The Hoot Owls created a vibrantly colorful Gratitude Tree with their buddies, the fourth grade.
The students worked together to make beautiful fall leaves. They also wrote what they were grateful for during this Thanksgiving season. The tree is filled with so many wonderful expressions of gratitude. Here are just a few: gratitude for our Armed Forces, America, family, Saklan, friends, pets, and much more. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Last Thursday, docents from the Lindsay Wildlife Museum came to Saklan and did a wonderful presentation for the Kindergarten through third grade on owls.
Last week the second graders invited their parents to come and hear presentations of their mammal reports.
They spoke in front of the audience using note cards to tell information about their mammal.
They then performed a poem called Dogs and Cats and Bears and Bats. Their parents were then invited to try and put their mammal puzzles together which they had created and finally listen to them read their Monster stories. It was a fun morning in second grade.
This morning, our Auction Co-Chairs, Katy DeBasa and Antonia Edwardson, toasted to you, our community!
Parents and friends, old and new, are invited to participate in our 1920’s Hollywood themed Annual Auction by attending the auction, donating or purchasing auction items, volunteering, and/or sponsoring our event.
Save the date and join us on MARCH 4! It’ll be the bee’s knees and more!
The Saklan students 3rd through 7th grades created their own Dia de Los Muertos Altar curated by Maestra Ester and Maestra Morales. The students made their own art work to contribute to the altar which were made of bright colors and various designs. The students were excited to learn about Dia de Los Muertos again this year but mostly excited to participate on a larger scale. If you haven’t checked out the altar, please take a look and enjoy in the main entry way of Saklan.
Dear Saklan Community,
The big event of this week was undoubtedly the Halloween and Harvest Festival on Monday. This is the first time that we have put on this event and it was tremendously successful by all accounts. This event was sponsored by our Student Council and our students played a big role in running many of the activities. A big thank you to Kim Parks, who is our Student Council Advisor, to Hoot Owl parent Sarah Gray, who helped organize and marshal the efforts of our parents, and to all of the faculty, staff and parent volunteers who helped in many ways. Of the many activities that were organized, the haunted house was as big a hit as ever. The costume parade and competition was fun and colorful and our students enjoyed dressing up in unique and creative costumes.
Our Lower School students had fun going to the Aegis and Moraga Royale assisted living homes and singing their Halloween songs. And finally, the middle school deck was turned into a spooky disco which attracted students of all ages and parents as well. Here is what some of our students liked about the Harvest Festival:
Milo (Grade 3) – I liked the haunted house because it was scary and I got candy.
Natalie (Hoot Owl) – I liked the Frankenstein Bat in the Cave game.
Brooke (Grade 4) – I liked the dance party because the music was loud.
Sophia (Grade 5) – I liked the Harvest Festival because it wasn’t too chaotic.
Skyler (Hoot Owl) – I liked making the cookies.
Ysa (Grade 6) – I liked the freedom to go where you wanted, and the games were fun and creative.
Ruby (Grade 2) – I liked the mummy race because they wrapped me up in streamers.
Abby (Grade 6) – I liked the costume contest.
Chloe (Grade 3) – I liked the scary bowling because I like bowling.
Meera (Grade 5) – I liked everything because it was awesome.
In two weeks we will have our Fall Follies. It will be held at the Willow Springs auditorium and will start at 10:00. In the occasion of the Fall Follies, we will also launch our new website. I look forward to a big crowd on November 18 to experience this fun showcase of Saklan talent.
Have a great weekend!
Peter
The 8th Grade Spanish Students created their very own theme oriented altar. Coupling our Humanities curriculum with our Dia de Los Muertos curriculum, the students honored those who were killed by police brutality in recent years.
They are currently working on informes/reports on the person they have chosen to honor and created Spanish artwork with messages, such as: “Las Vidas Negras Importan,” ” Basta,” and “No Puedo Respirar.”
Students will share their reports in the middle of November and 8th Grade parents will be invited to visit.
The fifth grade students just completed their autobiographies which culminated in sharing them with their parents and younger students. The project consisted of 6 chapters:
Chapter 1….”My Early Years to the Age of Five”…The students interviewed their parents by asking them 20 questions. Each child learned a lot of information and some of the responses were quite humorous!
Chapter 2…”Me Today”…The students wrote a composition in class that described their personalities, physical characteristics, qualities, and things they enjoy doing.
Chapter 3…”My Favorite Activity”…In this composition the students described a favorite activity that included a full description of the activity: Where, when, and who they do it with, as well as whey they enjoy it.
Chapter 4…”Activities The I Do With My Family”…In this composition, the students wrote about activities that they do with their family, as well as what they do with each member. This even included their pets.
Chapter 5…”Timeline”…The students created a timeline of 20 significant events in their lives starting from birth to today; then they illustrated the events.
Chapter 6…”Choice Chapter”…..In this chapter the students were able to choose a topic of their choice that was of interest to them.
Each autobiography included a decorated cover, title page, table of contents, and photographs or pictures with captions that followed each chapter. These will be on display in our classroom for several weeks, and the students really enjoy looking at them over and over! Please feel free to stop by and take a look at them!
Last Friday during lunch, Saklan held its first known Hula-Hoop Contest. The contest was inspired by Camp Saklan which held a similar event during the summer. Twenty-three adults and students signed-up for the competition. After twenty minutes of hooping, there were five contestants left. Gracee (5th), Leo (5th), Makenna (4th), Meera (5th), and Will (5th) all participated in a championship round where they had to keep two hoops moving around their waists.
In the end, Will (5th) was the last one still hula-hooping. Congratulations to Will and all other competitors! This fun activity will take place again in the future so start practicing.
Also in the news, there will be a cross-country race for fifth thru eighth graders on November 8th. This race involves other schools and will take place at the Lafayette Reservoir. The course will be 2.8 miles and racers will start running at 4:10 pm. All foot racers please inquire with Mr. Crabtree if interested.
Let’s go Saklan!
The second graders have completed a month long project. First, they read many books from The Monster Series by Ellen Blance. This monster is lovable and kind. The next step was to choose a title for their own “monster” story and map out the characters, setting, plot, and ending. Then they wrote a rough copy, proofread and revised, recopied, illustrated the story, and finally designed a cover.
On Monday they read their stories to the Hoot Owls.
They will continue this tradition by reading their stories to some of the other classes at Saklan.
FRIDAY BLOG 
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