middle school
The main goal of our Middle School is to prepare students for the academic and personal challenges of high school.
Our objective is to help students meet the highest academic standards with their confidence, self-discipline and self-esteem firmly in place.
See the Middle School Students in action ->
Introduction and Philosophy
Informed by a realization that Middle School is a unique time of change, we emphasize social/emotional growth through personal relationships, academic excellence through critical thinking, and commitment to community through leadership and extra-curriculum opportunities.
Overview
Our graduates tell us how well prepared they feel for high school; one area where they report being especially strong as compared to their peers is in their writing. At Saklan, through intensive efforts, students learn and master the skills of writing which success in high school requires.Our teachers in the middle school carefully vary their teaching techniques among such things as leading seminar style discussions; assigning and supervising cooperative learning, internet based projects, or independent study projects for their students; or lecturing, all of which serve to provide students the foundation they need for success in their future studies. Each of our three main middle school classrooms contain 8 on-line computers, available to the students at any moment the teacher may want them to be able to do some form of research or websearch project. We believe this is a much better way to employ computer technology that having a computer lab in another area of the campus.
Study Skills are a very important part of the students learning experiences in middle school. Every year we provide all middle school students a "Student Guide to Excellence" with a series of specially prepared materials geared to provide the critical information they need to have to learn how to learn at this age. The Sixth grade begins its humanities instruction with a three week unit on how to be a successful student, covering such things as notetaking, homework organization, and test preparation, and these skills are reiterated in the next two years as well. Our teachers teach students not always to study more, but to study smarter. Students must use their guide as a tool for recording homework and tracking assignments nightly, and the student's advisor checks the guidebook regularly as well.
The academic program is also designed to inspire enthusiasm for learning inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to the state framed subjects, teachers are encouraged and expected to teach their passions- from Shakespeare to Medieval France to Multiple Intelligences to Ecology- to inspire the students in those subject areas and in their own passions. Nor do we limit our learning to the textbook or the classroom: study of the natural world is stimulated by a trip to Hawaii , study of American history by a trip to Washington DC, and study of literature and art by trips to museums and theatres.
Although we have an academic program that is intensive, in order to prepare students for high school, to learn broadly and deeply, and to inspire enthusiasm and passions for learning, Saklan is proud to not have an extremely accelerated, competitive, or pressurized process as you might find at some other schools. Students are challenged academically, but not pushed beyond their limits; they are not assigned schoolwork a year or two ahead of what is developmentally appropriate in order to drive them ahead in some grueling race toward academic achievement narrowly defined. Our teachers are sensitive to and prepared for helping students achieve the skills and knowledge that is suited to them at this age and grade level. Teachers communicate frequently with each other, with the students, and with the parents to ensure that homework loads and tests are being coordinated as best they can, and where merited, students with individual needs can have those needs accommodated .
Mathematics
Our math curriculum connects mental math and logical reasoning skills to mathematical concepts and applications. Curriculum standards are set for each grade level to align and surpass state and national standards. The curriculum developmentally spirals. Integral parts of the program include manipulative, cooperative learning, problem-solving and real-life applications.
Sixth Grade: This is the final year of Saklan’s K-6 Sadlier-Oxford Progress in Mathematics program. Students review prior concepts then expand them into operations with fractions, proportions, percents, and operations with integers. The course also begins the transition into algebra by taking the mathematical procedures that students are familiar with and using them with algebraic terms and methodologies.
Seventh Grade: Seventh graders begin to focus on algebraic reasoning, setting up equations to solve word problems, an introduction to the two-column proof, and algorithms to solve basic one and two step equations. A specific unit on problem solving from the seventh grade curriculum of the Addison-Wesley Exploring Mathematics program is integrated. The terminology of Algebra is used to help students discriminate between different skills and processes.
Eighth Grade: Eighth grade students complete the UCSMP Algebra I curriculum. Topics addressed range from linear functions, geometric shapes, quadratic functions, polynomials, factoring, and simplifying complex algebraic expressions. A specific curriculum on problem solving from the Addison-Wesley Exploring Mathematics program is integrated throughout the year.
Language Arts
Built around the strong connections between reading and writing through core literature pieces, the purpose of the Language Arts curriculum is to provide students with the language abilities they need to communicate effectively as individuals and as members of society. Both oral and written communications promote a respect for oneself and diversity, as well as strong
critical thinking skills.
Sixth Grade: The sixth grade course emphasizes grammar within the context of reading and writing. Students master the different parts of speech and the role of words in sentences. Sixth graders learn the principles of paragraph construction and how to craft a basic five paragraph essay. Students learn about different writing genres’ by completing creative, expressive, autobiographical, and expository writing activities. Sixth graders also read a series of short stories and newspaper articles which they analyze for style, structure, content, and new vocabulary.
Seventh Grade: More emphasis is placed on critical thinking, theme identification, and writing structure. Through a multiple iterative draft process students work with the teacher to first identify their individual personal writing guidelines and then to apply them in all of their writing. Students are taught to construct outlines and rough drafts of written work, then to use these early drafts as a support for a final polished copy. Seventh graders use the Latin based workbook Classical Roots to expand their vocabulary and work to incorporate these words into their writing.
Eighth Grade: Students continue to write using an iterative draft process working with the teacher to identify a set of individual personal writing guidelines. A greater emphasis is placed on writing from multiple perspectives. Vocabulary acquisition through the Classical Roots series continues. Eighth graders write persuasive and analytical papers based on Orwell’s Animal Farm and Kafka’s Metamorphosis which are assigned and analyzed in the Humanities course. They also write in-depth critical reviews of books of their own choosing.
Science
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Hands-on discovery and experimentation encourage students to develop skills in observation, description, and investigation. Students learn to collect, organize, and interpret data from their environment using the scientific method. In 3rd to 5th grades students follow the Parent Educator Program (PEP) and in 6th to 8th grades they follow the Growth Education Program which focuses on safety, health and development.
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Scientists at work !!
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Sixth Grade: Sixth grade focuses on the principals of geology and environmental systems and uses the text Science (McGraw- Hill). Classes are a mixture of exploratory activities, collaborative activities, long term research, lectures, and in-depth labs. Weekly labs expand upon and reinforce the information covered in class. Students learn to hone their observational skills by recognizing specific traits in organisms and by using these traits as criteria for classification and inference. They expand their lab skills through work with compound microscopes, slides, stains, and dissection.
Seventh Grade: The program is designed to give students a systematic introduction to the processes and categories of life and uses the text Life Science (McGraw-Hill). Students learn to hone their observational skills by recognizing specific traits in organisms and by using these traits as criteria for classification and inference. They expand their lab skills through work with compound microscopes, slides, stains, and dissection. Students improve their understanding of the scientific process through independently designed experiments that isolate experimental and control conditions.
Eighth Grade: This course helps focuses on introducing students to the principals of chemistry and physics. During the first half of the year students master the fundamental principals of matter including, atoms, molecules, the periodic table, and molecular interactions including displacement, acid-base, and combustion. The second half of the year focuses on the principals of basic physics including motion, force, momentum, acceleration. The second half is designed, when possible, to complement mathematical progress which the students are making in Algebra I.

