Category: Hoot Owls

The Hoot Owls learned about Lunar New Year. Happy year of the pig!

Cameron’s mom, Sandy, visited the Hoot Owls and shared with them traditional ways to celebrate Chinese New Year. Cameron passed out red envelopes filled with lucky coins for all the Hoot Owls. Sandy told the Hoot Owls that if they placed the envelope under their pillow and made a wish, it would almost certainly come true! The students also made pretend firecrackers with red paper. They learned that the color red scares off bad spirits and brings good luck. The Hoot Owls were also lucky enough to sample some traditional Chinese New Year treats made with crispy rice and pineapple.

Thank you so much, Cameron and Sandy, for sharing your family’s traditions with us! #Saklanwellrounded

In addition to their winter theme, the Hoot Owls began to learn about scientists. They learned that scientists ask questions, do experiments, measure, count, draw, write, learn from their senses, sort, test predictions and have fun! Their first winter experiment was building a snowman out of ice. First, balloons full of water were frozen in the freezer. Many friends were surprised to touch the balloons and find them not only hard but cold, too. The Hoot Owls helped cut the balloons open and pealed them off the ice. Next, they used salt to stack the ice balls together. Many Hoot Owls asked, “Why does the salt make them stick?” One of the first things they learned from this experiment was that four balls of ice were too tall, as the fourth ball of ice tumbled down and shattered on the floor!

After the snowman was completed, they sat down and observed him. They did an observational drawing of what he looked like now. Then they made predictions by doing a drawing of what they thought he would look like later.

The Hoot Owls’ drawings were all different but they all had the idea that later he would melt and he did! The snowman took a tumble right before lunch. By the end of the day there were only small pieces of ice left. By the next morning he was salty water! #SaklanHandsOn

The Hoot Owls have been learning about nutrition and what better way to do that than help make some healthy and delicious food. Hoot Owls first did an herb taste test to get used to trying new things. We sampled sage, oregano, basil and mint! We recorded whether or not we liked the herbs just like scientists. Hoot Owls also helped chop vegetables for a veggie stir fry. Some Hoot Owls said it was their first time chopping and using a knife. We also made our own stir-fry sauce.

We made flour tortillas from scratch using only flour, olive oil, water and salt. We used the tortillas to make quesadillas!

For Hanukkah, we were visited by Jacob Eddy’s grandmother, Robin, who helped us make potato latkes! We peeled and grated the potatoes, cracked the egg and stirred it all together with flour.

The Hoot Owls have been very busy learning about deciduous trees! They have been working on a multi-step project to create their own unique trees. First, they painted a background on cardboard. Next, they experimented with oil pastels on top of the dry paint. Finally, they constructed the tree using real tree branches and small felt leaves.

They learned about the main parts of trees, the roots, trunk, bark, branches and leaves! They discussed some fun facts about the oldest and tallest trees in the world. Both are in California! They also thought about all the different animals and bugs they have seen living in trees. They used the left over branches to build log cabins.

This month, the Hoot Owls have been learning about deciduous trees, trees that lose their leaves. With leaves falling all around us, the Hoot Owls made leaf prints to save the image of the leaf after the real leaf has crumbled and blown away. To start, Hoot Owls chose a leaf they found most interesting from a basket of different types of leaves.

Next, Hoot Owls painted the leaf paying close attention to the shape of the leaf and the veins running through the leaf. Step two was to firmly press a piece of paper over the top of the leaf. The most exciting part was pealing the leaf off to reveal a beautiful leaf print that could last forever.

The Hoot Owls had a wonderful time on their field trip to Moraga Gardens. The Hoot Owls had the opportunity to pet, hold, and feed chickens! They also collected fresh eggs.

We toured the garden sampling herbs, tomatoes and strawberries. We paid close attention to the bee hives and talked about how important bees are to the planet.

Each Hoot owl planted their own sunflower start to take home. Thanks so much to the Avant family for having us!

This month the Hoot Owls have been learning about collaboration. We have been practicing working as a team and taking turns contributing to group art projects.

This is a collaboration created by the Hoot Owls by painting the bottoms of muffin tins and stamping paper on the painted tins.