Category: Hoot Owls

Spring Holidays

For those who attended CLAS last Friday, you caught a glimpse of the learning our students have done around spring holidays. Here is a deeper glance into some of the learning that has taken place during the month of March.

Fourth grade students partnered up to explore and learn about various spring holidays including Holi, Easter, Ramadan, and St. Patrick’s Day. Their collaborative efforts culminated in the creation of informational posters which they formally presented to their classmates, and then put on display at CLAS. Through this activity, the fourth graders emphasized the importance of respecting and understanding different cultures while celebrating diversity.

Earlier this month, Hoot Owl parents, Rachel and Richa, taught the Hoot Owls about Holi. They shared that Holi is the Indian festival of colors which happens in Spring when new colors start showing up in nature. It is a time to celebrate our differences, and even though we are all different, we are all beautiful.  They read the book Festival of Colors by Surishtha Sehgal and Kabir Sehgal, and illustrated by Vashti Harrison. It shared the meaning of the holiday and how people celebrate it by wearing white and throwing powders of various colors (made from dried flowers) at each other in a fun and festive way. As a class the Hoot Owls represented this by creating marble art with lots of different colors. The marbles were rolled on top of paper in different skin colors, and when the paint dried they cut them out into people.

The Owlets learned about Ramadan when Nadia, an Owlet parent, visited their classroom. Nadia narrated the book Moon’s Ramadan and showed the Preschoolers images of her family celebrating Ramadan. The students discovered that Ramadan is observed throughout the new moon phase and concludes on the new moon. Adults fast during the day and eat at night, breaking their fast with an iftar, a meal which usually starts by eating dates. The Owlets also enjoyed painting some Ramadan decorations!

Sharing Knowledge

The Hoot Owls have emerged from their ocean unit and blasted off into space! To start their latest project-approach unit, the Hoot Owls made a topic web to showcase their prior knowledge of space. As they meet experts and read books, they will add to the web. They also created a space wonder wall, which they will continue to add questions to throughout the unit.

The first space guest experts to visit the Hoot Owls were the 1st graders! The 1st grade students shared what they learned during their Space PBL Unit in the fall. Prior to the visit, the Hoot Owls generated questions for the 1st graders, which they shared ahead of time. The 1st graders then researched answers to the Hoot Owl questions, and during their visit were able to answer all of the Hoot Owl questions. The Hoot Owls were very impressed!

Thank you, 1st Graders, for sharing your expertise with the Hoot Owls!

#SaklanProjectWork

100 Days of Learning

Did you know that on Thursday, February 8th, Saklan students celebrated the 100th day of the school?  

The Hoot Owls celebrated by making 100 hand prints, 100-day crowns, and counting to 100.

Kindergarteners made a special snack of 100 things, did 100 different exercises, counted to 100 in many different ways, made cheerio necklaces with 100 cheerios, wrote numbers to 100 and built different structures with 100 cups!

One of the highlights of the 100th day of school for the Hoot Owls, Kindergartners and 1st graders was the opportunity to gather in the Pre-K room and watch a video of Joanna’s 100 year old grandmother, who answered questions the students had about being 100. Witnessing a healthy centenarian left the students in awe and provided them with a unique perspective on the passage of time. Check out the video here!

The 4th graders celebrated during their Ohana Circle Time by estimating 100 in various ways, writing their names in cursive 100 times, and tackling an Order of Operations challenge to create equations of 100. 

The students had a wonderful day celebrating 100 days of learning!

The Depths of the Ocean

The Hoot Owls have continued to explore the depths of the ocean in recent weeks. They learned about coral reefs and read the book “The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs” by Kate Messner. It shared the story of Ken Nedimyer, the creator of the Coral Restoration Foundation. They also watched a video of a scientist exploring the coral reefs and explaining how coral reefs grow. As a class, the Hoot Owls talked about ways they can help keep the coral reefs safe. They talked about making sure trash goes into the right bins so it won’t go into the ocean, about not wasting water, and about being gentle with animals in the water. The students also created their own coral in class, which they drew with oil pastels and then used water color to create the ocean around them.

The class continued learning about more sea animals that they are interested in. Whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, great white sharks and more were on the list! The owls painted these animals, and currently have them swimming in their classroom. Stop by and take a look at their under sea classroom!

#SaklanHandsOnLearning

Diving Deep

The Hoot Owls have been diving deep into the ocean and exploring the many living things that call the ocean home! First, the class shared what they already knew about the ocean, and then mapped out a topic web. Next, the Hoot Owls started a new wonder wall for all their ocean questions, wonders, and what they hope to learn more about.

