Book Review by Zahra': Red Queen

For this post I will be typing about the Red Queen book. This is for people who like fantasy books it is also for people who like royalty.  This book is about a girl named Mare Barrow is living her life with her parents sister and 3 brothers as a red. Red as the commoners while Silver is god like superpowers. Mare is a thief she steals from different reds she even stole from the silver but instead of her getting caught it was her sister Gisa a silver broke her hand. What happens when Mare is asked to go to the back to the castle where she stole from. I really like this book it has like some of my favorite genres like fantasy. The next book of this series is called Glass Sword, I haven’t read that book yet but I want to.

Poetry Recitation by Casey

Amulet Books by Saganpreet

For this blog post, I will be talking about a Fantasy book called ‘’Amulet.’’ I have read the whole series and it is great. I personally like fantasy and graphic novel books, so I recommend this book to everyone if you like those kind of books. It is a very adventurous book, and personally I like adventure books. This is my favorite novel that I have ever read.

This book is about 2 kids- they are brother and sister and they just got out of a huge tragedy, because their dad dies. Emily discovers something that was hidden away a long time ago by her grandfather, and he was waiting for Emily to find “it” because he knew that she would definitely come. A mechanical rabbit brings Emily to her very sick grandfather. Her grandfather's last wish was that she completes a specific mission. I am not going to give it away so I suggest you GO and read the book.

Have Fun, I know you'll be hooked on this series too!!!!!!!!!!!

Science Family Night by Emi

My school Leading Edge had an event called Science Family Night last week. At the event students and their family got to explore stations and experiment. This took place in the cafeteria and in Mrs. Melina’s classroom. This event was hosted by Mrs. Bibayoff and Mrs. Molina (Science Teachers in LE) and the engineering club. 

There were many stations to check out including bubble art, aerodynamics, 3D printing and so much more! It was set up by Mrs. Bibayoff, and it was open for anyone to join, like a volunteer sign up for people in engineering club. I participated and helped out at the dry ice bubbles for the first shift and bubble art station for the second shift. I worked with my friends Juna and Jennifer while we helped at the dry ice bubbles station and then we volunteered at the bubble art station next. After completing our last fun shift I got to explore different stations like

the oobleck station where we got to get our own oobleck and learn about the three states of matter. Also, for this event, LE had guests like Dickeys barbecue, Pasco Scientific, and a dental group called Image Orthodontists. Some of the guests provided food and prizes. One had fun science demonstrations. This was a great way for students and family to have fun while learning science and experimenting with the different subjects and that's why LE has set up this event like this. I really liked this event and it is so fun being in engineering club. I would love to do it again.

New Trimester by Olivia

Exciting things are coming our way. Like the Marin Headlands trip! So exciting! Or the Chinatown field trip! I don’t know about you, but I am super excited about all of these exciting places we are going to visit! We are sure to have more rallies and fun school spirit activities! We just got back from Thanksgiving break and winter break is already creeping up on us! So many fun things to look forward to, it is the start of a new month and a new trimester! Exciting things await!

The first trimester has ended with all our fun and exciting first day jitters along with it. A new trimester has started and we are ready to rule it. To get good grades, but also to have fun! We are on the road to success, it’s going to be hard, but hard is not impossible! Fun field trips and hard, long, homework await us in our long journeys, which we shall travel to succeed in the world.

Climate Snapshot Maps

Check out our class Climate Maps (organized by Science/Tech period):

LE Knights Soccer Championship Game by Isabella

I am writing about the girls soccer Tournament. I was really excited and nervous about playing in the tournament. My team played really well the during the first game but not our best in the second game. After the first game was done I was really tired. But the second game was an ok game, i guess. Keep reading if you want to know what happened.

We played Capitol Christian School first and won 2-0. I played left outside midfielder. I did not score any goals but I was close. We made it to the championship with that win. We had to play against Mitchell, they were the only team that beat us during the regular season... we lost the game 2-0. They played really hard to win the championship. I played Left outside midfielder for about two minutes. We finished second place in the league tournament out of five teams.

