Tirana International School 3 October 2018 Important Dates October 8-12 - Fall Break - No School 15 - Advisory Board Meeting 15-26 - Food Drive for Food Bank Albania 17 - PSG Meeting 18-25 - Digital Citizenship Week 23 - Picture Day 26 - Fall Festival 31 - Traditional Parent/Teacher Conference - No School for Students November 1-4 - CEESA MS Boys Football/Belgrade 15-18 - CEESA MS Robotics/Warsaw 15-18 - CEESA MS/HS x-country/Sofia 19-23 Fall Into Reading Director's Desk Dear Parents, Students and Friends of TIS, Who knew that October would be such a busy time for schools? Even though we have our fall break next week, there are still many activities and meetings coming up before we head into November. First of all, we will start our annual food drive for Food Bank Albania right as we return from vacation. Last year we broke all records for the country of Albania by giving over two tons of food! In order for us to meet or break our own record, we need everyone participating. On Monday, October 15, we will send home bags and lists of food to be donated. Join in and help the less fortunate in Albania! Another important event in October is our Parent/Teacher Conferences, which will take place on October 31 from 8:00 - 4:00 pm. We will send out a booking schedule for teachers so that you can select a time that meets your needs. Homeroom and MS/Secondary teachers will follow the booking process, while other teachers (music, art, library, PE and all foreign languages) will be in the cafeteria on a drop in basis. The Director, Director of Instruction, and school Counselor will also be in the cafeteria on a drop in basis. Note that there will be no school for students on that day so that teachers can meet with you. Finally, we will hold our annual Fall Festival on Friday, October 26, 2018. This is a very special event that allows for families to enjoy an evening out with Trunk or Treating. Last year we had an amazing time as parents decorated their cars and gave out candy, stickers or pencils to those children that came by for a treat. We hope that this year will be just as good, but it relies on your help to make it happen. Please take a moment to register for the event here. Remember that there is a fee to join the evening...each child must contribute two bags to the food drive before that evening! Together we can make a difference! Looking Forward, Robert S. Jackson, Director Have you read anything good yet? Our recommendation corner it has become an important part of the library. This is a place where students display good books they have read recently and would like to recommend them to their peers. Having their pictures print, was the hit of this year. Happy reading! Poisonous Chemicals What would happen to your cells if they made a poisonous chemical? You might think that they would die. In fact, your cells are always making poisonous chemicals. Attached are photos of the AP biology students conducting a laboratory experiment to test how temperature affects the Catalase enzyme which breaks down hydroxide peroxide, a toxic chemical found in your body into two harmless substances - water and oxygen. Enzymes are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and affects their ability to break down toxic chemicals. English and Italian sonnets British Literature is an exciting class, full of philosophical discussions, discoveries of ideas, and thought-provoking texts. Last week, students not only read and analyzed English and Italian sonnets, but also wrote their own. It was a challenging assignment, but many rose up to the challenge. Here is a sample stanza of original student poetry: Their love was like the sun and midnight moon, where Heaven split and earthly souls wept, as they sung ballads to that mystic rune, that cast its spell, their minds and souls it kept. Exploring Nature In Science, the 5s are exploring nature and creating collections of items found in nature. We are practicing our inquiry skills by observing different items and asking questions. We've had a lot of fun going on nature walks to collect items from our forest (we've found a lot of leaves, acorns, sticks, and rocks) and then sorting these items. Rivers and Nature The weather in Tirana has been extremely pleasant this month and the 9 YO class has made the best of it. This week in science they explored what factors affect how the earth is shaped by moving water. In small groups they planned a model to show how rivers form. Then they gathered in our school forest and carved away riverbeds and riverbanks with natural elements found in the forest. Finally water was poured down the slopes to complete the demonstration. It was a success. According to the students the perfect weather, outdoor lesson, and hands-on activity made a memorable class. Mastery accomplished! 6 YO and Tech Time The 6 year old class enjoys technology class. They are learning to type and how to use computers safely. Best of all they love to use the Microsoft paint program to create their works of art. Diffusion and Temperature The secondary Biology students are conducting an experiment on diffusion to see how temperature (hot, room, and cold water) affects the rate of diffusion. This allows the students to acquire a better understanding how molecules pass through the cell membrane to help maintain homeostasis in our bodies. Sharing and Working Together 10 year old students are always working together to solve everyday problems. Our class loves to help each other to be successful. Sharing and working together will always bring out the best in your student's life. Couplets, Triplets, Quatrains, Cinquains and Haikus. In 11 Year Old Literacy, students have been reading, studying and writing poetry. We have worked independently and as a class to create couplets, triplets, quatrains, cinquains and haikus. We are studying figurative language, rhyme, rhythm and structure in order to understand poems and to write our own. Today we worked in small groups to brainstorm topics and descriptive phrases for haikus. What feeling describes your mood today? The Dragonflies are currently discussing different feelings and empathy. The children were asked to place their name under the feeling that best described their mood. Afterwards we calculated the result and it turns out we’re quite a happy bunch! First Steps In violin class, the 5 year olds have been learning the steps of holding the Bow an Violin. They are playing on Violin the first Twinkle-Rhythm on E, A-String and string-crossing from E to A. They are very happy and enjoy the violin class. Vocabulary This unit, Spanish students made cards for the new vocabulary and they had a lot of fun practicing by matching the Spanish words with their meanings in English. CEESA travel season is upon us. This November TIS will send teams to football, cross country, and robotics tournaments throughout Europe. CEESA requires that students participating in these events be hosted by familes from the hosting school. It is great to know that our students are well taken care of while they are away. Please note that participation in CEESA events also requires TIS to host events throughout the year. In February we will be hosting High School Speech and Debate. In April we will host the Middle School Knowledge Bowl. We will be calling on parents to host students from other international schools when these events happen. Thank you in advance for your help.
Rules for Parents The following rules are intended for the use of all respective parents hosting for CEESA sponsored events. For the duration of the event you stand in place of the visiting student’s parents. Please exercise all supervision and care that you would normally exercise with your own children and observe all CEESA rules below.
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