Soleil Student Blog - Week of March 9th - 13th

Here is a short blog post from a short, half-day filled week.

BG Reading by Kelvin

This week in reading we are reading about endangered species and making essays and infographics about northern spotted owls, woodland caribou, and leatherback sea turtles.

BG Science by Melia

This week in BG Science, we are finishing up our black and white copies of our infographics, that we will print, and starting, or editing, our colored infographic, that we will post on the internet, and maybe on the Soleil blog. We are doing them on endangered animals such as the Leatherback Sea Turtle (LST),  the Woodland Caribou, or reindeer and the Northern Spotted Owl (NSO). We are having a great time and Cassie is helping so much!

KFC Science by Athmar

We have finished our essays and so that leads us to writing our posters. All of the groups have finished cutting and now we are jotting down ideas about what to write and what to draw for the background. We are doing endangered animals not just any regular animals. Our posters are Due soon on the 19th of March. We have also been doing pour infographics and those were due a while ago but M, Kim, and Cassie want us to revise and pure edit with the teachers. Then we will get our grade. There are many ways you can access the infographics at home too. Of course it is easy to get a 1 or a 2 but to get a 3 is pretty if u put effort. ( there is a effort grade too,(; ).

Posed Pictures from March 17th by Cassie

Our rule in Soleil is no posed pictures unless told.  Our hope is that this rule allows students to be more focused on working instead of having their picture taken.  

Soleil Student Blog - Week of March 2nd - 6th

BG Writing by Livia

This week in writing we are writing about our endangered species   

Student planning out paragraphs for a non-fiction piece. Photo by Bam

BG Science by Naomi

In Bubble Giraffes science we have been working on our infographics about our endangered animals which are the Leatherback Sea Turtle, Woodland Caribou, and the Northern Spotted Owl.  

KFC Reading by Giselle

In KFC (Kool Fun Cookies) we are reading and learning about the Revolutionary war, and what it was like. We have also been studying a new form of note taking, called and named the Cornell note taking system. So far, we have organized it so it will be easier to find information, and have tried it out with a few different topics.

KFC Writing by Ezra

In KFC Writing, we just finished up writing our last essay for endangered animals, and our new project is making a giant round poster. These posters are about our endangered animals, and every group is going to make their own. These will probably be shown in the Art Walk, so everyone who comes can see the beautiful art of Room 12.

Collaboration is key when students work on Endangered Species Posters. Photo by Bam

KFC Science by Charlotte

In science this week we are working on our endangered animals species posters they’re for the art walk sadly I can’t give you any more information except that we are doing seven different species the red fox, the dugong, the loggerhead sea turtle, the bald eagle, the saola, the snow leopard, and  the galapagos giant tortoise. I guess you just have to find out more information for your self at art walk night 2015.

5th Year Math students are using cubes to calculate volume.

6^th Year Math by Athmar

This week in 6th year math we have started a new subject, algebra. We have not completely started it but M has notified us that we will be taking out test soon and after the test we will start our algebra lessons. We have just about finished up our ratios. M is helping us review what the 4th years are doing to so we can help them out with there homework.

Students reflect on their Hopes and Dreams for the school year in a card to self. Photo by Bam

Art by Amy

In Art, we are writing cards to ourselves and decorating them. These cards are to check on how we're doing, since at the beginning of the year, we made our Hopes and Dreams. We wanted to see if we achieved our Hopes and Dreams. You should make some Hopes and Dreams and check on how you’re doing once in a while! :)  

Jazz Band 2 by Charlotte

In jazz band II we are working on 3 songs. It don’t mean a thing if it ain't got that swing, Inside Out, and Killer Joe. For these songs I play the piano and so I play the bass line in my right hand and the saxophone part in my right haNd. These can be extremely hard because there can be swing rhythm in the right hand and a steady beat in my left hand.

Intermediate Orchestra by Athmar

This week in orchestra Mrs. Nelson (our teacher) gave us a new piece called Joust. It starts out small and boring but then the firsts come in and help us do the really hard notes. YAY!

in the middle we get some really upbeat and fun notes then get to the coda and play it one more time. We really have a lot of fun playing with the notes and acutely playing the notes.

Beginning Band by Jacob

In Beginning Band, on are new music book (Essential Elements ) On page 13, 14 and 15 we all have been learning new notes like “LOW G”, “LOW A”!