 I thought that the season went really well. We played well the whole season. We lost one game. We finished nine and one and ended up in first place. The one was when we lost to Mitchell. The good thing is that we had a good time playing together and became friends. This helped me get better as a soccer player. I am looking forward to next year!

40 Book Challenge by Te'a

The 6th graders have been expected to try and read 40 books in the entire school year. That might sound easy for some, but there’s a catch. Not only do you have to log the books you’ve read so far in a paper log, but you also have to add the books you read into a Padlet; which is a website that allows the 6th graders to create personalized digital book logs that others can access with a QR code (here's a link to an example). Not only that, but you can’t just read “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” 40 times. No, you have to read 40 DIFFERENT books. And sorry to you comic book lovers, but you have to step out of your comfort zone because in order to complete the challenge, you have to read books of different genres, such as science fiction and mythology.

With all that set aside, the challenge is a great way to allow us 6th graders to start reading new styles of books, not only because we have to. Starting to read a new genre can introduce a whole different way that you think about reading. You might also be more drawn to reading after discovering that there isn’t just one style of writing a book. As we are now about a third into this year, we have had a lot of time to read in morning production, so some 6th graders should (hopefully) be even closer to the finish line. So, what are you waiting for? Start reading!

Odes from Mrs. Bibayoff's Core Class

Odes by Meindl's Core Class

6th Grade Mandalas by Shaan

For this blog post, I will be talking about the gratitude mandala we did in Expressions. The gratitude mandala is where we make a design and write what we are thankful for inside of your design. Then, when you're done writing you color in your design with colored pencil, crayon, or marker.

The design I did on my mandala was a flower inside of a flower. On the inner flower I wrote the things that I am most thankful for on each petal. On the outer flower I wrote other things that I am thankful for on each petal. Then, I drew pictures to go with things I am thankful outside of the outer flower. I colored my mandala with tons of colors to represent how much things I am thankful for. In the inner flower I used marker and in the outer flower I used colored pencils.Gratitude Mandala’s represent the Leading Edge Pillar Creative Problem Solving because you have to be creative in trying to think of a design for your mandala. Thank you for reading my blog post, hope you like it.

Running Two Miles by Brennan

For this blog post, I will be talking about the two miles I had to run in P.E. At first I thought Mr. Shane was joking, but he actually had us do it in 25 minutes. It might not seem like 25 minutes is enough time for running two miles, but it is plenty of time. I finished in about 20 minutes, and after felt really good about it.

To run 2 miles on the track, you have to run 5 big laps, and 2 small laps. The big laps were a little bigger than the small laps and were very hard to run on just because it was so big. I personally think I kept a good pace and tried to push myself to build up my running stamina. I think after running the mile and the 2 mile so far this school year, my stamina will get a lot better. Overall, I like running and will try to run whenever I get the chance to build my running skills. Thanks for reading my blog, hope you liked it.

Mummy's Tomb by Sophia and Ayesha

Sophia's Post

We are learning about Ancient Egypt’s civilization. Something critical that we did was Mummy’s Tomb. Mummy’s Tomb was like a interactive play. Everyone had a part to play and no one was left out. I was a dancing mummy. There were tour guides, zombies, god and goddess, people at the Nile, and people at the hall of terror. There different seance. There was the cafe where there was entertaining, Nile river where the Nile best was and people dying, Mrs. Bibayoff ‘s room, Mrs. Leporiere‘s room where the hall of terror was, and Mrs. Meindl’s room where the treasure room was.

Mummy’s Tomb wasn’t just an entertainment it was a learning experience. It helped us build teamwork and that is every important at Leading Edge. It's one of our pillars Building Partnership and sharing leadership. I also taught the parents about Ancient Egypt.

Mummy’s Tomb is an experience that is unforgettable.

One of the most fun things so far this year has been creating Mummy’s Tomb. Everyone was a part of the production, and it was incredible. I was a tour guide in mummy’s tomb, and had lots of fun doing it. There were taiko performances, tours, dances and food. Adults would get stamped and that would be the tour they were on, but we are pretty sure that some parents snuck onto the Devaraj and Jensen tour because there were a lot more people on that tour than any other! The best part about mummy’s tomb I think was the treasure room mummy dance. They did really well and it was quite a show. The room layouts were designed really well, I couldn't even tell they were classrooms. Overall, this was a really fun night, but it wasn’t just about entertainment, I also learned a lot about Ancient Egypt while doing this. Mummy’s Tomb will be a night to remember. 