Foreign Languages
Our philosophy is that if children can experience the sounds, gestures, and feeling of a foreign language, they will develop not only an ear for French and Mandarin, but also for learning other foreign languages and for language acquisition in general. The foreign language instruction starts in preschool and students meet with foreign language specialists three or four times a week according to the grade.
Sixth Grade: Classes are designed to give the students an opportunity to use the language in an experiential context. New material is presented inductively, and students are then given the chance to use the newly-learned concepts through teacher-student interactions as well as cooperative practice, in pairs and small groups. Students new to Saklan begin with introductory French which introduces students to the basic grammar, vocabulary and cultural traits of the French-speaking world. Continuing students address more complex grammatical concepts while strengthening their vocabulary.
Seventh Grade: French classes are designed to give the students an opportunity to use the language in an experiential context. Through multi-modal approaches, students learn to communicate in various contexts such as: greetings and meeting people, time and weather, family, friends, and relationships. As part of Saklan’s commitment to experiential learning, all Seventh Grade students participate in a faculty lead week long trip to Quebec City, where they get to speak French and learn about French Canadian culture.
Eighth Grade: Students reach satisfactory level of proficiency in understanding and using the basic structures and vocabulary. They also learn to appreciate the contemporary culture and civilization of France and the Francophone world. Units include: money and shopping, school and education, Possessions and their descriptions. Most students are prepared with the background necessary to be successful in advanced High School French courses.

