to build working Mars rover models!

#SaklanHandsOn

Book Fair Success

Saklan’s Book Fair was a huge success! Saklan received 63 brand new book donations for our classrooms and raised $330 to use towards new book purchases for the library! 

And, more importantly, our students went home with new treasures to read and adventures to have!

Thank you to everyone who supported the book fair, and special thanks to all those who purchased books from the teacher wish lists for the classrooms. As a community we purchased $3,300 worth of new books.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who made Saklan’s Book Fair possible. Tara Nemeth, thank you for taking the lead and organizing the event. Mrs. Meredith, thank you for liaising with Bel and Bunna’s Books and for working with the teachers to create their classroom wish lists. Randy Darden, Makeda Assefa, Lauren Wolf, Joy Kim, Mr. Javier and Ms. Shay, thank you for your help with the event logistics, setting up, cleaning up, and helping students and parents find books.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of Bel from Bel and Bunna’s Books. Thank you, Bel!

#SaklanBookFair #BooksAreTreasures

Head’s Corner: What a Special Place

Dear Saklan Community,

I’m enjoying being Head of School today! After CLAS, I walked all around the campus asking students and teachers what they love about Saklan. Almost everyone in every class had something to share with me, which was so cool for me to see. A lot of people said they loved the teachers, the specials, and their friends. They also said they loved the small classrooms so they could get more attention from their teachers. Here are some other quotes from this morning:

“Everyone is always kind, caring, and helpful in this community.”

“Everyone gets to know each other at Saklan.”

“I love the field experiences, whether it’s Moraga Commons or far away.”

“I love that it’s safe here and there’s no stealing.”

“The students make this place brighter.”

“Everyone is there for you.”

“Everyone has the ability to be themselves.”

“I love the family feel of Saklan.”

“I love my colleagues and my community.”

“I love the playground, the redwood trees, and the beautiful campus.”

“Saklan has the best students!”

“The teachers listen to your feelings.”

“All the teachers and students connect with each other.”

“Family Group leaders take care of you and are always helpful and caring.”

This was a great reminder of what a special place this is to me and why I love to come to school. I am grateful to have teachers and friends that are always caring and kind. I loved being Head of School for a day, and I hope I get to do it again someday!

Happy Friday!

Love,

Kingsley 

#SaklanConfident #SaklanConnected #HeadsCorner

Creative Saklan Students

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Art Show! It was a fantastic event, showcasing the creativity and hard work of all Saklan students.

Thank you to Ms. Lauren for making the Art Show a reality. Her expert guidance of the students through the art making process, helping them to explore their creativity and express themselves, was evident in the art. We also appreciate the time she took to organize the art, determine the placement on the boards, create the scavenger hunts for the students, and take care of all the other details that made the event a success!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped set up and prepare for the event. Amy Schofield, Saphierrina Sutherland, Elizabeth Stoltzfus, Lucy Luo, Amy Perkins, and Bob McClain, thank you for sharing your time and energy to bring the Art Show to life.

Thank you to the Saklan teachers and staff for their help in getting ready for the Art Show, guiding their students through the event, and helping with clean up at the end of the day.

Thank you to the Saklan students for sharing their work with us. The time and detail that went into each of the pieces was evident, as well as their propensity to think creatively!

#SaklanCreativity

Thank You, Saklan Families

Thank you, Saklan families, for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! It was a week full of warm messages, Saklan swag, and delicious food. You definitely made all of the Saklan teachers and staff feel like stars!

We enjoyed tasting your family recipes! Each day of the week featured at least 14 appetizers, main courses and desserts. From ‘Crockpot Cookout’, ‘Holiday Faves in May’ to ‘Special Family Recipes’ there wasn’t a day when any of us left feeling hungry!

The messages the students left for all of us on the Kudoboards were so heartfelt and made us feel seen and appreciated. Thank you to all the parents who worked with your kiddos to help share their thoughts and for sharing your own words of thanks.