Then they started reading books about the ocean and sea animals. First up was “Ocean! Waves for All” by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield. It gave the class a great overview of the world underwater. The students learned that there are many different creatures that live deep in the ocean and some can glow in the dark! The Owls learned that people need to help protect the water and animals that live in it. They also learned about the different zones in the ocean: Sunlight, Twilight, Midnight, Abyss and the Trenches. To further illustrate their learning, the Hoot Owls recreated the ocean zones on their classroom door. The students have also enjoyed tracing and decorating different ocean animals, and then determining which zone of the ocean they live in.

Kind Owls

The Hoot Owls and Owlets have been learning about kindness. The Hoot Owls read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud and David Messing. The book taught the owls that we all carry invisible buckets; when people are kind to us or when we are kind to other people, we fill their buckets as well as our own. However, when they are not kind, it dips into their bucket. The Hoot Owls all agreed to focus on being bucket fillers. They started their own kindness jar in their classroom to serve as their classroom bucket. When teachers or a friend sees a kind act, they write a slip and fill the jar. 

The Hoot Owls and Owlets read A Little Spot of Kindness and A Little Respectful Spot to learn more about kindness. The students discovered that kindness spots are part of happiness spots. Happiness occurs when one is confident, kind, respectful and loving. Being respectful is a big part of kindness. The classes talked about different ways they can be kind and then drew pictures to represent them.

The Hoot Owls and Owlets created kindness trees in their classrooms. You may have noticed the Hoot Owl tree blooming on their door, while the Owlet tree grows on their white board. The Hoot Owls painted hearts, then wrote down ways they can be kind or kind acts they have seen amongst classmates on the hearts. The Owlets are noted acts of kindness on hearts and added them to their tree.

Having physical representations around the classrooms serve as reminders to be kind. They also get the students excited to see their jar becoming full and our trees continuously growing.

#SaklanSEL #SaklanCompassion

Hoot Owl Cooks

The Hoot Owls have continued their Meals unit. After learning to eat a rainbow of foods, the owls took a closer look at where food comes from, learning that food doesn’t just magically appear right in front of us.

Lisa, a Hoot Owl parent, came to talk to the owls about working in a restaurant. They discussed who works in a restaurant including chefs, cooks, waiters, hosts, bussers and more. They also discussed the differences between regular menus and kid menus, and looked at a variety of kitchen tools. After, Lisa taught the Hoot Owls how to make soft pretzels. They started by rolling the dough into “snakes” and shaping them, and then boiled them for 30 seconds in water that contained baking soda and sugar. Then the pretzels were brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with salt or cinnamon and sugar. Finally they went into the oven. The Hoot Owls enjoyed making the pretzels, but really loved eating them!

The cooking continued with a cheese making lesson from Phillipa.  Cheese is a food the Hoot Owls eat almost everyday, and they were delighted that is was easily made with just three ingredients! First, they heated up milk in a pan, added vinegar when it came to a boil, and then we sprinkled some salt in. Next, the curds were squeezed in a cheesecloth and drained overnight. The students were excited to try their creation with some crackers, and it was very tasty! 

The Hoot Owls now understand that the food we eat often takes hard work and lots of effort from many people who are part of the process of making it. It can be simple like the cheese or can involve multiple steps like making the pretzels. They are learning to appreciate all of the effort that goes into making our food. 

#SaklanProjectWork

Fun and Learning

An important way that Saklan students practice key math skills is by playing math games. These games are an engaging way to reinforce concepts, build number sense and practice using math vocabulary.

Most math games are played with partners or small groups, and so they also help students practice interpersonal skills like communicating and problem solving.

Games provide an environment in which students can create and try strategies, and can also learn strategies from others.

Students often identify math games as some of their favorite activities completed in the school day and look forward to them as an opportunity to interact with classmates, learning buddies and friends. The games and activities capture their enthusiasm and create environments that make concepts and skills tangible and learning memorable, meaningful and fun!

Rainbow Foods

The Hoot Owls recently welcomed guest expert Thea Shukaliak-Neufeld to their classroom as part of their Meals project. Thea is an occupational therapist who works with children who find regular things more challenging. One thing she does is to help children who have trouble eating food. During her visit, she taught the Hoot Owls to be food scientists! She shared that everyone should always try a mouse bite of any food to figure out if the food is sweet, sour, salty or bitter. She also shared that sometimes it takes one bite to like something, sometimes ten, sometimes over 100, so keep trying!

The Hoot Owls had many questions for Thea about food and meals. To answer a question about junk food, she shared that no food is bad; some foods are only made out of one ingredient and we need a variety of food to keep our bodies healthy. She taught the Hoot Owls about rainbow foods, and that it’s important for everyone to eat lots of different colored foods, as they have different vitamins and minerals to help our bodies grow strong and healthy.

The Hoot owls then worked together to make a food rainbow First they painted the rainbow, and then added foods that come in each of the colors. Check out their rainbow below!

A big thank you to Thea Shukaliak-Neufeld for sharing her knowledge about food and teaching the Hoot Owls to be food scientists!

#SaklanProjectWork #SaklanGuestExperts

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