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

Saklan Appoints New ECE Director

Saklan is proud to announce that Hoot Owl Teacher, Traci McMillan, has been appointed as our Early Childhood Director. She fills some pretty big shoes as Mrs. C has stepped aside after 11 years of exceptional leadership.

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Traci became interested in teaching while working with three Bay Area art based non-profits. MOCHA (Museum of Children’s Art), San Francisco Children’s Art Center and Precita Eyes Muralists. She enjoyed how free and uninhibited children became when creating art and was inspired by their creativity, fearlessness, and originality. It was working with those nonprofits that she began to view art as a means for children to learn self-expression and build community.

Traci is not only inspired by children, but by two educational giants, Aristotle and Maria Montessori. Aristotle’s famous quote, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” This is Traci’s guiding principle of the importance of balancing the social-emotional with the academic. From Montessori, Traci takes to heart the fact that when students have a hand in directing their own learning they become independent and collaborative.

Saklan is lucky to have found in Traci an educational leader that is both talented and inspiring. We look forward to many years of her guidance and inspiration.

#SaklanEarlyChildhood

White Light, Black Rain

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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

Middle School Ceramics

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Each color block of middle school students has been working with clay for the month of February. Learning to hand build with coils, slabs, and pinch pots is an essential part of understanding 3D artworks.

Green block has been working with the figure.  ArEach work of art has a story to tell.tists could take inspiration from Ancient Greek, African, and contemporary figurative sculpture. Next, Orange block has been working on  creative teapots. They are developing functional design while creating a one of a kind teapot. Artists made their own teacup set as well for when they test their designs. Finally, Blue Block has been working on animal sculptures. They chose an animal they love and/or want to learn more about to report on.

Figuring out how to make your artwork stand, function, keeping it hollow, and making your idea from start to finish, is a process of perseverance, problem-solving, and creativity. We are finishing up projects by glazing their artwork and firing for a second time in our kiln.

#SaklanCreative

Pond Life

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The Hoot Owls spent the month of February learning about pond life. They learned about the life cycles of different pond creatures. They also talked about how plants and animals work together to create healthy environments. The Hoot Owls were able to study plants, bugs and pollen up close when they visited Ms. O in the Science Lab! The students looked at these specimen under real microscopes! The Hoot Owls were also excited to see Ms. O’s fish tanks and lego wall!

#SaklanScience

Math Matters

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First graders have been working on telling time and learning how to estimate. Learning time and money is a very difficult concept in first grade. It is an introduction and then repeated again  in second grade. Here are some suggestions for home:

  1. Practice recognition of coins. What’s a dime, penny, etc.
  2. What’s the value of the coin.
  3. Practice adding a few coins.

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In addition, the first graders learned the following lessons: place value, review of numbers 0-100, estimation, expanded form, one more and one less, numbers before and after, counting by 2’s and 5’s, and lastly learning odd and even numbers.

#SaklanAcademic

Day 100

February, as always, has gone quickly in Kindergarten. The long-awaited day, Day 100, finally arrived. It was spent working on many activities involving the number 100. The children matched numbers to the 100 chart, built a wall with 100 cups, made pictures of themselves of what they may look like at 100 years old, and counted out, by 10s, 100 food items to eat.

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During calendar time, the children completed their 10 frame paper and finished “Zero the Hero” coloring.  These are activities the class has worked on every 10th day of school since August. Finally, the 10, ten sticks became a 100 flat with no 10 sticks and no ones, giving more meaning to place value=1 hundred flat, 0 ten sticks and 0 ones.

#SaklanHandsOn

6th Grade Ecology Unit

2020 comic

The sixth grade, as part of their Ecology Unit, have been looking at species interactions. They learned about:

  • Mutualism, where both species benefit
  • Commensalism, where one benefits and the other gets nothing
  • Neutralism, where neither species affects one another
  • Ammensalism, where one is harmed and the other gets nothing
  • Parasitism, where one species is harmed and the other benefits
  • Competition, where both species lose out

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In order to fully understand, they had to portray these different relationships with a few partners by choosing a real example of that relationship found in nature. They then took pictures of the portrayal and then made a comic strip with them. They used their laptops to create these impressive comics! Come check out more of them in the science lab!

#SaklanHandsOn

News From The Sports Court

The Saklan Suns came together and played amazing basketball this week!

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After a rough start due to illness, the 2020 basketball season started on Tuesday. Six players: Alex (8th), Jack (7th), Charlie (7th), Carlito (6th), Mac (6th), and Thomas (6th) played two grueling games this week. Tuesday’s game was against The Berkeley School, and Thursday’s was against the Contra Costa Jewish Day School. Both opponents were larger in size and numbers. The Suns exhibited great courage and determination during this sport field experience, playing each game with only five players.

Two games remain and the Suns need players! All students in middle school are invited to join. They play Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley on Wednesday, March 4th, and The Pacific Boys Choir on Thursday, March 12th. The last game is here at Saklan so come out and cheer on the Suns.

Let’s go Saklan!

#SaklanWellRounded