Ayesha's Post

"Create a Game" by Devraj

The blog post I am doing today is about “Create a Game” in P.E. . “Create a game” is a fun way to pick materials and use them in a special way to then create a game. There are usually 4 to 5 kids in one group. My group is Cristian, Mateo.M, Larry, and Marek. We all use the pillar of *Shared Leadership/Building Partnerships because we all have to work together to make the game . I think that this can be really fun because we create really fun games. Sometimes odd games. “Jump Row and Lift” is the game my group created. Jump Row and Lift is where you have 2 mats laid on top of each other you have a medicine ball that bounces of of the jump things you try to knock down the ball and run 10 times around the cone after that you pick up the stretcher later you run back to the russian balls and last bounce of of the beginning object. The game went well and we all had a lot of fun!! Mr. Shane was really helpful during the process.

Ancient Egypt Projects by Sam

In 6th grade we are currently learning about Ancient Egypt. We are learning about the culture, history, and geography of Ancient Egypt. This will be helping us with two things. One is Mummy’s Tomb which is going to be a really exciting event , and the other one is are King Tut Art Project. Our king tut art project is where our expressions teacher (Mrs.Meindl) gave us a demonstration on how to draw King Tut's Death Mask. Instead of his face it was our face.


The other project we are working on is Mummy's Tomb. This is going to be the best and biggest project of the year I think. Every 6th grader at Leading Edge has a part in this. Some will be a smart tour guide and others a dodo tour guide showing visitors how things were in Ancient Egypt. Around the Nile River will be very funny things that every 6th grader came up with. I hope everyone enjoys this and has an outstanding time too!

What’s Going On in LE? [Week of November 4th] by:Nathan

Overall, life here in Leading Edge has been great! I’ve made some new friends, and we’ve learned so

many new things. My classes are Expressions, PE, Science/Tech, Math, and last Core.

In Core we have started our ancient Egypt unit (as mentioned above). Right now we’re learning about Egyptians and their way of life. Also we’re making posters about different gods and goddesses. My group chose the god Seth, the god of storms and chaos. We drew a big picture of him and will write his name in hieroglyphics and add a cartouche (an oval shape that has name of royal person or god written on it in hieroglyphics) to it too. We also recently did our Nile brochures. We had to include a map showing it’s route, why it was important to early Egyptians, section about the Nile today, section about uses of papyrus, facts, and a creative cover.

 In Expressions we just finished making our “Apple 4 Ways” where you had to draw 4 different apples and use different mediums for each one. Also one of them had to feature some sort of collage. For mine I used colored pencil, charcoal, oil pastel, and tissue paper collage.Using charcoal was super unique because it was cool fading it and doing other cool things. So now in Expressions, to connect to our new Ancient Egypt unit in Core we are signing up for parts in our play, Mummy’s Tomb.

Right now in PE we are doing create a game where you have to create a safe game that fits in with either flexibility, cardio, muscle strength, muscle endurance, or body composition. We get to chose the equipment we need an create a game based on one of the fitness components. Your game has to have group dynamics, movement patterns so you know how to play, and lastly self responsibility. Our group has created a game with two goals, two bowling pins, two paddles, and a ball. The goal is to try to get the ball into the goal and if you hit the bowling pin too you get an extra point.

In Science/Tech we’ve just finished our trimester 1 portfolios. We had to state our projects that we completed in the first trimester. You also had to write about how you're doing in LE and what your goals are. Now we are learning about weather and climate. In class we went on this website about heat and sunlight. We played with a model on the computer about how sunlight reflects off the ground and transfers into the Earth. You can also add clouds and gases or adjust the albedo and speed to see what changes it makes. Hope you enjoyed my Leading Edge update!