Social Studies
The social studies program follows a specific continuum. In the elementary grades, an integrated approach is used to connect with all the academic areas that are being taught. In the middle school, history and geography are taught with a reliance upon source documents, artifacts, personal involvement and the use of technology. The program also seeks to develop a respect and understanding for individual differences and commonalities.
Sixth Grade: Social Studies is a combined exploration of the History, Geography, and Literature of specific time periods. Students learn the overarching trends from the dawn of human history through the fall of the Roman Empire. Regional emphasis include the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. Students hone their critical thinking skills as they gather and analyze evidence while searching for alternative perspectives. This course also explores how the above mentioned timeless themes relate to contemporary issues.
Seventh Grade: The course is designed to help students understand the overarching trends in world history that occurred between 300 C.E. and 1700 C.E. They explore the role of government, spiritual life, and cultural identity to analyze the progress of different civilizations. Regional emphasis include the Middle East, the Sub-Saharan Africa, medieval societies of Japan and Europe, the Americas, and the Renaissance. Significant attention will be placed on the development of Islam, the growth of Christianity, and the interaction between the two.
Eighth Grade: The course interprets American history through the lens of “Democracy in action.” Students work to read carefully, speak cogently, and write persuasively on a range of cultural constructs, including the “American Dream,” citizenship, and independence. The course is closely related to the Language Arts curriculum where the students work to craft personal yet well supported opinions on topics connected with democracy. Included in the course is a week-long faculty led trip to Washington D.C. where the students apply and enrich their knowledge of U.S. culture.

Field Trips
Saklan believes that children learn in more depth and breadth when the real world and the classroom are connected, when they see and experience the things they are studying. Field trips expose children to people from varying backgrounds who are passionate about what they do. This, in turn, helps them understand that learning is not limited to the classroom or a certain time of life - it can happen anywhere, anytime.
Sixth Grade:
Yosemite Yosemite Institute (Week-Long Trip)
Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California Humanities
De Young Museum Ancient Culture Study
Bay Area Model in Marin County Geography & the Watershed
Multiple Trips to Local Creek Water Quality Testing
Cal Performances at Zellerbach Auditorium Youth Performance Series
RISE Elementary School Reading Buddy Program
Seventh Grade:
Quebec City, Canada (Week-Long Trip) French Canadian Language and Culture
Tilden & Redwood Regional Park Plants & Biology
Cal Performances at Zellerbach Auditorium Youth Performance Series
RISE Elementary School Reading Buddy Program
Eighth Grade:
Washington DC American Studies (Week-Long Trip)
Port of Oakland Trade & Commerce Study
Cal Performances at Zellerbach Auditorium Youth Performance Series
RISE Elementary School Reading Buddy Program
Lawrence Berkeley Lab Particle Accelerator Study

Arts
Saklan realizes that art is fundamental to the learning process because it develops right brained thinking and encourages whole body learning. We seek to expose our students to a variety of materials and techniques while exposing them to art forms from around the world.
Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade:The art curriculum is two part. First, it is an academic approach to learning the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and how to use different media. Second, it is an arena for exploration with the materials and self-expression.
Art Appreciation:
Students study and discuss different master-works. These discussions develop a student’s eye for art, an ability to think critically, and the vocabulary to speak about art. The artwork also represents the lesson of that day and the conversation terminates with a technical explanation followed by directions for the follow-up activity.
Practice:
Students practice techniques and approaches, which improve their drawing, shading, perspective, and use of color.

Computers
We teach students how to use computers creatively and responsibly while we prepare them for the technological challenges of the 21st century. Technology is integrated in the classes starting in third grade with the use of laptops. Digital art is also an integral part of our program.
Sixth Grade: Windows Operating System is fully explained including how to manage folders, how to use shortcuts and how to change the settings of the computer, etc. With Word, Power Point, and Excel, the focus is more on the details: the speed and quality of the finished product, good formatting, knowledge of shortcuts, and originality of the overall presentation. HTML in conjunction with Photoshop are also an integral part of the sixth grade curriculum. They learned more advanced website creation & design techniques. A short digital video is also made and edited by the students to prepare them for the 7th grade movie project. Sixth graders also learn more advanced search engine tips, usage of bookmarks, and are introduced to a variety of quality web sources.
Seventh Grade: The students learn how to make an emovie. The students are asked to use all skills they have developed in the previous grades to create an original production using movie editing software. They have to create an original script, type it using Word, present it using Power Point, use their acting skills to perform and shoot the movie and edit it using Adobe Premiere. It is a yearlong project that involves many of the skills they have learned in computer class. The movie is presented to the middle school at the end of the year and is also burned on the Saklan DVD.

