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!
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!
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?
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.
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!
To bid on fantastic auction items! This year’s live auction is full of must-have items:
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!
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.
High level Project Based Learning units at Saklan extend beyond the walls of the classroom. When students feel a sense of authentic purpose, projects become richer and more relevant for our learners. As they demonstrate understanding of academic standards, they are also engaging in sustained inquiry, thinking creatively, and acting compassionately.
The product in each PBL unit looks different depending on a number of factors including the academic learning goals, division, and student interest. However, our work at Saklan differentiates itself by final products being more than a retelling of academic content via a poster or report. Instead Saklan students demonstrate their proficiency in academic standards through the process of answering a question or solving a problem that matters to them.
This unique blend of honoring students’ interests and maintaining academic rigor empowers students to make change and impact their community. Through high quality Project Based Learning Saklan students learn that their opinions are valued, that they have creative solutions to problems that exist in our communities, and that they can take action to make a difference.
Below are some outstanding examples of public products from PBL units at Saklan this year that help answer a question, solve a problem, or support our community needs.
A concert backdrop is an essential element to our annual Saklan concert. This year our second graders took on the authentic task of designing and creating the backdrop for this important community event.
They first developed their understanding of the art world by experiencing Yayoi Kusama’s installations at SF MoMA and diving deep to understand how artists like Joseph Albers, Erin Fong, Anne Patterson communicate emotion through either a single or a combination of colors both in painting and in large-scale installations. Considering their new understanding of color theory, students engaged in a process of design, critique, and revision before deciding as a group on the direction of their concert backdrop design. From there they stretched and explored with various materials for the background before ultimately settling on ribbon and fabric since it would flow and also be weighty enough to not tangle. They helped tie the hundreds of ribbons to the 8 foot dowels that were installed professionally in our concert space at the Lesher Performing Arts Center for our annual spring concert.
For an additional second public project, students have been working in collaborative small groups to cut and redesign the original installation, creating smaller hanging pieces for our school auction later this month! Now their art that communicates love and serves our community will take on a new life and get to go home with a few lucky families!
7th Grade
Driving Question: “How can we reduce single use plastic?”
Public Product: Design of sustainable alternatives to single use plastic
Plastic trash and microplastics in our oceans are a real and relevant issue that seventh graders worked to address through design innovations and creativity.
After a field experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and service learning on the beaches of Oahu, seventh graders considered the impact of plastics on the environment, particularly on ocean animals and what they can do to be change makers. Students designed solutions to single use plastics and presented their designs and prototypes to a panel of adults, including a local designer and small business owner, in a Shark Tank style presentation. Through this experience they grew in their capacity to think creatively about solutions to problems that exist outside the walls of Saklan and consider how they can be part of the change they want to see in the world around them.
1st and 8th grades
Driving Question: “How do homes keep us safe?”
Public Product: Bag lunchesfor distribution with 10,000 Lunches
An ideal Saklan graduate is an empathetic, inclusive, and kind leader. First graders lived into those descriptors during the final milestone of a months-long Project Based Learning unit on homes.
The Homes unit in first grade is a cross-curricular unit that integrates informational reading and writing, geometry, weather, social studies, and art. This year students moved from geometry and shapes that can be used to make a strong structure to learning from our 8th graders about what can happen when people lose their homes due to natural disasters, like hurricanes. In their final milestones, first graders learned how communities can come together when housing insecurity impacts food insecurity and were inspired to think about how they can be helpers too. Together 1st and 8th graders helped their family groups bag 200 lunches for a local organization called 10,000 Lunches that aims to support local people experiencing housing and food insecurity.
Saklan’s social-emotional learning emphasis for April is to be forgiving. During the month, all Saklan students are discussing what it means to forgive and looking for ways to be forgiving with others. On Monday, April 22nd, all Saklan students will participate in Earth Day activities, and during the activities the 1st – 8th grade students join with their family group members and take part in cross-grade level discussions and activities to gain an even greater understanding of being forgiving.
On Tuesday, Saklan’s 1st – 8th grade students gathered with their family groups to discuss how to be loving, the March social emotional learning focus. Together the groups shared actions to show love or care for others.