Scary Stories by Mrs. Meindl's Core Class

"Too Ghoul for School" Rally by Dhanisha and Daniel

Too Ghoul for School Rally from Dhanisha Ratilal's Point-of-View

Just recently we had our first school rally, and it was haunted house themed. Many of the leadership members dressed up in scary costumes and put ghostly makeup on to creep us out. All of them were coming out from behind pillars are scaring us, and I got scared by only one person, and that was Grace. When she came out from behind the pillar, I couldn’t see, and she screamed right in my face so I got scared. Then, because I got scared, I screamed, only to realize that it was Grace.


One game we played at the rally was a mummy wrapping contest, where one representative from each core class would go up and to see who the other two representatives in their grade were. There were 3 representatives in each grade, and two people were given a toilet paper roll, and the third person was the one who would get wrapped. What was supposed to happen was that the winners were the people who got their person wrapped the most, and 6th grade definitely won for that. What ended up happening was that who ever cheered the loudest won, and 7th grade beat us on that.



We also watched the first Leading Edge Live of the year. It included some of Mr. Shane’s jokes, questions, what has happened so far in the year, and some people answering a few questions. There were a lot of funny parts to the video. It was all so much fun and I can't wait for our next rally!!

Halloween Rally
Another Student's Perspective by Daniel Prasad

Just Recently we had a school rally! Our school rally was a Halloween theme. There were so many events happening in the rally such as, and haunted area where the students walk in. There was also a witch (Mrs. Meindl) and scary music. In the rally they made 6th, 7th, and 8th graders wrap up a teammate as fast as they can. The winner would be who did it the quickest and who had it the most wrapped. But in the rally they decided to see which grade had the loudest clap and 7th grade won. In my opinion we should have won because we had Dez the most wrapped.

Then there was the Taiko performances. Taiko is basically hitting a drum to different beats. I was in Taiko myself and I have to say it wasn't easy performing in front of a lot of people. The two beats I played were what we call “Hey” and another called the “Indian Beat”. I think I did good and in all three performances were pretty hard. But I had really good teammates to help me understand what I’m doing. In the end I think the Rally was a lot of fun. My favorite thing it the rally as the entrance because I love scares and Halloween. I hope you guys enjoyed the rally as much as I did.

Spirit Week by Gurneet Bring

Spirit week is here! Spirit week basically means to do something special each day according to the schedule. So this week is Natomas Charter’s spirit week. All students don’t have to participate but students who do dress up, do crazy things, and support our spirit week. Here are some of the spirit days.

Monday was wear school colors according to grade level which was 6th graders wear white, 7th graders wear black, and 8th graders wear red. Another option was just to wear any school shirt, sweatshirt, and any jersey. Lots of people supported this day and represented our school colors. Now let me tell you about Tuesday.

On Tuesday you are supposed to dress like a twin/clone. How you do that is you pick your friend or a student and find any clothing or accessory you guys have alike. For example you could wear the same pants, shirt, and accessory or something that looks similar. That is basically how you support twin/clone day. Now here’s Wednesday.

Wednesday is crazy hair day. To support it you do crazy things with your hair. For example you can dye it, shape it into different ways, make mini ponytails here and there, and use gel to make crazy shapes. It is originally called “Frightful hair Day” because your hair can be really crazy and unique that it is frightful. The next spirit day is Thursday.

On Thursday you wear clothing inside out or backwards or you could do both. For example you would turn a shirt inside out and make the tag part where your face is to make it backwards. On Friday it is “Crazy Socks Day”. On Friday you can wear different sizes, colors, and shapes of socks. And since on Monday it is Halloween you get to wear your Halloween costume. That is the Natomas charter School- Leading Edge spirit week.

"Apples 4 Ways" by Jaden Rona

Expressions is the best class to express creativity and different forms of art. Currently in Expressions we are working on a project called Apples 4 ways. This type of art consists of four separate sheets of paper, each having different techniques of art. This project uses paper, collage, charcoal, watercolor, colored pencils, e.t.c.

I used charcoal for one project, then cut paper on my second, colored pencil on another, and for the last one I did zentangle.

