The Saklan School Friday Blog

Authors & Illustrators

This month, the Owlets have been talking about authors and illustrators. They learned that an author is the person who puts the words in a book, and an illustrator makes the pictures for the book. So far, they have studied two authors who are also illustrators. First, they read books by Eric Carle, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug and A House for Hermit Crab. The Owlets then created art inspired by Eric Carle’s illustrations.

The next author/illustrator the Owlets learned about was Mo Willems, who wrote The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, We’re in a Book! and Should I Share My Ice Cream? The Owlets then began working on a multi-step painting project to create some of Mo Willems’ characters, Gerald and Piggie. The next authors they will learn about are Laura Numeroff (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) and the duo of Margaret and H.A. Rey (Curious George).

#SaklanCreative

2nd Grade Fairy Tales

Last week, the second graders finished their study of fairy tales with a celebratory publishing party!

They started the unit by each choosing a fairy tale to read and complete a castle book report on. The students definitely took their time and used their creativity to complete the reports.

Next, the class learned about the stages of the writing process by creating their own fractured fairy tales. The fairy tales the second graders created were creative, interesting, humorous and beautifully presented. Excellent work second graders!

#SaklanCreative

Don’t Look Up!

The 8th graders saved the day in class on Wednesday, February 2nd! Dangerous meteors were falling and they used the Linear Laser Cannon to break them up before they reached the earth.

The 8th graders were presented with the known coordinates of the meteors. They then used their knowledge of finding equations of lines using two points to make a rule to break up the meteor. Once they had a rule that would break up two meteors, they entered them in their computer and fired. Most shots were successful but a few had to be tweaked to pass through the desired meteor.

Here is an example of one Linear Laser Cannon shot that hit the meteors at (4,-7) and (-4,4).

In the end, the earth was saved. Thank you 8^th graders!

#SaklanAcademic

Head’s Corner

The Power of Reflection

Over the past two years, it has become clear that making room in our lives for reflection is more important than ever. And yet, with everything that has been going on in our world, it seems harder and harder to make the time and space for this.

Hence we have started a new initiative at Saklan to help teachers find ways to reflect on their life’s work and come back in the Fall refreshed and energized. Starting this year, teachers will be encouraged to apply for a grant through the Saklan Summer Reflection Fund. This fund will financially support teachers and staff to pursue professional development projects of personal interest off campus that also benefit their students and the school. In the past I have seen teachers take this in all sorts of directions: from Poetry Slam camps and meditation retreats to specialized conferences and historical explorations. One history teacher, for example, decided to follow the Lewis & Clark Trail, bringing the experience back to her classroom. Inspired teachers inspire students!

You can support this initiative by contributing to the Auction Shindig Wine Raffle or by making a monetary donation to the fund on our auction website.

The Saklan teachers and staff are excited about pursuing summer reflective opportunities. We look forward to sharing their experiences.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

The Hoot Owls read the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud. The book teaches that everyone carries around an imaginary bucket. When you do kind things for someone your bucket gets filled and so does the other person’s bucket!

The Hoot Owls created a class bucket/jar to fill with kind things that are done throughout the week. On Fridays they read aloud all the kind things that happened that week!

#SaklanSEL

Chinese Brush Painting

During art class, in honor of Lunar New Year, students in grades K-8 have been exploring the ancient art form of Chinese brush painting. After learning about how the Lunar New Year is celebrated, students observed the artwork of Guan Daosheng, a famous female painter from 13th century China, and noted how each line and mark is made by a single brushstroke. All students practiced the tradition by holding their brushes in the correct positions, then making different kinds of brushstrokes.

Kindergarten, first and second grade students used their new painting knowledge to paint tigers, which is this year’s zodiac animal. Third graders practiced calligraphy and learned how to write the Chinese character for good fortune.

Fourth and fifth graders painted bamboo, and will be creating their own “chops” or stamps to print a “signature” design onto their painting. Middle school students had a choice of practicing to paint bamboo, orchids or a mountain landscape.

#SaklanCreative #SaklanHandsOn

Looking for Wine Donations

Love wine? We are excitedly preparing a Wine Raffle for this year’s Auction Shindig, and we would love y’alls help! Please consider donating a favorite bottle or two (rated 90 points or higher by Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate or Wine Enthusiast) to this year’s collection.

All proceeds from this year’s Wine Raffle will support Saklan’s Summer Reflection Fund, which funds summer professional development opportunities for our beloved teachers and staff.

Please bring your wine donations to the Saklan Office or drop them off at the Auction Shindig table in front of Saklan on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Not a big wine fan, but want to support professional development opportunities for Saklan teachers and staff? Click here to contribute to the Summer Reflection Fund.

#SaklanShindig

Play Basketball with the Saklan Suns!

Recently, science merged with physical education when sixth graders came to P.E. with special goggles which allowed them to see all the colors in the light spectrum. While these were special goggles, all students are encouraged to wear sunglasses and hats outside on the sports court, especially during morning and afternoon classes.

Speaking of afternoons on the sports court, Monday through Thursdays from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. students in 3rd grade and up are invited to the sports court to learn and practice basketball. No experience needed.

A scrimmage against another school has been scheduled for March 17th for any players interested in a challenge. If we have enough participants we can have a junior varsity and a varsity team. So come on out to the sports court, sunglasses encouraged!

Let’s Go Saklan!

Watercolor Artwork

The sixth graders recently wrapped up a study of watercolors in art class. For their final project, students had a choice of four different assignments, all of which centered around the artwork of a key artist. The projects also showcased different watercolor techniques and skills, such as color mixing, stretching their imaginations, science integration, and self-reflection. Student projects included: painted terrariums featuring plants, animals, and imaginary organisms; free-flowing, imaginative creatures decorated with intricate pen patterns; precise, angular geometric masterpieces; and much more.

Save the date for Saklan’s Annual Art Festival on April 28th to check out these and many other works of art!

#SaklanCreative

Rethinking Ranchos

Fourth graders continued learning about California’s history as they conducted virtual explorations of 19th century Mexican ranchos. Their study of the ranchos began with a series of learning centers, which included looking at historical and geological maps of the Bay Area and the entire state, a video virtual tour of a rancho, articles about the practices of land granting, branding and the savage treatment of Native people, and looking at images from the past that included hand-drawn diseños (rough maps). Next, the students worked together to determine which aspects of the ranchos were worthy of preservation and which they would want to make reparations for. Finally, working in partner teams, students plotted their own ranchos on a map, wrote a petition for a land grant to the governor, cooperated to create new and improved rancho policies, and then drew a scaled diseño of their ranchos.