Saklan is excited to host Grandfriends’ Day on Friday, November 17th from 8:45 to 10:30 a.m. We have an exciting morning lined up for grandfriends, including student presentations, time in classrooms, a photo booth and other fun activities for students and grandfriends to work on together!
Please remind your grandparents and special friends (a friend or family member that your child looks up to and/or has a grandparent-like relationship with) about this event so they join us!
#SaklanCommunity
Next Friday, November 17th, Saklan will host a 1-day Book Fair. This will be a great opportunity to purchase books to be used as holiday gifts or to donate to a Saklan classroom. The Book Fair will be open before school, during Grandfriends’ Day and before and after Fall Follies.
We are looking for volunteers to help set up, run and clean up the book fair, and would love your help! Click on the button below to see the volunteer options.
We look forward to sharing a wonderful selection of books with you!
A couple of weeks ago, Adam Grant wrote an opinion piece, “What Most American Schools Do Wrong,” in the New York Times. The article speaks to our typical approach to education that does not leverage two critical tools teachers have in helping students excel. His discovery of the tools comes after examining why countries like Finland and Estonia consistently outperform other bigger and richer countries.
The tools: knowledge of students and relationships. Not testing, not longer school days, not increased homework.
Grant speaks of the power of “looping” – the practice of teachers moving up a grade level with students. The effect is teachers have a profound grasp of a student’s strengths and challenges and a nuanced understanding of each student. They can then take that understanding and build a meaningful relationship with the student while uncovering the hidden potential of each child.
What Grant is hitting on, though, is how big of an impact seeing each student as an individual can have on their educational journey. At Saklan, our small class sizes and focus on relationships allow us to take “uncut gems” and see “beyond the surface and recognize the brilliance beneath.”
There is no secret to helping students love learning and excelling academically. It starts with focusing on the person before you and building the relationship; from there, challenging them academically and helping them reach their full potential comes naturally. In other words, one can’t Bloom until you Maslow.
#SaklanConnected #SaklanHeadsCorner
In geometry last week, Mr. Zippin gave the students an opportunity to test the Legend of the Hypnotized Subject. The old legend says that if you place a mirror on the floor 200 cm away from your subject and stare into the reflection of their eyes just the right way, your subject will squawk like a chicken. However, you have to stand exactly in the right place or the trick won’t work.
In order to test this legend, the students had to work together and apply their knowledge of similar triangles.
First, the students decided to draw a diagram of the situation.
They noticed that it looked like they were working with two triangles. Using their understanding of angle-angle similarity, the students determined that the triangles were similar. Therefore, they knew they could make and solve proportions to find the hypnotist’s unknown distance to the mirror. They reasoned that they needed to find out how high their eyes were off the ground. After measuring for this, they quickly solved the equations they made and were ready to test the Legend.
“Squawk!”
On Tuesday morning, the Saklan students were very excited to don their Halloween costumes and participate in our annual Costume Parade! The parade route took the students out the admissions door, through the front parking lot, and back to the Sports Court.
The students and teachers waved to the onlookers, as families cheered and took pictures along the route.
Once on the Sports Court, Grace led the community in some Halloween songs and Saul called each class up to show off their creative costumes and dance moves!
Thank you to all the families that joined us and cheered the students on. The students enjoyed waving to you and showing off their costumes!
#SaklanCreative #SaklanCommunity
November 17th will be an exciting day at Saklan! The day will include Grandfriends’ Day, a Pop-up Book Fair, and Fall Follies.
Saklan Grandfriends are invited to join us on Friday, November 17th from 8:45 to 10:30 a.m. for a morning of fun!
Please remind your grandparents and special friends (a friend or family member that your child looks up to and/or has a grandparent-like relationship with) about this event so they join us!
On November 17th Saklan will host a 1-day Book Fair. This will be a great opportunity to purchase books to be used as holiday gifts or to donate to a Saklan classroom.
