Sixth Grade Humanities’ “Mummy” Dissection

The sixth grade just finished an in-depth unit on ancient Egypt and its rich culture. One of the most fascinating parts of this culture was the fact that Egyptians would mummify their royalty. Preparing for the Afterlife was more important than actually living their life in the here and now. Part of the requirement for the Egypt unit was that each sixth grader completed a research project on a Egyptian pharaoh, city, and god/goddess. Isabel Darby, being so passionate about studying Egyptian history, decided to make up “mummy” kits and led the class through a mock mummification. As you can see from the photos, the class had a wonderful, hands-on experience.

Hoot Owl and Fourth Grade Buddies

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It was buddy time this week as the Hoot Owls and 4th grade worked on a project to honor our departed vets as well as our flag. Look for the red, white and blue on the board in the foyer.

Author Visit

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Today, students in grades PreK – 2 had the opportunity to meet author Frans Vischer. Mr. Vischer read from two of his most recent picture books, Fuddles and Fuddles & Puddles. The books were very entertaining, and the visit was both educational and inspirational for the students.

Social Media and Saklan Students

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On April 20, Cherilyn Nehira facilitated an informative and enlightening social media workshop with our students. She conducted two separate assemblies: 4th-6th grade and 7th-8th grade. Each session focused on age-appropriate uses of social media, why it is important to be mindful about your online identity, and ways to protect yourself from online predators. We also discussed the level of anxiety associated with using social media and ways to handle it. Finally, we discussed the importance to maintaining healthy online and offline friendships.

2017 Volleyball Season

Updated Schedule

Thursday, May 4, 4:15PM East Bay Waldorf vs. Saklan

*Tuesday, May 9, 4::00PM Saklan vs. The Berkeley School

Wednesday, May 17, 4:15PM Saklan vs. East Bay Waldorf

Thursday, May 18, 4:00PM Ecole Bilingue School vs. Saklan

*Tuesday, May 23, 4:00PM Saklan vs. Ecole Bilingue School

Thursday, May 25, 4:00PM Contra Costa Jewish Day School vs. Saklan

Tuesday, May 30, 4:00PM The Berkeley School vs. Saklan

*Away Games

Head’s Corner

Dear Saklan Community,

Did you know that this Sunday is the official World Book Day? The date of April 23 is  symbolic for world literature and it is on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO’s General Conference held in Paris in 1995 to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. With this in mind, UNESCO created the World Book and Copyright Day. For more information on this go to: http://www.un.org/en/events/bookday/

At Saklan we naturally celebrate books and reading every day, and many of our students actually become authors during the school year. We also love having professional authors visit our campus and every year we introduce our students to a number of celebrated writers from our area and beyond. This coming Friday, our PreK through 2nd graders will meet author Frans Vischer who worked for the Walt Disney Company on such films as The Princess and The Frog and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  He is the author and illustrator of Fuddles and Fuddles and Puddles.

I am also happy to report that we have four authors lined up for our three-day Book Fair which runs from May 17-19. The authors are Mitali Perkins (Rickshaw Girl and Tiger Boy), Lily Williams (If Sharks Disappeared), Lisa Bakos (Wrong Side of the Bed and Too Many Moose) and Penny Warner who writes the popular middle grade mystery series, The Code Busters Club.  Every year, our Book Fair gets better and better and this year looks to be stellar!

Have a great weekend with a good book!

Peter

Happy Earth Day!

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Today, we celebrated Earth Day and the Family Groups took part in three different activities. First, the students learned about environmental issues, sustainability, and discussed the consequences of their choices and behaviors. They built planters made out of recycled plastic bottles and hung them by the middle school lunch area. Please check out their beautiful work when you are on campus!

Next, they looked at marine species from the San Francisco Bay that were brought on campus by the Marine Science Institute. The instructors introduced the students to the diverse aquatic life, helped them understand science, and foster a responsibility to protect the environment.

Finally, the students did an activity on this month’s Family Group theme that was Wonder. The students looked at beautiful photographs of nature and silently reflected on each of them. Later, they discussed how awe and wonder made them feel. It was a fun day of learning how we can help save our planet. Every day is Earth Day!

Marin Headlands – 5th Grade

Last week, the fifth grade class spent three days and two nights in the Marin Headlands.  This science-filled experience was both educational and fun! The weather was a bit cold and windy at times, but overall we had beautiful clear, skies!

We hiked, hiked and hiked, as well as visited the Marine Mammal Center, spent time at the touch tank with many tide pool creatures, and observed living plankton under a microscope. One of our hikes took us to ice plant hill where we not only tasted ice plant, but also rolled down ice plant hill. In addition, we hiked to Point Bonita Lighthouse and along the way observed a herd of harbor seals sunning on rocks and frolicking in the bay. We also took a night hike, enjoyed singing songs around the campfire, played games with other schools, and ate cookies on the beach.
The food was delicious, our dorms were comfy and warm, and our guide, Bryan, was terrific. It was a fabulous trip!