From our own Walk of Fame, red carpet and stars hanging in the entryway, to swag bags and our own step and repeat screen, it was certainly a week full of star-studded activities!

THANK YOU to all of you for making us feel so special!

#SaklanTeacherAppreciationWeek

Homes Around the World

The first grade class has been learning about the importance of shelter and what homes look like around the world. To begin the unit, the students wrote down questions they had related to homes. Culture, climate, and materials that are used to build homes were all part of the questions that were then posted on their Wonder Wall. Next, the students set out to learn the answers to their essential questions using a variety of resources.

One resource that the first graders were able to learn from was the 8th graders! Having recently returned from their Puerto Rican field experience, where they helped rebuild houses destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the eighth graders were now well versed in the building materials used and the ways homes are constructed in Puerto Rico. The eighth graders shared a presentation with the first graders about the climate and impact of hurricanes in Puerto Rico. They then shared how the houses are now being constructed to withstand the hurricane winds and water.

The first graders joined the eighth graders and Mr. Javier to get a hands-on demonstration of the home building process in Puerto Rico. The first graders helped mix cement, adding in extra rocks and sand to make it even stronger. The group then filled a preformed column, which Mr. Javier had already inserted rebar reinforcements into, with the cement.

A big thank you to the eighth graders for teaching the first graders about homes in Puerto Rico. This was a great hands-on learning experience for first grade.

#SaklanCrossGradeLearning #SaklanHandsOn

Biologists

At the end of April, the Owlets watched this video to learn that biologists are scientists who study animals, plants, and other kinds of life. During the month of May, the Owlets have had many opportunities to be biologists. Recently, they talked about characteristics of different animal classes, including reptiles, mammals, fish, and birds.

Last week, a guest expert, Ms. Emily from Wildcare, visited the Owlets and Hoot Owls to teach them all about mammals! The students enjoyed seeing the real taxidermy animals she brought, as well as a real whale tooth and some deer antlers!

#SaklanGuestExpert #SaklanHandsOn

Hawaii: A Cultural & Biological Experience

Last week, Saklan’s seventh graders traveled to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. During their time in the globally recognized destination, the students distinguished themselves from the multitude of travelers by their mission: to learn about the cultural and biological evolution of the Hawaiian Islands. In Waimea Falls, the staff that handed the students their lifejackets were impressed to hear about the class itinerary and what they had already learned about the beautiful island of Oahu. One lifelong Hawaiian was particularly impressed that the students were visiting the Iolani Palace, as he had never visited himself. The 7th graders snorkeled among hundreds of brightly colored fish that call Hanuma Bay home while watching their adaptations at work for their survival.

The students spent a long and interactive afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where they learned how the Polynesian people valued the natural world and how they used the resources around them.

The students enjoyed themselves so much that they would like to open a sister school in Hawaii to continue their education!

#SaklanFieldExperience 

Menús

Two true tests of learning are the ability to apply what has been learned in a new way, and to use learning to serve others. Over the last three weeks, the fifth grade students have done both in Spanish class with Maestra Padilla.

The fifth graders created cafe menus, complete with items written in Spanish and priced in the currency of a Spanish-speaking country (such as pesos), and then set up a cafe scene to serve “customers.” Although they were not really served the menu items they ordered, students served each other, nonetheless, each playing a part for a friend’s video by ordering in Spanish, paying, etc.

Students recorded their cafe scenes on flipgrid.  Maestra shared one of her favorites for you to enjoy; click here to see it!

Chemical Reactions

The Owlets became scientists in April! The class visited Ms. O in her lab every Thursday during the month. The Owlets learned words like observation and hypothesis. Ms. O let the Owlets experiment with mixing different liquids to cause chemical reactions, like color changes, temperature changes, and state changes.

After learning about chemical reactions, Ms. Jessica led the Owlets and Hoot Owls in a classic experiment mixing Mentos candy with soda. Many of the students predicted what would happen, and many of them wanted to try mixing the candy with other liquids too!

The Owlets asked lots of great questions and came up with many ideas for more science experiments!

#SaklanHandsOn