Library
The mission of the school library program is to ensure that all students become life-long learners and effective and responsible users of ideas and information. Information literacy skills are developed at each grade level and promote exploration and autonomy.
At Saklan, Middle School students do not have formal periods dedicated to library, although students use the library almost daily. The library curriculum is integrated in the Language Arts and Humanities programs. In addition to their class assignments, students are expected to read a book a month.
Examples of integrated library skills:
- Use title, author, subject, keywords, index, table of contents, electronic resources, and search engines.
- Understand the use of Boolean operators in key word searching.
- Revise, add, and delete questions, as information needs change.
- Effectively access information found in a variety of sources, including electronic resources.
- Analyze information based on visual and textual cues to solve a problem or question.
- Compare and contrast examples of fact, point of view and opinion in various media and electronic resources.
- Independently evaluate examples of accurate and relevant information using authority, currency, and purpose.
- Connect new ideas and make predictions based on prior knowledge.
- Use organizational strategies to restate information.
- Recognize intended audience and purpose.
- Integrate information and ideas from multiple resources.
- MLA style citation techniques are learned in Humanities and Language Arts classes.

Music
Saklan seeks to develop lifelong musical abilities and connections between music and other facets of life, including other arts, humanities, science, and math. These classes develop skill and understanding in the basic elements of music via experiences in varied performance, such as and singing, movement, and drama and creative group and individual projects, such as building instruments, writing songs, and written reflections.
Students meet twice a week for music training. Saklan’s Middle School music program stresses lifelong musical abilities and the connections between music and other facets of life, including history, and literature. Students will develop the following skills:
Performance: Students perform both individually and in group ensemble, including voice and instrumental performance, as well as theatre. Much work goes into preparing for the Annual Winter Concert in a professional theater.
Composition: Students learn about composition through an exposure to musical notation, including understanding how to notate rhythm, melody, and harmony. Students are also encouraged to add creative ideas about how the music could be developed to be more playable by them.
Instrumentation: Students continue to use Orff mallet instruments and non-pitched percussion instruments. Voices and singing are developed, especially as students become leaders at the all-school sing-along every Friday morning. Students are also encouraged to play whatever instruments they are learning in lessons (ex. piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, etc.). Music is therefore arranged for them.
Music Appreciation: Students will experience and learn to appreciate a wide variety of musical traditions, including everything from Western Classical music to world, modern, and popular music. Music history, elements of music, as well as the science and math of sound are explored through group projects, discussions, and performances.

Physical Education
Physical Education offers fun and appropriate programs that teach physical skills while developing health, fitness and sportsmanship. Students are taught how to develop healthy habits that will help them throughout their lives. It is our mission to educate the whole child by integrating kinetic, cognitive, and social abilities.
Middle Schoolers participate in three periods of physical education each week. These carefully planned classes teach our students important physical skills while developing fitness and sportsmanship. The middle school physical education curriculum is designed to reinforce and complement the skills taught in the after school sports program.
Coordination: Students learn to develop better balance, and to improve all forms of coordination.
Fitness: Physical education classes encourage students to develop physical fitness, cardiovascular fitness, and stamina.
Sportsmanship: Games and activities are designed so that students learn to encourage one another and celebrate individual and team gains. Positive effort is always placed before victory.
SPORTS PROGRAM (6-8)
All middle schoolers are invited to participate in Saklan’s after-school sports program available at no charge. The Saklan SUNS compete with other local independent schools in soccer (fall), basketball (winter), and volleyball (spring). Everyone who wishes to participate may play; practices are three days per week. These teams offer an excellent opportunity for students to compete against other schools in a low pressure, values oriented atmosphere.