Advanced Band by Emma C

The quad concert went extremely well. We have begun practicing our songs for our next concert already. The songs we will be playing are, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Classic Overture”, and “Ancient Moon”. Make sure you practice because, we will be missing lots of advanced band practices due to breaks!

Thomas Edison shared about his life during Class Meeting on Friday. 

Albert Einstein also dropped by during Class Meeting! 

Soleil Student Blog - Week of February 23rd - 28th

Welcome to this week's blog post! We are figuring out the best way capture our learning with pictures. This week's method is not the one. Look for more pictures next week!

BG Writing by Kelvin and Ben

This week BG writing, we are taking notes on our endangered animal. We got to choose an animal out of these three: Northern Spotted Owl,  Leatherback Sea turtle, and Woodland Caribou. We will use the information we got to make infographics.

BG Science by Livia, Naomi, and Melia

This week in science we are working on infographics. Pictochart is an app that you can create infographics and presentations on a certain topic. Our topic is endangered animals that live in Washington, and those animals are: Leatherback Sea Turtle, Northern Spotted Owl, and  We are having a great experience!

KFC Science by Sydney P

This week in science we are working on our infographics. An infographic is a special type of informative poster that is done digitally. We are making them through this really cool sight called piktochart, and they are about the endangered animal we chose to study a few months ago. Our infographics include threats to the species we chose and also how we can help save them. All of the infographics are looking really cool, plus they are fun to do!

4^th Year Math by Nicolai and Ethan

This week in math we are  learning fractions. On the 23rd we played with fraction cards to learn more about fractions. We learned about different fractions such as unit fractions.

5^th Year Math by Saki

We are learning about multiplying fraction with whole numbers! It is FUN!!!!

6^th Year Math by Charlotte

This week we didn’t have 6th grade math. We are starting to work on Algebra we will have our unit test next week! AHHHH! ;)

Intermediate Orchestra by Athmar

This week in intermediate orchestra we went to the Edmonds Woodway HS for a re hursel and concert with other middle schools and elementary schools in one giant concert! Madrona as well as the other elementary schools played HUnters chorus, Dragon Hunter, and Cripple Creek tougher! And the others played awesome music! We had a rehearsal then the concert! It was awesome and we all had a lot of fun. Everyone did a amazing job!

Soleil Student Blog - Week of February 9th - 13th

Welcome to another blog post!  This week's pictures were taken by Saki.

BG Reading by Kelvin

This week we have been reading articles on endangered species. we have read a single article on our species that we are taking notes on. We got to choose from three animals: The Woodland Caribou, The Leatherback Turtle, and The Northern Spotted Owl.

Highlighting nonfiction articles

BG Writing by Ava G and Livia

This week in writing we are learning how to take notes on articles. the articles are about endangered species which we are also studying in science. we we have taken notes on 4 different articles and one of them was a test. We got to pick one of three animals, the Leather Back turtle, the Spotted  Owl or the Caribou. In conclusion we had a fun and productive week in B.G. writing!!!!!!!!!

KFC Reading by Dorothea

For reading we have our olympics. Some people are doing the diamond or ruby medal. Others are working on their sapphire medal. Incase you didn’t know, for the sapphire medal we have to read three books. Two of them have to have movies made off of them. you need to choose one of the book that were turned into and make a powerpoint or prezi comparing and contrasting the book and movie.

Ruby Medal Presentation

KFC Writing by Giselle

 This week we are working on getting our first draft of the 3rd essay done, so we can discuss our essays in class and get feedback on our essays so far. Our 3rd essay is due next  Thursday, on the nineteenth. We moved the due date from the eighteenth to the nineteenth because Wednesday, the eighteenth was too busy with the Friendship party and the Stem in house field trip to discuss our essays. Our third essay is a cause and effect essay, and you can either make it a four paragraph essay or a five paragraph essay, depending on how  much information you have.

KFC Science by Emma C

KFC (Kook Fun Cookies) has started to think about what our endangered species posters will look like. We wrote two essays, and our next one is due on 2/19/15. Our first essay was about one specific animal’s main causes for endangerment. Our second essay was a compare and contrast essay about two animals endangerment. In our third essay, we will write about causes and effects for the endangerment of our original animal and their habitat. For our last essay, which we have not done yet, we will write about a call to action. Our call to action essay will be full of opinion, which the KFC has been desperately wanting to write with since the first essay. All in all, make sure you are ready to turn in your essays!