My favorite one to do is the zentangle and also the one where we cut paper to make the apples into the shape they are supposed to be.

You can be as creative as you want with them. I also like the idea of a collage apple because of the shading. You can use other pictures to create dark and light aspects of an apple. Where you put the pictures can make your project look almost 3D.

There were tons of students who used different types of methods. We were able to decorate our drawings the way we want and take our creativity to another level. Can’t wait until they're finished.

What's LE like right now for me? by Rohan

Hello everybody my name is Rohan Sheemar and this is my blog. I am going to discuss about my school activities and what I’m involved in. First, I would like to say that I really like my school. When I was at Star Academy, I always wanted to know what Leading Edge would be like. Since I have been coming to LE, I have gotten to know my teachers, principal, staff and all the students.

I enjoy all the classes I am enrolled in. My subjects are P.E, Expressions, Core, and Math. Many of my classmates are from Star Academy. In P.E., we are doing something called "Create a Game". It is where you group up and you are the only one allowed to choose 3 things from the choices given. Once your group has everything, then we have to be creative and create a game. If you are not participating with your team then, you will have to sit out and not play your groups game. There is paper that you will have to fill out. You will test your game to see if it actually works. Then you would group up with another and explain to them how to play our our game. After that they would explain to you what their game is and how it works. The other team would grade you on how well you explained your game. Our game had paddles, tennis ball, and bowling pins. We used the paddles to hit the tennis ball with and then we tried to get it in the basket. If you get it in the basket and it hits the pins then you can get extra points. So that was our Create a Game.

Expressions is very fun because you are allowed to listen to music while you do your projects. The project that we are working on right now is a apple project. All we have to do is design an apple and use oil pastels, charcoal, etc, and more. So you are required to create 4 apples and your are supposed to put it into a collage. The collage can be in many different shapes as long as it’s a collage of the apples. In my project I used charcoal so I could get that shadowing. I did not want to use watercolor because I am not the best at water coloring them.

In Core/Science Tech we are working on this project called Solar Oven Design Challenge. So what you do is you group up and you are designing a solar oven. So what my group did was we had a box and you had a type of insulator. We would get a thermometer sensor and we would see how high the temperature would be. We just did this project and we are still continuing it. In Core/Social Science we are doing a lot of thing such as learning about Mesopotamia, preparing for that test and much, much, more. In Core/Language Arts we are getting ready for the Mesopotamia test. This test is going to be a 7 paragraph essay on the test. Core is very fun for me and the other students in my core class.

Hope you enjoyed my blog!

Digital Storybooks

Inspired by the beautiful picture book Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and our studies of ancient civilization traits, sixth graders wrote their own civilization stories. Here are some that decided to go with a digital storybook format. Just click on the books below to read them.

Insulation Challenge-By Ajay Trinh

Lately in Science/Tech, we’ve been working on insulation. Insulation is an object that traps heat. In class, we work in groups and experiment what objects are good insulators. The objects that we (and most people) chose to use were, tin foil, styrofoam, plastic, and cardboard. We used a wireless temperature sensor as a thermometer which would give us information on to a computer. Our group wrapped our items around the plastic cups we used to see which would be the best insulator. For our group, the best insulator was the styrofoam. It was styrofoam because when we put it into the water then put the thermometer sensor in, the temperature went up.

I learned that a plastic wrap was a not so good insulator too. One of our big problems was that when we tried making a hole for the thermometer sensor through the tin foil ripped some which was a minor problem. Another problem was that sometimes the water was too hot and melted the cup! The majority of the time, the temperature stayed at one spot, then either moved down a little, or moved up a lot (probably because the sensor was warming up and we needed to give it time). This experiment was awesome! I hope we get to do it again but with more insulators!

6th Grade Volleyball by Jasmyne Warren

During the 2016-17 school year I was on the school volleyball team. Volleyball was really fun and I thought it was a good learning experience. I had missed tryouts for the season but my coach let me join anyway. It was hard at first because I had never played volleyball before. As I got better it was much easier. On the team we all had nicknames, mine was Jazzy. My team was a good team, played well, and accepted each other. We played a total of 11 games.