Reading and Literature
Reading is taught in all subject areas so that students learn how to read a variety of genres. The actual reading curriculum will be taught with an eye to several goals:
Comprehension: Students read literature in increasing depth. Not only do they need to know what happens in a book, but they need to know why things happen in literature. This means that they will be looking at characters, motivations, themes, literary styles, genres and the moral dilemmas present in literature. Experiences with these aspects of literature lead to a more mature appreciation of literature.
Historical Connections: Literature will be selected to integrate with Social Studies units. In 8th grade we read Kafka's "Metamorphosis" (labor movement), Orwell's "Animal Farm" (propaganda and power politics), Terkel's "Hard Times" (Depression era), Wiesel's "Night" (WWII), great figures from the Harlem Renaissance like Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, and other respected writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald ("Roaring '20s"), Edna St. Vincent Millay ("Women's Movement"), and Ambrose Bierce ("Progressive Era").
Cultural Literacy: During class and on their own time, students are expected to engage in literature that stands the test of time -- classics that are the building blocks of a well-rounded education. Beyond the books addressed in humanities, students are required (at the minimum) to independently read and analyze three additional volumes per trimester, chosen from an extensive master list of time-tested and contemporary works that span the genres, from novels to memoirs to poetry.
Pleasure Reading : Literature is selected that appeals to young adults - their concerns and joys. The point of the entire reading curriculum is to encourage children to become lifelong readers - people who like to read!

High School Admissions Preparation
Saklan is dedicated to providing sensitive and careful preparation for the very important and somewhat daunting project of high school admissions and enrollment activities. We have two teachers assigned to working on this process carefully with the families and children. They are assisted by our Office Manager, who helps with transcripts and records, our Admissions Director, who has great experience in this process, and from our Head of School, who himself formerly headed an independent high school in this region. Every fall a high school planning meeting occurs, open to all the middle school families, where information on the process and the applications deadlines is distributed. Many of the area independent schools send representatives in the fall to discuss their schools with our eighth graders. We also have information and counsel families on the registration process at area public high schools. In the eighth grade, our Language Arts classes prepare students for writing Admissions Applications Essays, and our very own Mrs. Ellis offers a supplemental high school admissions test preparation course. Each eighth grader will be assigned a teacher or administrator to personally counsel and advise them and their family in this time. We cannot guarantee anybody's admission to any individual school, but we are knowledgeable about a wide range of high school opportunities, and we can ensure that a thorough, thoughtful and sensitive high school search toward finding the best possible fit of student and school is provided to all.
Admission to Independent High Schools
In the past five years, one or more Saklan students have been admitted to the following high schools.
Arrowsmith
Athenian
Bentley
Branson
Bishop O’Dowd
Carondelet
College Preparatory
De La Salle
East Bay Waldorf
Holy Names
Orinda Academy
St. Ignatius (SF)
St. Mary’s High School
San Domenico
Maybeck
Trinity Pawling

Advisory
A special feature of the Middle School is our Advisory Program. When in sixth grade students begin moving throughout the day to different classrooms, they lose the comfort of a home base classroom and teacher. The Advisory program seeks to restore that, providing each student a teacher who is their special advisor, advocate and resource throughout the year, and even, when suitable and possible, throughout their middle school years. The advisory groups commence each year at our Middle School Fall Retreat, where the students do a series of group bonding and school year goalsetting activities together. At school they meet twice a week, in a comfortable and secure homeroom environment, and enjoy both one-on-one student-advisor conversations and also group-wide shared time for consideration of important student issues and concerns. Students form a special bond with their advisor, a sense of a home base, and a strong sense of group identity with their fellow advisory members. The advisor serves as the key contact for parents concerning their student's needs and progress. This also can become a time to use for promoting social and emotional growth through activities and discussion, for teaching conflict resolution, and for developing character by examining questions of justice and equity in the school community and beyond.

Leadership Education
The eighth grade class, as the final grade in the school, has a number of special privileges and expectations. They direct the student council, speak at our weekly flag, and head our monthly mixed grade family groups. In order to prepare them for these opportunities eighth grade students participate in a weekly leadership class. This class addresses practical issues such as preparing high school admissions packets along with theoretical topics such as identifying your leadership style. One length unit is dedicated to the study of ethics , including the main philosophical concepts, and their applications to real-life ethical dilemmas. The course culminates with a speech given by each student and the annual graduation dinner..

