Third graders have been learning about Native Americans and got to enhance their classroom studies by visiting the Museum of the American Indian in Novato.
They enjoyed hearing stories about how the Coast Miwok tribe lived harmoniously with the land. The students got to learn how two types of Miwok homes are built (and go inside one of them) and experienced drilling a shell with a pump drill to make a necklace. It was a wonderful experience that really brought their learning to life.
For the Heads Corner this week, I am going to cheat a little and link you to two outstanding pieces regarding the importance of relationships in education. As you are aware, strong meaningful relationships with our students are part of the secret sauce at Saklan.
The first link is a 3-minute video from Edutopia discussing how Oxytocin is released in the brain when we feel connected to others. This release of Oxytocin has many positive effects on learning.
The second link is a recent opinion piece from David Brooks of the New York Times. In it, he shares some of the cognitive science that supports the idea that “A key job of a school is to give students new things to love — an exciting field of study, new friends……. It reminded us that children learn from people they love.”
I hope you have time to take a few minutes and delve into these two pieces, they help explain what makes Saklan successful at growing good people.
Warm regards,
David
In addition to their winter theme, the Hoot Owls began to learn about scientists. They learned that scientists ask questions, do experiments, measure, count, draw, write, learn from their senses, sort, test predictions and have fun! Their first winter experiment was building a snowman out of ice. First, balloons full of water were frozen in the freezer. Many friends were surprised to touch the balloons and find them not only hard but cold, too. The Hoot Owls helped cut the balloons open and pealed them off the ice. Next, they used salt to stack the ice balls together. Many Hoot Owls asked, “Why does the salt make them stick?” One of the first things they learned from this experiment was that four balls of ice were too tall, as the fourth ball of ice tumbled down and shattered on the floor!
After the snowman was completed, they sat down and observed him. They did an observational drawing of what he looked like now. Then they made predictions by doing a drawing of what they thought he would look like later.
The Hoot Owls’ drawings were all different but they all had the idea that later he would melt and he did! The snowman took a tumble right before lunch. By the end of the day there were only small pieces of ice left. By the next morning he was salty water! #SaklanHandsOn
Last week, the Owlet and 6th grade buddies collaborated their creative skills by creating Valentines for our neighbors at Aegis of Moraga. This activity tied into our January Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) theme of inclusion, as we are extending our Saklan Valentine celebration to others in our community. The buddy program at Saklan allows for students from various grade levels to build relationships, practice communication skills, and teaches the older buddies essential leadership skills. It is a well-loved tradition! #SaklanConnected #SaklanCompassionate #SaklanCreative
Exploring the world-class art museums in our nation’s capital is often one of the most challenging, mind-bending activities for many 8th graders during our DC field study. Many kids go into these places with severely limited, preconceived notions about what art is. Of course, one of the project’s goals is to vanquish (or at least diminish) such prejudices. It’s always fun to see how far students stretch their minds throughout the course of their cultural investigations. While in Washington and after we return to school, the kids process what they learned in many different ways. The extraordinary multimedia presentations below on the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn exemplify the value of our experiential learning activities and Saklan’s commitment to providing students with rich opportunities to flex their creativity.
Kyle Yasumura on the National Gallery:
His final takeaway: “I will rethink what I see as art because until now I just thought that anything could be art as long as you thought of it that way, but now I’ve realized that sometimes art is about the craftsmanship and not whether you just call it art.”
Juliet Pecher on the Hirshhorn:
“I now have a broader perspective of what art is and will apply it to my own work.”
Indeed! #SaklanExperiental
Second graders have now finished their Fairy Tale Unit with class presentations and a Friday Flag presentation.
The students showed how they worked on the writing process and what that involves. All their hard work has paid off and their amazing stories have now been published. The students enjoyed reading them to their friends in school. #SaklanCreative
Wednesday was a special day for our elementary campus. All of our PS – 5th grade students got to “move up” to next year’s grade for a portion of the morning. This has been an annual tradition so that the students get a snapshot of what next year could be like. The teachers planned special activities that highlighted their grade and enjoyed getting to know their rising students a little better. If your child “moved up” on Wednesday, please ask them all about it. I’m sure they will have something enthusiastic to share! #SaklanConnected
I asked the 1st and 2nd grade, What is POP Art??? We talked about what is popular in today’s American culture and why. During our discussion, I showed them the work of Sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who sculpts large scale everyday objects. To guide the project in a direction based on healthy eating instead of popular junk food sculptures, the students chose their favorite fruit or vegetable to make. Their inspiration was the Mexican Folk Artists who create paper mache fruits and vegetables that are widely collected as works of art today. They could make their fruit or vegetable to scale or they could exaggerate the size like Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg did.
Having some of the fruits and vegetables to view while sculpting helped the students understand shape and form more clearly. After creating the form using newspaper and tape, the students had fun doing the paper mache. Once hardened, they painted their work with attention to detail. Learning that each fruit and vegetable has unique qualities to paint. We are in the process of making the large fruit bowl and will segway into learning about still life painting . Once we are all done with the making, we will play a fun game to learn the Spanish word for each fruit and vegetable made. The students are loving their fruits and veggies! #SaklanWellRounded
Saklan’s West African Music and Dance program is taking off thanks to last year’s fund-a-need which allowed us to purchase a set of drums from Ghana. The 4th and 5th grades are learning a social dance called “Agahu” which involves a complex call and response choreography between the Lead Drummer and the Dancers. The after school drumming class is a great way for students to get more practice and instruction on the drumming techniques used for Agahu. The ensemble is starting to sound great! They will be ready to play drums for the dancers at the Annual Spring Concert in March. #SaklanHandsOn
Earlier this month, 2010 Saklan graduate Nick Barendregt stopped by to visit some of his former teachers. During his visit he connected with Miss Obenchain, Miss Kim and Mr. P, all teachers who could share great stories of how Nick’s curiosity, creativity and courage set him up for success in life. Nick, who started at Saklan as a preschooler in 1999, graduated from Saklan to go on to The College Preparatory School in Oakland. He then went on to complete his undergraduate work in Applied Mathematics from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Nick has now started his full scholarship doctoral program in Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado.
Nick’s current research at the University of Colorado revolves around creating mathematical models to explain how the brain accumulates and weighs evidence when making decisions. Nick “happened” upon this course of study in a typical Saklan student way. He was driven by curiosity and encouragement from his teachers to further explore questions and wonderings he had about how math might apply to the brain.
Nick’s visit is not only a testament to the power of the Saklan approach to learning, but also highlights that strong relationships and passion are key to creating lifelong learners. We look forward to hearing more from Nick in the not too distant future. #SaklanConnected #SaklanConfident
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