In volleyball I learned how to set (in front row) and bump (in back row). I liked bumping better but I was better at setting. When I played in games and served most of my serves made it over the net. It was exciting to play in games but I got nervous at the same time. Our eleventh game in volleyball was the championship that we won because we work together well. I really liked volleyball and want to do it again next year.

My school offers different sports. The sports we have are basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track/field. In the spring I am going to do track/field because I want to become faster at running.

Leadership by Jensen Sim

 Recently I got into Leadership, and a lot of stuff is happening already. I went through a nerve wracking interview process. I’m very happy and relieved that I got into this; now I can help the school more and use my knowledge from 5th grade to here. My team is very positive and encouraging. We are also extremely creative. Mrs. Meindl came up with a phrase “Too Ghoul For School” for our next rally theme, and one of my teammates came up with “Halloweek” which we are going to use for the spirit week before Halloween. Here is a picture of our new Leadership team. 

The majority of leadership kids I know, but it is also good to make friends. I think leadership will be a good experience for me because it will help me and the school. It will improve my leadership skills and improve my dignity. Leadership is a big part of the Leading Edge Community so I am honored to be part of it. It will also improve the school because we will make more exciting events and a safer environment.

Padlet Book Logs by Jessica

Padlet is a website that six graders are using this year to give their opinions on the books that they've read. It is very useful for other students because they get to see what their classmates thought about a book. So they could see if the book is worth reading. In fact, recently my class made it a bit more fun by getting to scan our classmates' QR codes with the iPads and see what they thought about the books they read so far this year and over the summer. 

It also comes in handy for the 40 books Challenge to remember what we have read and for teachers because they can see how much you're reading. I think it is the best website to comment on and review books because it lets you explain what you liked about the book and tell special highlights that you liked about the book. 

Lawrence Hall of Science by Michael

Last Friday Leading Edge sixth graders went on a field trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science. It was lots of fun. First we had some fun outside on a giant DNA strand and a big plastic whale as well as ate lunch.Then we went inside and started looking at exhibits. There were lots of exhibits that were interactive...Like one where you scaled a wall like a gecko. 

Then we went to a class called "Engineering with Hydraulics". There was another class called "Fantastic Gases". In Engineering with Hydraulics we had to design an arm to lift a weight using syringes, tubes and wood building blocks. After the class we looked at some other exhibits. Next we went outside to a beautiful courtyard with a great view. Even the pond outside was an experiment! Then to the gift shop, where some people bought stuff. Then the long ride home...What a great day!!

Chess by Noah Wells

Photo: Sixth graders learning chess in class
[Ms. Meindl's Twitter Page, twitter.com/expressivelea[

Leading Edge is an awesome school! I’ve learned so many new things and the year just started. But one thing was extremely fun to learn, it was chess! I had no idea how to play but Ms. Meindl taught me how to play in expressions and after that all I wanted to do was play chess.

I love the way chess is played. There are so many ways of winning and new strategies are being made. Chess is so relaxing to play and you use your brain the whole time. By playing chess my memory has been getting better, and I’m not forgetting anything. I’ve only been playing for about 2 weeks, and I’m never going to stop.

I have a really good friend Jensen. We have expressions together, and we have this rivalry. Every class that we can play chess, we always sit right next to each other and always try to win. Ms. Meindl thinks Jensen and I having a rivalry is funny, and it is. But for us, all it is bragging rights and the game is making us even better friends. The last game Jensen and I had, almost everyone in the class including Ms. Meindl were all around Jensen and I while we were playing chess. It was so cool that other people are as interested in chess as much as Jensen and I.

Hunters and Gatherers by Zerlan Caasi

This Thursday, my class did the Hunters and Gatherers simulation which was really fun. Most people in the class were chosen to be the hunters and gatherers. Only 7 of us, including me were farmers. Then lastly, 2 people were animals. One was a deer and one other classmate was a bear.