5^th Year Math by Ezra

This week in 5th grade math, we are working on multiplying fractions. We just recently finished up a short quiz about it. Now we are working on finding out the dimensions of squares and rectangles. We just started this with Cassie, and it is already really fun. We got a small slip of paper that is about our new topic, (dimensions for squares and rectangles) and it was given to us as  homework on 2-12-15, which is due after our long break on Wednesday.

6^th Year Math by Charlotte

The 6th graders are finishing up the ratio unit and beginning to work on the algebra unit. We have been working out of the expressions volume 2 Homework and remembering book. The remembering questions say “ 4.5*11=n” did you get the answer? it’s 49.5. A question out of the homework side is “7/4=12/a a=___ the correct answer is 6.8 it’s okay that one was much harder. We have been sharing our ways to problems like that Jack talked about cross multiplying and I said I used a factor puzzle.

What would you say?

Poll of the Week by Amy and Amelia

This week, we did a poll on UFOs and what would you say if you saw one! Unfortunately, we didn’t get many results, but here they are!

Choice 1: “I saw a UFO!”

3 classmates would say this choice.

Choice 2: “I saw a martian inside a UFO!”

1 classmate would say this.

Choice 3: “I saw flashing lights on a UFO!”

1 classmate would say this.

Choice 4: “I have no idea what I saw!!”

1 classmate would say this.

Choice 5: Nothing. You fainted.

5 classmates would say this.

Choice 6: Other

15 classmates would say something else!

What would you say?

Advanced Orchestra by Emma W

In Advanced Orchestra, the songs we are working on is Dragon Hunter, Cripple Creek, The Voyage, Hunters Chorus.At our last concert, we finished up Modal Festival, which we are not working on anymore.

Soleil Student Blog Week of January 5th, 2015

Welcome to the first Soleil blog post of 2015! 

BG Reading by Ava G and Livia

this week  the bubble giraffes in reading are are getting together with kim and working on packets.  Each packet has a different topic like one was catwings that was a packet that we did response note on and answered questions. The response notes were for questions and sentences that give us hints about the setting. It was fun to have this packet I hope we do it again!

KFC Science by Charlotte

A Good Look at your Garbage Bin

This week in science we had a special guest come in to our classroom to teach us about garbage. Her name was Ali and she worked at the local Waste Management center. She explained where our garbage goes and how the average person  makes 4.5 lbs. of garbage a day. She taught us what goes in the recycle bin and what can’t, and what cannot be recycled. I found this to be quite interesting and useful. Did you know that as long as there is no food or liquid coming out you can recycle yogurt cups?!!

5^th Year Math by Giselle

Right now in 5th grade math we are working on using fractions and we have just started a new observation calendar. Our homework that was assigned to us by Cassie last Thursday is due today, Monday. Be sure to check that you have finished both pages and that they are ready to turn in! (If you finished them early, you can turn them in early.)

6^th year math by Nathanael

In 6th year math the 6th years are learning about percentage and discounts or coupons, we learned about how to change poles that have a total of votes that are not 100, and also we are learning about circle graphs. If you ask the 6th years favorite subject the will answer MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art by Emilee and Athmar

In art this week, we have been drawing trees after they lost there brownness and turning a red/brownish color. In the background you would see a sun setting or rising sun depending on the drawers preference. We are using pastels to draw our trees.

Cocoa House by Grace

Previously, before winter break on January 12th Soleil celebrated Cocoa House. For parents don’t know what Cocoa House is, it is a winter celebration where 4th, 5th and 6th graders read poetry on a stage on Room 11 (M’s side). However, this year was a little different from last years Cocoa House because the rule was no poetry written by SHEL SILVERSTEIN! This was because our teachers, M, Cassie and Kim wanted to introduce Soleil to other poets other than Shel Silverstein. At first I thought that this was a terrible rule. I thought in my head NO SHEL SILVERSTEIN=ANGRY GRACE= UMMMMM……. WELL I DON’T REALLY KNOW... I FORGOT. Anyway, later on I found new poets I now prefer over Shel Silverstein. But, poetry isn’t the only thing we did at Cocoa House. Soleil got to have food! Such as, chips, sadly…. vegetables, wonderful fruits, donuts, cookies, candy canes and I bet you can’t guess what else………… ……………………………………………………………………Cocoa, what a surprise! For people sitting on Room 11 (Kim and Cassie’s side) got to see the Soleil Gratitude presentation. Overall, I thought Cocoa House was really fun!

12/9/2014

Welcome to the first completely student written and edited Soleil Blog post!