The family group leaders shared that the 1st and 8th graders have been learning about homes and what it is like to not have a home or not know where your next meal is coming from. The 1st graders shared reasons why people might need help or experience hunger. The 1st and 8th graders explained that there are many reasons why people might need help, including: because they lost their job, due to a natural disaster, due to extra expenses (like a broken down car or unexpected medical expenses).
After sharing the book, Saturday at the Food Pantry, the Family Group leaders explained that the day’s family group activity was to make bagged lunches for those who are food insecure in our community. Each group then worked together to make 20 bagged lunches, each containing a can of Vienna sausages, fruit cup, fruit squeeze, oatmeal, granola bar, peanut butter, crackers and tuna.
After school on Tuesday, the bagged lunches were transported to 10,000 Lunches, a local organization that distributes food to those who are food insecure in our bay area community.
Spring has sprung and with that has come the time to plan ahead for the rest of the school year. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Art Show has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 23rd from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. This year’s event will again take place in the Holy Trinity Cultural Center.
Additional dates to note for the remainder of the year include:
Irresistible auction items make for a great auction! A huge THANK YOU to the following organizations and families for their in-kind donations received in support of Saklan’s upcoming Peace, Love, Saklan auction:
Items from these donors, as well as uniquely Saklan experiences, will be open for bidding during our Peace, Love, Saklan auction on Friday, April 26th. This adults-only event is a fun way to celebrate our vibrant Saklan community and support the ongoing success of our school. Funds raised from the auction support the unique programs offered at Saklan, including: field experiences, family groups, guest experts, and project based learning.
Saklan’s Auction Committee is looking to acquire a few more irresistible auction items for our upcoming event! Here are a few specific things we are looking for, both to raise money and raise excitement in the room:
Wine – Support this year’s Wine Raffle by donating a few bottles of your favorite Cab or Chardonnay.
Vacation Homes – Do you have or know someone with a vacation property, timeshare or other access to destination properties?
Unique Experiences – Do you have a connection to something unavailable to the general public? Think Club 33, behind the Scenes tours, throwing out the first pitch, dinner with someone famous, or an opportunity to sit in an owner’s box.
Event Tickets – Do you have season passes for the Giants, A’s, Warriors, theatre, symphony, or live music venues?
Adventure Experiences – Hot Air Ballooning, Horseback Riding, and Cooking Classes are always popular items.
Gift Cards – Your unused gift cards can enhance a basket of themed goods.
Please let us know if you have any other ideas for amazing auction items. As our mission says, think creatively! Click here to complete the online donor form, or email ewilliamson@saklan.org to share your ideas with the committee!
What a wonderful experience to gather together at the Lesher Center to watch our students shine and share Love!
Thank you to all of the parents and guardians for making Tuesday’s logistics work in order to support the students and watch the performance.
Thank you to the faculty and staff for all of the behind the scenes work to prepare for the concert, from your flexibility with the schedule to helping with rehearsals. Your support of your students and encouragement to take the stage is greatly appreciated!
Thank you to Lauren and Linda for working with the second grade students on the gorgeous backdrop that we got to see during the concert. Thank you for your continued PBL work, and for the passion you ignite in our students by elevating their voices and choices.
Thank you to Erin for preparing the Preschool and Pre-K students to share their songs with our community! The little ones were so excited and brave and shared their joy and love of music with the audience.
Thank you to Isaac for continuing to share your knowledge of traditional Ghanaian drumming with our students. What a delight to see them drumming, singing and dancing together!
Thank you to Hector, Shay, Javi, and Isaac for sharing your musical talents and accompanying the students on piano, drums and guitar. Without you, the concert would have been a very different experience.
Thank you to Shay and Emily for behind the scenes work on the program, communication, transportation logistics, and filling in all the gaps where they were needed. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Thank you to Javier for helping set up for rehearsals, for moving instruments and artwork, transporting students, and for doing it all with laughter.
Thank you to Grace for the vision of Love, for teaching with purpose and for knowing what songs and parts to choose for whom. You create magic on stage and allow students to shine bright. What you do is greatly appreciated.
FRIDAY BLOG 
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