First off, I’ll explain the hunters and gatherers. 20/29 of the class was the hunters and gatherers. They first got to throw “Rocks” (Paper balls) at the so called “Deer”. Once they hit him 3 times, they won the meat. Next, they have to cross the “River”. They had to jump on the “Rocks” (Books) to cross the river. Only 2 drowned and the rest made it. They then had to steal the berries from the berry bush from the “Bear”. If the bear touched one of the people, they are dead. They lost 1 person and they finally got it. They lastly had to survive in a lightning storm. They had to hide under the “Cave” (Under the Table). Though 7 died including their chief who had their meat. I thought the rest of the group was careless of who ever survived.

We then had the farmers. We all sowed our “Seeds” (Skittles). We also got to build “Houses” (Jenga Blocks) and to create art! The difference with the hunters and gatherers, we have and abundance of food and we were cooperating very well. I though feel bad for the hunters and gatherers. They did an awful job of surviving. I know thought to myself, I am lucky to be a farmer. In the nomadic times, being a farmer was the best choice.

In our reflection discussion, we all talked about what was best in the Neolithic era. We all agreed that becoming a farmer was great! We didn’t have to suffer by hunting for our food. No farmer died. All of the farmers had an abundance of crops, we domesticated animals, built shelter, and created tribal art. Everyone had fun! I loved it when the hunters and gatherers chief got struck by lightning. I reacted and said, “You guys didn’t even care about your chief! Now you don’t have your meat nor your chief to guide you! You should’ve protected your chief” In conclusion, this simulation was really fun!      

Flexible Seating by Ved Peesu

I think Leading Edge is a really astounding school. One reason I think this is true is because of the flexible seating. Flexible seating is really nice for students who don’t like to work sitting in one place all the time. They can choose from a variety of different places to sit. There are wobbly stools, high stools, beanbags, couches, and gamer chairs.


I believe that flexible seating helps students study and learn better because they are more comfortable and are more spaced out. Also, students can get tired of sitting in one place and not moving. For example, I can’t work in a regular chair as well as working in a spinning stool. Also, the body might get tired of staying in one position and students can easily lose concentration on their work. This makes Leading Edge a better place because it is student welcoming and make students be better learners.


There are many different places to sit, so if a student doesn’t like a spot they are in, they can move to another and try it. All the classrooms look better and amazing with all the new seating. I have sat and tried all the seats and they are significant to better learner. I am working well in these chairs and I am looking forward to seeing more. Flexible seating in Leading Edge makes it a better place to learn..

Come and visit the Early Human Museum! By Ashleen

This past week we have created a museum for you to come see! All the sixth grade students in their core classes, had to pick an early human, then pick three ways to replicate their real life style. For example, some decided to do a diorama, and then some decided to make a movie, and other ways to show their groups early human. (Make sure you have to QR code scanner app if you want to check out the movies and slide presentations.)

Photos by Ms. Meindl

My group did a diorama, a life sized cutout, and replica tools. This is what they would like to state:

“Very, very good!” states Tea.
“Its great!” said Ariana.
“It’s so good that it can’t be bad!” exclaimed Natalin.

Early Humans Core Project By Dana

In the 6th grade core classes, everyone started working on the Early Humans Museum Project for our Social Studies Unit. For the project, we have to create a display for a museum. Each group got one early humans species to study about. There are many things that we can do for the display, such as making a video, creating life-size early human sculptures, replica skeletons, and more creative ways to complete the project.

Every group had their own, creative ideas that are going well so far! Some groups created the life-sized sculptures, drawings of animals, and replicated tools. My group decided to make a video, create a diorama, and make tools for the early humans we are studying about, the Homo Habilis.

Bonus: On Tuesday, we got to Skype one of the best-selling authors, Chris Grabenstein! Chris Grabenstein wrote the book Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, which was the book for the 6th grade Summer Reading Project. He also wrote many other books, such as Whack A Mole and The Hanging Hill. Getting to communicate with an author was a once in a lifetime experience!

First week of school! by Jordan and Welensa

Ready for the first day of school!

~First Week of School! by Jordan~

What’s funny about my first week of school here at Leading Edge is that before I came here I went to another school and already started the school year. But besides that my first week of school was pretty exciting actually. I got to meet my new teachers and help teachers get ready for the school year. I also got 7 periods which was pretty cool. Finally I got to learn more about my new school!

