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
The Hoot Owls have been very interested in insects! Wanting to embrace this interest, the teachers designed a unit to teach the students about insects and spiders. The unit started with Ms. Traci asking the class “What do we already know about insects?” Their answers included:
“A butterfly only flies.” – Preston
“Spiders have eight legs.” – Dante
“Millipedes have so many legs. They have sticky yellow liquid. Some are poisonous. Some are venomous.” – Ian
“Ladybugs don’t sting you. There are different types. Millipedes eat ladybugs.” – Allison
“Frogs eat flies.” – Dalton
“Ladybugs can stink you. Centipedes pinch. Some butterflies are poisonous.” – Ben
“Spiders catch insects in webs.” – Ethan
“Mosquitoes will bite you in the night.” -Mira
Next the Hoot Owls observed toy insects and pictures of insects in books. They used these examples, as well as their imaginations, to create some insect artwork with markers and watercolors.
Ms. Maggie took the Hoot Owls on a Bug Scavenger Hunt! The class documented their findings like real scientists. They saw an ant, a fly, a millipede and some mosquitoes, although many of the Hoot Owls claimed to have seen butterflies, ladybugs, bees, and spiders. They decided to try the hunt again in the spring when we might really see some more insects!
The Hoot Owls made salt dough insects and spiders. First they helped make the salt dough by combining 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of flour and 1 cup water.
While making the spiders or insects out of the salt dough, the students had to carefully make two body parts for spiders or three body parts for insects. Then they also had to count out eight legs for spiders and six for insects.
This was a great way for the Hoot Owls to work on their fine motor skills and math skills while having fun!
#SaklanHandsOn
The Owlets, Hoot Owls and Kindergarteners learned about Diwali, which is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs around the world, including some of their classmates! Diwali is the festival of lights and lasts for 5 days in October or November. The students read the books Diwali by Hannah Eliot and Shubh Diwali! by Citra Soundar to get a better understanding of the festival.
The Owlets and Hoot Owls learned about an art form called Rangoli, a geometric design on the floor (or other flat surface) made using colored rice, sand, dry flour, or flower petals. The owls watched a video of someone creating a Rangoli, and then made their own. The Owlets used colored sand, while the Hoot Owls used colored salt, for their Rangoli.
The Kindergarteners learned about diyas, which are oil lamps that are lit during Diwali to bring light and dispel darkness. The Kindergarteners made their own paper diyas and decorated them with jewels and stickers.
#SaklanDiversity
During September and the first week of October, the Hoot Owls, Owlets, first graders, second graders, third graders and fourth graders took their first field experience of the year to Moraga Gardens Farm! Ms. Meredith led each of the classes on the two-block walk to the farm, and then on a tour of the community garden. The garden was filled with eggplants, cucumbers, kale, apples, pears, tomatoes, and much more.
During the tours, students learned that fruits and vegetables grow from flowers after being pollinated. They saw the difference between seasonal trees, such as a peach tree (summer) and persimmon tree (fall). The children saw how vines grow by attaching their tendrils to other structures and plants, and how plants defend themselves from predators. They went inside the greenhouse, heard the bees buzzing in their hives, and got to sample some of the garden’s produce. Lastly, the students were invited to feed and pet the chickens.
The students all had a great time in the garden. Thank you, Ms. Meredith, for leading these interactive, engaging field experiences!
#SaklanFieldExperience
The Hoot Owls have been learning about fall and experiencing many seasonal changes, especially the changes in the trees! They have been reading books about leaves and trees including, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The students learned about the different parts of a tree and discussed the many things trees provide for humans. Then, the Hoot Owls made their own “giving trees” using real branches.
After the students completed their trees, Ms. Traci asked the Hoot Owls, “What does your giving tree give to you?” The answers included: leaves, apples, lemons, a place to sit, houses, boats, a bridge, benches, and a bunk bed!
#SaklanCreative
Last week, the Hoot Owls read the book The Colors of Us, by Karen Katz. In the story, a little girl notices all the beautiful and different skin colors of the people in her community. Her mom is an artist and teaches her how to mix black, white, red and yellow paint to make the skin colors of the people that she sees. She then paints portraits of the members of her community, declaring them “the colors of us!”
After reading the story, the Hoot Owls mixed paints to create their own self-portraits. The students tried to get as close as they could to their own skin color; each Pre-K student decided when the color was correct, or close enough. Next the Hoot Owls looked into mirrors and added their eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth and hair to their portraits.
#SaklanDiversity
We are excited to offer music enrichment classes this fall! The classes, listed below, will begin on Thursday, September 30th and run through December 16th.
To sign your child up for one of the above classes, please click on the class name.
#SaklanWellRounded
The Hoot Owls recently read the book, The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. The story is about a little raccoon’s transition to school. His mother teaches him the secret of the kissing hand. She gives him a kiss on his paw and tells him to press the kiss to his cheek whenever he misses her. The Hoot Owls made their own kissing hands to give to their families so they aren’t missed so much while they are away at school.
#SaklanCompassionate
The first few weeks of school are all about developing new routines and building relationships with teachers and classmates. During this time, each class works together to create a class agreement (also know as class rules). As part of the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching, the agreements are created collaboratively between students and teachers, focusing on what all members of the classroom community can do to help create a calm, orderly and safe environment for learning.
The agreements are phrased in the positive, offering clear expectations of behavior and how students can live up to those expectations. By including students in the process of creating the agreements, the students are engaged in their learning, feel a sense of belonging and safe in school, and view the rules in a positive light.
View some of this year’s class agreements below.
#SaklanCommunity #ResponsiveClassroom
Early Childhood Music Teacher: Annie McCune
#SaklanCreative
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