BG Reading by Saki

In BG’s reading we are doing reading olympics. Reading olympics is where you read 3 different books and write an Annotated bibliography and write a question test to get a medal. Writing an Annotated bibliography and writing the question test help us understand the  plot of the book more. For each book you will need to do that.

BG Writing by Naomi

In writing, the BG’s (bubble giraffes) are writing personal narratives/memoirs! So far they are going great and Kim is being the best helper someone could have. We have been editing to make sure they have a “grabber beginning”. Also, to make sure we use synonyms  like changing run to dash, also to make sure the story makes sense when it is put together. We have read a few and they aren’t

BG Science by Cassie

This week we are continuing to pollute our eco-columns.  Students pollute by watering their eco-columns with one of three solutions every day.  We make observations and measure the soil and water pH twice a week. We are looking forward to finishing the experiment and seeing if our hypotheses were correct!

KFC Writing by Giselle

So far, the KFC’s latest  writing project is the Mini Poster.  It was due this tuesday, December 2 (the final draft). M asked us to use big letters. So that the poster stands out so people can see it. The people who are walking by in the hallway need to be able to read the whole thing within 5 seconds!

KFC Science by Sydney P

In KFC science, we just finished up doing our last observations before we pollute our eco-columns,(a model terrarium on top of a model aquarium.) Now, we have started polluting them with salt solution, vinegar solution, and fertilizer solution. We our polluting the eco-columns every other day, and are observing what happened to the eco-columns on the other days. I can’t wait to find out how the pollutants affect the eco-columns!

4^th year Math by Ben

In 4th grade math, we have been learning a lot of new things. We learned 3 different ways to multiply,the shortcut way,the window way and the mini shortcut way. and we are doing a calendar grid for each month with a different pattern/subject. We also play fun math games, such as closest to 100. Time tiles are also fun- we have to solve problems like, “what time is it 2 hours after 3:30?”We are about to start geometry!  

5^th year Math by Jacob

In our 5th grade math class we do a “Calendar grid observation” that changes every month.  We are (for now) using fractions. Like the kind of problem: ⅚ is less than 8/9. During fractions, we learn short ways to solve fraction problems like now, we’re doing LCD (Least Common Denominator ) find the lowest multiple of the denominator. (About) Every 4 weeks, we switched to something new!

6^th year Math by Emma, Grace, and Sarah

Sixth Grade Math is currently learning on how to work with percentages (multiplying, dividing etc...) We are usually assigned homework or class work in our math books everyday. Previously this year, we learned to divide and multiply decimals. We are also learning to describe our strategies for solving our homework problems in “math language”. For example, instead of saying what we did to solve a problem,  we would say what we need to do to solve this type of problem. Monica Wellman, or M, teaches us this so that we can become successful and grow as a “math meister”. After a period of time working on a strategy or problem, M will give us a short quiz to test how much we know about what we have just learned. M will later grade  these quizzes and hand them back to us. When students need support on some problems, M uses her time after a lesson to help them. Before sixth grade math, we have math practice. Math practice is during fourth and fifth grade math. During this time, we go on math websites such as, mobymax.com and tenmarks.com. The rest of the Soleil Center uses these websites as well. Mobymax.com is not only used for math but also for  language and vocabulary. Mobymax has you take a test to place you in the skill level that you belong in. On the other hand, Tenmarks gives you assignments that M assigns us. Sixth graders are so fortunate, proud and thankful to have such an amazing math teacher like M.

Art by Liam

This week my class is drawing pictures of trees in fall with leaves falling down. With the sun in the background. We are also using pastell.                  ART IS FUN!!!!!!!

Advanced Band by Charlotte

Advanced band is for kids who work hard in music and reach a more advanced level in band. We commonly play 7th grade music which is one-two years above our grade level as fifth and sixth graders. This semester we are playing three pieces, In The Hall of The Mountain King, Gypsy Dance, and Atlantis. We leave in the middle of olympics time for an hour before lunch on Fridays. We do miss part of olympics, but it is a lot of fun!

Orchestra by Ezra                                                                                                            

This year in Orchestra we will be doing a few concerts. For intermediate and advanced orchestra, our closest concert is on january 14, 2015. In intermediate orchestra, we will be doing a few songs, such a New Horizons, Cripple Creek, and a few other songs out of our music books (Essential Elements Book 1). Every time advanced, intermediate or beginning orchestra has a concert, you will need to be there at least 30 minutes earlier to tune and be ready to preform!