Category: Middle School

Thank You, NOAA TAS!

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Special thank you to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Teacher at Sea Program which sent Miss O. some lab supplies for her students to be able to take part in labs while doing distance learning. The 6th grade students will be able to do a climate change lab and alternative energy lab from their kindness and support of their alumni teachers. Thank you, NOAA Teacher at Sea, our students (and Miss O) thank you! Students will pick up these lab supplies at the next “swap and drop!”

#SaklanAcademics

Earth Day-April 22nd

April 22, 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day. The first Earth Day in 1970 mobilized millions of Americans for the protection of the planet. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans – 10% of the U.S. population at the time – took to the street, college campuses, and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement.

Earth Day is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event and it led to passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States, including the Clean Air, Clear Water and Endangered Species Acts.

Normally, we make a whole day Earth Day at Saklan, but this year we thought we’d make it a week. Here are some ideas for your students to help celebrate this coming week:

Earth Week Activities You Can Do At Home

Save it Sunday – have your child make a sign to hang in the home or other shared space to remind people to save resources (turn off the lights, save water at the faucet)

Make it Monday – encourage your child’s engineering/artistic side, allow your student to create something that had been made from recycled materials (for example, turn a jar into a vase, create sunbutter and pine cone bird feeder, or artistically make a milk jug into an animal)

Earth day

Teach it Tuesday – have you or your students learn and then teach a friend or family member something about sustainability (for example, an idea about saving water or reducing waste)

Walk it Wednesday (Actual Earth Day) – take you and your children on a walk (even if it’s just in your backyard) and enjoy the wonders of our planet. Enjoy the beauty of your community, create a nature treasure hunt or even pick up trash in your community to help celebrate Earth Day.

Be Thankful Thursday – Even in uncertain times, the sun rises each day, our birds chirp, and we are blessed to have this amazing community. Encourage your students (and family members) to share what they are thankful for.

Farm it Friday – Spring has sprung and what better time to plant and plan for the future. Let your students put their hands in the dirt, plant some seeds or small plants, water them, and tend to their flower or vegetable filled future.

Set a new Habit Saturday – Encourage your students to make one environmental gesture a habit; maybe always using a reusable water bottle, never using a plastic straw again, riding their bike short distances instead of needing a ride, etc. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something! 

Here are some great picture books as well to get your students in the mood:

Want to hear from Scientists in the field?

National Geographic Explorer classroom lets you hear & chat with real scientists, sign up here: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/student-experiences/explorer-classroom/sessions/#inthefield

Want a Family Movie Night? These are always a hit:

  • Our Planet
  • Disney’s Ocean
  • Wall-E
  • Planet Earth
  • Blue Planet

#SaklanDistanceLearning

Music With Mr. Isaac

Mr. Isaac has started working with students on Thursday afternoons. Our more flexible online learning schedule has created an opportunity to work with more students one-on-one. He is offering the middle schoolers individual instruction on their instruments. He has already started giving lessons to kids in the Orchestra. You can e-mail Mr. Isaac at inarell@saklan.org if you want to have a lesson and he will try to fit you in.

The Saklan after school music program on Thursdays has continued its normal schedule. 4th graders meet at 3:00 pm, the West African Drumming ensemble at 3:30 pm and individual lessons start after that. If you want to sign up for the after school music program, please email office@saklan.org.

#SaklanDistanceLearning

The Hokey Pokey

This week in PE, the students worked on their dance moves and learned the hokey pokey. Check out this instructional video created by Mr. Crabtree and start moving.

#SaklanDistanceLearning

Flower Dissection

On Tuesday, 7th graders had a virtual Science Lab with Miss O. The students did a flower dissection using a Stargazer Lily. They identified the different parts of the flower, learned their function, and how each part contributes to its reproduction. Check out the video above to learn more.

#SaklanDistanceLearning

Hawaii Final

The 7th graders recently wrapped up their Hawaii field study with an interdisciplinary final involving five brief essays and a poster project covering a range of academic topics in Science, Humanities, and Language Arts. The writing components addressed issues related to the environmental effects of human activity on the islands, adaptations and evolutionary changes of the flora and fauna, and the impact of key historical events, like the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian people and their culture.

Phoebe
Created by Phoebe K.

Students also wrote about the social-emotional challenges they faced on the trip as they tried to come together as a group and build stronger relationships. All of these essays were rigorously revised, using the step-by-step revision process the kids have been practicing in Language Arts. Finally, the 7th graders designed posters to educate the public about significant issues that affect the evolution of species, the environment, the ocean, or the islands themselves.

Reese
Created by Reese K.

#SaklanAcademic

Technology In Today’s Spanish Classroom

Learning Spanish in a vibrant and interactive learning community is meaningful. Mrs. Padilla is always looking for ways to reach more students by integrating technology into the classroom. These resources offer students a wide range of useful, creative, and motivating tools to make language real and teach students the grammar needed to accomplish the communicative objective.

In the blue and yellow block, Spanish students created a video to practice the present tense of -AR verbs. This practice lets students manipulate grammatical structure in small and manageable chunks. It is very true that incorporating tasks like doing a video to develop creativity tends to be more interesting and fun for students. Also, making a video helps to make connections to see and use information in new and different ways.  This technique supports students to learn and recall information more effectively as they take risks and are more positive working cooperatively with others. Take a look at some of their work.

#SaklanWellRounded

White Light, Black Rain

2019 nuclear warhead inventories

After their Hawaiian field experience in February, the 7th graders came back in awe of the beauty of Oahu and learned about the sadness of the trials and tribulations of the Polynesian people and those affected by the Pearl Harbor attack. But, history did not stop after Pearl Harbor. Instead, it launched America into a World War with one of its enemies at the time, Japan.

In Humanities class, they watched an important documentary film called White Light, Black Rain. The film documented the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the United States dropped the first two atomic bombs on these unsuspecting Japanese cities. Fortunately, by August 10, 1945 Japan surrendered, which helped to end World War II. Unfortunately, this launched the world into the nuclear weapons age.

In Humanities class, students will be researching the pros and cons on keeping an arsenal of nuclear weapons. Then, the class will prepare and take part in a live debate to understand the importance of research and preparation of a well-crafted argument, how to present in a dynamic way, how to listen and offer a rebuttal during the debate, and to learn the complexity of the nuclear arms issue in current time.

#SaklanDebate

Professional Cyclocross Is Unequal And What To Do About It

mac-tomkins

Last year, while in 5th grade, Mac Tomkins was asked to work on a “Passion Project” in class. He chose to focus on gender inequality in cyclocross for the project. With input from several professional racers, he set out to identify potential problem areas and proposed options for addressing them.

In the spring of 2019, when I was in fifth grade, my teacher announced that we were doing a project about a passion of ours that has something we want to change. The first thing that came to my mind was cyclocross. I have been racing cyclocross ever since I was on a balance bike and have always loved it. The aspect of cyclocross that I want to change is gender inequality. You can make as many excuses as you want, but men have always been treated differently than women in this sport.

For my project, I focused on how professional cyclocross is unequal and what to do about it. I did research and contacted several people who are involved in cyclocross. Helen Wyman, Ellen Noble, Tim Johnson, Caroline Nolan, and Mary Maroon shared some facts and their ideas with me. I really appreciate their help and support; I couldn’t have done it without them.   

I started my report by explaining to my classmates what cyclocross is. And then I focused on the ways female professional cyclocross racers are not treated equally. Read more

#SaklanFor Equality