Before the first week of school I was pretty nervous. So when I was driven to Leading Edge I was introduced to everyone and I was just fine. I found out that there’s nothing to be scared of going to a new school. Once I knew that I was just fine for the rest of the week! For the first week we did a lot of things like get to know other people in class and played fun games to get to know people! Like for one in Physical Ed there’s this thing called team shake and it mixes people up and puts you in a certain time like “team 1” but the sixth graders were paired with the seventh graders. My first week was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it! Especially because I got to know everybody and play fun games. This blog post is about my first week of sixth grade. I hope you enjoyed the blog post!



~ My New School Experience by Welensa ~

Sixth graders had their first day of school at Natomas Charter l Leading Edge on August 24, 2016. Wow, it could’ve been frightening. I mean come on, it’s our first day of middle school and a new school. . But as it turned out it wasn’t scary at all. Former 6th graders (now 7th graders) treated us how they would want to be treated when they were in our situation. Teachers did as well.

For the first few weeks the teachers had an abundance of patience. They were kind while doing their job. They helped us learn. So let’s start learning now!

Leading Edge is great! I love how we don’t have to stay in the same classroom for the whole day. Instead I into different classrooms and with different teachers. I’m signing up for leadership because I like how the 7th graders acted to us and I would like to do the same for the incoming students next year. I’m looking forward to the sports because Leading Edge provides more sports than my old school and I would consider myself an active person. I didn’t just come to this school because my sisters went here I came here because I was actually interested in being at a great school.

One of the things I like most about my new school is that our teachers really want us to get to know each other. Instead of partnering up with same people for example I was asked to find a “fist bump buddy”, a “high five buddy”, “ handshake buddy”, and “ Elbow buddy”. Now I’ve met new friends!

I’m looking forward to the upcoming adventures my school has in store for us. I really enjoy this school so far and I hope the rest of you sixth graders do too. I hope you liked my blog and thanks for reading!

Getting into the groove of things on the second day of school and loving #FlexibleSeating! @NCS_LE #NCSinnovate pic.twitter.com/r1vGCUb1Qt

— Mrs. Bibayoff (@LEroomI3) August 25, 2016

Solar Ovens by Reyna and Cameron

By Reyna Velazquez

Sixth Graders made their own Solar ovens in Science Tech the last week of school. Sixth Graders made them with different materials to make the ovens. Some used pizza boxes and cardboard ones.

Materials that were mostly used were foil paper, clear wrap, and mirrors. Many used black paint too to make the heat attract, clear stuff to trap heat, and foil/mirrors to reflect heat into the box to make the oven even hotter. Here on the right, is the graph of how hot the temperature is inside the box.

Mrs.Bibayoff gave each group a device to put inside their box to see how hot it gets. It works with a bluetooth chip that you have to put in the chromebook. It will connect to the thermometer device inside the box. Different teams cooked different things in the ovens.

I saw that in period 6, some groups had made chocolate chip cookies. In period 7 some people made popcorn, hot dogs, pancakes, and s’mores. The highest temperature out of all of the classes was almost 200 degrees F. That is almost 93 degrees C. All of the classes designs were very cool and I think that everybody did a great job. Making my own Solar oven makes me want to make more things handmade. Everybody tried their hardest on the oven and made something great. Awesome Job to everyone. Below: This is my group's solar oven. Great job guys!

By Cameron Wyatt

We recently did a solar oven project to go along with our heat unit and insulation. With our groups we constructed boxes with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, black paint, and other items that reflect, create, and trap heat. Our goal was to get the box as hot as possible without the heat leaving the box. Most groups got there boxes very hot. My group got 170 degrees fahrenheit. Tanner Shaw said, ”It was fun because I had so many options to make my design.” Sanjeev told me, ”I had fun working the thermometer.”

The way we measured the temperatures was by using a wireless thermometer connected to the chromebooks. It was run through an application called sparkVue that automatically graphed and showed data in celsius and fahrenheit. The application also allowed a notebook mode for taking our screenshots.