Extracurricular Activities
Despite its small size, Saklan features a wide array of extracurricular activities, and the number keeps growing. After school, middle school students may choose to participate in recreational or interscholastic athletics such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, flag football, or track & field. In the winter we also have an extracurricular play in production, directed by two of our teachers. Next year we hope to expand student journalism extracurricular opportunities. In most cases, there is no additional fee to any of these extracurricular activities.

Social and Recreational Activities
Promoting and supporting a healthy, structured social opportunities for our middle school students is a high priority of our program. We aim to stage at least once a month some sort of evening or weekend voluntary social experience for students to be able to interact and share good times in a supervised environment. We look to provide a wide variety of such activities in order to ensure something for everyone; among the things we do are school dances, sometimes in conjunction with other schools; evening outings such as skating or bowling; an end of the year party day; and weekend trips camping or skiing. (These social and recreational activities are not included in the tuition, and usually have a moderate fee attached for expenses-financial aid may be available for students who qualify.)

Communication and Partnership with Families
The Saklan Valley Middle School prides itself on its parent communications and being a parent friendly environment. Twice a year, parent teacher conferences are held to apprise families of student progress and to build teamwork for that purpose. Each trimester our revamped comprehensive report cards provide both letter grades and detailed comments; mid trimester progress is reported in the fall conferences, and, for those students having difficulty, in special reports written midway through the winter and spring trimesters. Our teachers are usually available for special conferences and telephone communications. In addition, parents are invited and welcome to many of our special middle school events, such as the culture weekend and the ski trips. Parents participate in the middle school also by presenting their Parent Education Program (PEP) sessions in which the trained parents teach a ten week class in social and peer issues.

A Structured and Safe Environment
Middle School can be for many an awkward and trying time of transition and social pressure. No middle school is perfect, and as Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain and "Peer Pleasure, Peer Pain," has written, no school can altogether prevent the inevitable social difficulties many children experience at this time. At Saklan, our program features a number of elements which we believe make for a more structured and safe environment for this difficult time.
Community Expectations are defined for the students at the beginning of every school year, and carefully reiterated and emphasized throughout.
Uniforms are required of middle school students, and we believe this significantly reduces the stress many middle school students would otherwise experience trying to dress "cool" and feeling judged, sometimes harshly, by peers for their fashion choices.
Supervision at recess times and in the small environment of the school is handled sensitively by our faculty and staff and allows us greater insight to the goings-on of our students. Our student to teacher ratio is only about ten to one (compare that to any other middle school!); our own teachers do most of the recess supervision and produce the extracurricular and social activities; we have structured into each week special "check in" times with the students.
Responsiveness is a hallmark, we like to think: it is not that we can avoid all of the middle school difficulties, but we can respond to them when they occur more quickly and more effectively than a larger and more bureaucratized institution can.
Discipline is employed as a learning process of communication about expectations intended to lead students toward ever greater respect and responsibility, and to develop their intrinsic motivation to act appropriately. Students who are unable to meet our community expectations will be responded to in a way that best suits the circumstances and the child, and the school will if necessary suspend or dismiss a student unable to rise to our level of expectation for respect and responsibility.

