First Grade – Page 2

Respectful Students

Saklan’s social-emotional learning emphasis for January is to be respectful. Throughout the month, all Saklan students will be learning what it means to be respectful and practicing strategies for showing respect both at school and at home.

On Friday, January 26th, the first – eighth graders will meet with their family groups and take part in cross-grade level discussions and activities to gain an even greater understanding of respect. We value these opportunities to help our students understand and integrate new SEL concepts each month. Thank you to our 8th graders for leading these opportunities for the 1st – 7th graders, and to our SEL coordinators Vickie Obenchain and Lisa Rokas for organizing such a unique program for our students.

#SaklanSEL

Día de los Muertos

In October, the Kindergarten – 3rd grade students celebrated Día de los Muertos and California’s cultural roots with a field experience to watch the professional performance group Cascada de Flores. The bilingual and participatory performance included lively songs, stories, musical instruments, and dance. Students learned about the difference between Halloween and Day of the Dead, and then explored Day of the Dead traditions, such as building an altar, to honor lost love ones.

Student highlights of the trip included the opportunity to participate in the performance by dancing on stage and carrying flowers to the altar, as well as riding in a yellow school bus!

#SaklanFieldExperience

The Role of the Library

The first graders recently visited the Lafayette Library as part of their community study. The students had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Alle, the head librarian, to tour the library and learn about the important role a library plays in the community by being a community hub that connects people to information. Additionally, they discussed the differences between public libraries and school libraries and talked about how borrowing a library book is different from buying books in a bookstore.

The students were especially excited to check out books using their brand new library cards!

The first graders had a wonderful time out in the field, learning about the important roles a library plays in a community.

#SaklanFieldExperience

Special New Friends

Last Friday morning there was much excitement on campus as our Preschool – 5th grade students met some special new friends – their learning buddies! Learning buddies are a purposeful way to encourage cross-grade friendships, help students develop a sense of responsibility and practice mentorship, and make learning fun!

During the first meeting, the buddies took time to get to know each other and did some reading together. The older buddies marvelously modeled good reading behaviors by reading with expression and fluency for their younger buddies. Some of the older buddies were also honored to listen to their younger buddies read too.

Once a month the buddies will get together to spend time reading, learning and playing together. The buddy program is not only fun for the students, but helps to build empathy and community on campus.

#SaklanBuddies #SaklanCommunity

Welcoming Signs

In the art room, students in grades one, two, three and five, have been using their art skills to help make Saklan more a welcoming, inclusive place.

After reading Alexandra Penfold’s book All are Welcome Here, students reflected on times when they have and haven’t felt welcome at school. They then worked in teams to brainstorm words and phrases that would make everyone at Saklan feel like they belong. Each team collaborated to paint and assemble their positive messages into decorative signs.

Next time you are in the school breezeway or lower school area, keep your eyes open for their brightly colored words of wisdom!

#SaklanCompassionate #SaklanCommunity

Moving Up Day

On Wednesday morning, the Saklan Preschool – fifth grade students participated in Moving Up Day. The students and teachers alike were buzzing with excitement!

This annual tradition allows the students to get a snapshot of what next year will hold. The teachers planned special activities that highlighted their grade level and enjoyed getting to know their rising students a little better. Morning meeting activities, questions, stories, art activities, classroom scavenger hunts, and enthusiasm for next year filled the classrooms! If your child “moved up” on Wednesday, please ask them all about it. They will likely have something enthusiastic to share!

#SaklanConnected

Packing Party

After lunch last Friday, our 1st graders had a packing party! No, they weren’t preparing to move, but rather packing lunch bags to be distributed to homeless individuals. Partnering with the organization 10,000 Lunches, the class packed 45 brown bags, carefully adding one of each food item per bag: tuna, instant oatmeal, Ritz crackers, fruit cup, sun butter, protein bar, and a can of Vienna sausages.

After a project-based learning unit on homes around the world, the first graders were interested in helping those who don’t have homes. Brett Lorie, one of the founders of 10,000 Lunches, was beyond thrilled to hear that the 1st grade students wanted to do something to help the unhoused. He spoke to the class, sharing about the organizations mission and the people (and dogs) they serve. Brett’s talk helped to humanize the problem of homelessness in the Bay Area for the first graders. Having students interact with changemakers like Brett helps to spark their own social consciousness.

Gina delivered the brown bags the 1st graders packed to Brett’s house after school last Friday. On Saturday, Brett emailed the following message:

Thank you again, Gina! It was wonderful meeting you and the kids. They were a great bunch!

The students were so proud and happy to do something to help unhoused individuals. This experience was a great way to build their empathy and compassion muscles.

#SaklanCompassion #SaklanServiceLearning #StudentInquiryDriven

Welcoming Jack Wong

On Wednesday, May 10, Saklan’s Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade students had the pleasure of meeting with author Jack Wong. Jack read his debut picture book, When You Can Swim, to the students and shared that the idea for the book came from his own experiences as a kid.

Jack was born in Hong Kong to a mother who had been forbidden to learn to swim. As a kid, he moved to Canada but didn’t like swimming or heights. He said he disliked swimming because being in the water feels so different from what we normally feel. A good friend encouraged and helped him feel more confident to take risks like jumping off a bridge into the water. Through his book, Jack paints a compelling picture of the many joys and surprises that the water holds, and invites others to discover their confidence to explore the warmth and wonder of swimming and the natural world.

Jack not only wrote When You Can Swim, but illustrated it too! He taught the students how to draw different creatures underwater. He explained that by drawing a line around the head of the creature you are drawing and then making ripples out from the line, the animal looks to be poking its head out of the water. He asked the students for suggestions on what to draw. A shark, seal and dinosaur were the winners!

Lunar New Year

First graders welcomed the Year of the Rabbit last week with some special activities. On Tuesday, Jen, a first grade parent, came to class to talk about Lunar New Year, which is observed not just in China but in countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and Korea. She also led the class in making stunning dragon puppets.

The learning continued when the class went on a virtual field experience to the Asian Art Museum. They listened intently as a master storyteller told the legend of Nien, a monster who terrorized villagers and led them to scare him away with loud noises, the color red and fire- the beginnings of Chinese New Year. The class also listened to the story behind the Chinese zodiac animals.

The class continued their learning and festivities this week as well. Today they marked the end of the 15-day festival by making lanterns, having a Lantern Festival party in class, and joining the second graders for a dragon parade around campus.

May the Year of the Rabbit be prosperous for all!

Self-discipline

On Thursday afternoon, Saklan’s 1st – 8th graders met with their family groups to discuss this month’s SEL topic: self-discipline.

The groups began by discussing what self-discipline means: recognizing or identifying that you need to help yourself to achieve a goal, task, assignment, etc. and being able to get yourself back on track.

Then the students watched this video of a lovable monster using tools to help stay on task! After the video they discussed the strategies the monster used: counting to 4, singing, imagining a cookie was a grandmother. The students then brainstormed additional strategies that could help them stay on task.

Each family group then used their list of strategies to act out self-disciplined ways to handle the following scenarios:

Someone cuts you in line.
You are having a hard time raising your hand, and keep calling out.
You are sad because you forgot your lunch.
You and your friend cannot stop giggling!
You are nervous/stressed over a test.
You are mad because someone grabbed the ball you were playing with and is now using it without asking.

The family groups ended their time together by creating posters showcasing suggestions to help others practice self-discipline in specific circumstances. Check out their posters below!