All Saklan families are invited to join us for Fall Follies, our annual talent show, on Friday, November 17th at 1:30 p.m.
November 17th is sure to be a fun-filled day here at Saklan!
Saklan’s social-emotional learning emphasis for November and December is humility. During these two months, all Saklan students are discussing what it means to be humble and looking for ways to show humility. On Thursday, November 16th, the first – eighth graders will meet with their family groups and take part in cross-grade level discussions and activities to gain an even greater understanding of humility.
#SaklanSEL
The Owlets continue to be actively engaged in discovering the wonderful world of community helpers! Talking about community helpers gives the students a better understanding of what it means to be a community and the importance of working together. Recently, the Owlets read the book Real Superheroes by Julia Seal, which taught them that doctors, teachers, grocery store workers, delivery drivers, and firefighters are all community helpers. The preschoolers were very excited to meet firefighters from the Moraga station when they came to campus!
Before the visit, the Owlets brainstormed about what they already knew, and what they wanted to know about the job of the fire fighters. They had a lot of great questions: “What tools do they use?” and “Why do the firefighters sleep at the fire station?”
During the firefighter’s visit, the Owlets learned that firefighters wear special gear to help keep them stay safe from fires and other dangers. The Fire Marshall told them that all the special gear the fire fighters wear can weigh up to 50 pounds! The preschoolers also learned that in a fire smoke rises, so it’s important to stay low to the ground, and that if they ever see a fire they should tell an adult right away!
While the firefighters were in the classroom, the Owlets asked them the questions they had come up with before the visit. They found out that the firefighters do sleep at the fire station! Their question about the tools the firefighters use was the perfect opportunity to walk outside and see the big, red fire engine! The firefighters showed them the hoses and tools they use (ax, chainsaw and more), and where they are all stored on the truck.
Most of the kiddos chose to hop into the driver’s seat to see all the buttons and controls in the cab of the truck!
The Owlets couldn’t let our local community helpers leave empty handed, so they presented the fire fighters with drawings they made for them. The fire fighters also had some gifts for the Owlets: firefighter helmets and really cool badges!
#SaklanGuestExperts
The eighth graders have been learning about the periodic table. From researching what all the symbols mean, to understanding what the atomic number and atomic mass tell us about each element, they have become very knowledgeable about the periodic table!
Each student picked one element they wanted to learn more about. After completing research on their element, they designed a shirt to showcase the special properties and uses of their element. Check out the atomic wear the eighth graders created and modeled below!
#SaklanCreative
The Hoot Owls have continued their Meals unit. After learning to eat a rainbow of foods, the owls took a closer look at where food comes from, learning that food doesn’t just magically appear right in front of us.
Lisa, a Hoot Owl parent, came to talk to the owls about working in a restaurant. They discussed who works in a restaurant including chefs, cooks, waiters, hosts, bussers and more. They also discussed the differences between regular menus and kid menus, and looked at a variety of kitchen tools. After, Lisa taught the Hoot Owls how to make soft pretzels. They started by rolling the dough into “snakes” and shaping them, and then boiled them for 30 seconds in water that contained baking soda and sugar. Then the pretzels were brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with salt or cinnamon and sugar. Finally they went into the oven. The Hoot Owls enjoyed making the pretzels, but really loved eating them!
The cooking continued with a cheese making lesson from Phillipa. Cheese is a food the Hoot Owls eat almost everyday, and they were delighted that is was easily made with just three ingredients! First, they heated up milk in a pan, added vinegar when it came to a boil, and then we sprinkled some salt in. Next, the curds were squeezed in a cheesecloth and drained overnight. The students were excited to try their creation with some crackers, and it was very tasty!
The Hoot Owls now understand that the food we eat often takes hard work and lots of effort from many people who are part of the process of making it. It can be simple like the cheese or can involve multiple steps like making the pretzels. They are learning to appreciate all of the effort that goes into making our food.
#SaklanProjectWork
FRIDAY BLOG 
You must be logged in to post a comment.