Textbooks\Workbooks and Literature Books
This list is in no way complete as teachers enhance their curriculum with new books and material on an ongoing basis. For more information about books, communicate with the middle school director or directly with the teachers.
Sixth Grade
Progress in Mathematics: Grade 6, Textbook and workbook, Sadlier-Oxford
Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History of Math, Key Curriculum Press
Amazing Math Puzzles, Scholastic Press
Wff ‘N Proof: the Game of Modern Logic, Layman E. Allen
Discovering French BLEU: Premiere Partie, by Valette and Valette, McDougel Littell
Message From Ancient Days, Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Human Biology and Health, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Changes in Matter, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Forces at Work, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
In the Beginning, Creation Stories from Around the World, Virginia Hamilton
Sarah, Orson Scott Card
The Golden Fleece, Pardriac Colum
Grammar and Composition, Houghton-Mifflin English
Spelling and Vocabulary, Grade 6, by Houghton -Mifflin
Aesop’s Fables
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
Talking to the Sun, et al
Gonna Bake Me a Rainbow Poem
Seventh Grade
The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project: Transition Mathematics/Integrated Mathematics, Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley
Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History of Math, Key Curriculum Press
Pascal’s Triangle, Dale Seymour Publications
Wff ‘N Proof: the Game of Modern Logic, Layman E. Allen
Discovering French BLEU: Premiere Partie, by Valette and Valette, McDougel Littell
Across the Centuries, Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Human Biology and Health, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Simple Organisms and Viruses, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Earth Changes Through Time, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Life Changes Through Time, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Structures of Life, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind, Suzanne Fisher Staples
Beowulf, Robert Nye
Aesop’s Fables
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
Talking to the Sun, et al
Gonna Bake Me a Rainbow Poem
Eighth Grade
The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project: Algebra, Integrated Mathematics, Scott Foresman/Addison Wesley
Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History of Math, Key Curriculum Press
Pascal’s Triangle, Dale Seymour Publications
Discovering French BLANC, by Valette and Valette, published by McDougel Littell
Human Biology and Health, Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Simple Organisms and Viruses, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Earth Changes Through Time, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Life Changes Through Time, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Structures of Life, MacMillan/McGraw Hill
Gods and Men: Myths and Legends from the World’s Religions
Aesop’s Fables
Lightning Inside You & Other Native American Riddles
Buffalo Woman
Folk Songs of the United States
Spanish-American Folktales
African American Folktales for Young Readers
The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Fables by Ambrose Bierce
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Collected Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Harlem Renaissance (& related) Short Works by Zora Neale Hurston and others
Children of the Dustbowl
Hard Times by Studs Terkel
Maus by Art Speigelman
Night by Elie Wiesel

Picture Galleries - Middle School in Action
Academics
Middle School Science - Learning Newton Laws!!
Middle School Science - Learning About Cells
Middle School Pictures October - Language Arts - Art - PE
Middle School Science: Plant Transpiration Lab
Middle School - Diversity Week
Middle School Science- Roller Coaster Project
Middle School Science - Plants Collection and Identification
Middle School Science - Physics - Simple Machines & Simple Tools
Sixth Grade Mesopotamia Project
Middle School French - La galette des rois
Middle School Science - Skin Lab
Middle School French Restaurant
Middle School Humanities - Egypt Unit - Mummification
Middle School - Science
Astronomy Fair

Sports
Saklan Sun Soccer Game - October 14th
Basketball Games Photo Gallery 1
Basketball Games Photo Gallery 2
Middle School Volleyball Game
Teachers and parents Versus Saklan Suns Volleyball Game

Trips
Middle Advance - Gallery 1
Middle School Advance - Gallery 2
Middle School Field Trip to Ladysmith Black Mambazo Concert
Middle School Hawaii Trip
Middle School Hawaii Trip Presentation
Eighth Grade French - La Note Restaurant & Artist Presentation
Sixth Grade - Monterey Trip
Sixth Grade Field Trip to the Museum of Asian Art & Chinatown

Fun Activities
Middle School Skating Party
Middle School Fun Bowling Night
Head's Dinner for our Graduating Eighth Graders

Student Council
Student Council Speeches
Student Council Thanksgiving Mural
Good Humor Week - Celebrity Day - Egg Race
Good Humor Week - Clash Day - Flour Tower
Good Humor Week - Teacher Mix-up Day
Good Humor Week - Crazy Hair Day / Donuts Fun
Good Humor Week - Pajama Day
Good Humor Week - Sports Day & Limbo

Community
Middle School Community Service Project - Reading to Oakland Second Grade students
Middle School Community Service in Oakland - Gallery 2
Middle School Helping Second Grade on Their Mammal Research
Middle School Caroling for Cans
Middle School Field Trip to Lake View Elementary: Offering Books, Reading and Singing
Sixth Grade helping Second Grade on their whale research

Family Groups
September Family Groups: Responsibility
Family Groups: Kindness
International Day - Songs and Welcoming Presentation
International Day - Guests' Presentations
International Day - International Buffet
Family Groups - December: Generosity
Family Groups: Diversity

Performances
Opera a la Carte 2004 - The Elixir of Love
Seventh Grade Computers: Writing, Filming, Acting and Editing an Emovie
Middle School Concert Rehearsal
Concert - Saklan's Music Mosaic
Spring Follies
Middle School - French Play

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