Tirana International School 23 January 2018 Important Dates January 28 - Violin/ Piano/ Guitar concert (6:00 pm - 7:00 pm) 30 Jan - 3 Feb - CEESA MS Choir/Moscow 31 Jan - 3 Feb - CEESA HS Knowledge Bowl/Skopje 31 Jan - 4 Feb - CEESA MS Mathcounts/Belgrade 31 - Narratives Released February 7-10 - CEESA HS Tech Robotics/Bucharest 7-10 - HOSTING - CEESA HS Speech&Debate/Tirana 11 - 100 Days of School 11-15 - Math Week 11-14 - Middle States Accreditation Team in Tirana 18-22 - Mid/Winter Break, No School Director's Desk Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of TIS, Please note that the Iron Chef Competition has been postponed. The PSG met this morning and determined that due to rampant illness, that it would be better to put off this event so that the community can get over the cold and flu bugs that are going around. We will reschedule the cook off for a later date. As we consider the health of our community, please take a look at the TIS Health Services website to see our guide on when to send a child to school after an illness. Naturally, each culture views this differently, but we want to make sure that children are well enough and not contagious when they return to school. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our Health Services office. Looking Forward, Robert S. Jackson, Director MSA Accreditation On Monday, February 11 at 15:00, all parents are invited to a meeting with the accreditation visiting team. The team would like to talk with you about your experience at TIS. Please mark this meeting on your calendar and plan to be with us for this special time. Child care will be provided so that you can drop off your children for the hour long meeting. Working with Language Quizzes The Students of the German Secondary I class are challenging themselves working with language quizzes. Learning through language quizzes helps the students to figure out their learning profile. By answering a set of simple questions, the student provides information about how to make learning easier and much more enjoyable. The quiz takes just a few minutes to complete and is actually quite engaging — they’re going to dive into the depths of their brain to figure out how they develop information. They might even learn a thing or two about themselves in the process. The questions we ask in the quiz helps the students understand how they learn as well as how they interact with information, they are receiving for the first time. Cooperative Learning Regardless of what we are doing, 10-year-olds enjoy sharing and working together. Whether it is working together to solve math problems, sharing a moment reading a great book, or even enjoying looking at videos or photos of our loved pets. 10's love to cooperate and grow through group interaction. Fairy and Folk Tales This month in Literacy class, the 5s are studying Fairy and Folk Tales. As a whole group, we are reading and discussing a variety of fairy and folk tales, and we are learning about the elements of fairy tales (good and evil characters, magic, "Once upon a time," and a "happily every after.") In Centers this week, they are working in small groups on different fairy tales and reading skills. In one center, they are using a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast a traditional Cinderella story with "Cinderella Penguin." In another center, they are filling out a worksheet on the fairy tale elements of "Little Red Riding Hood." In a third center, they are listening to "Rumpelstiltskin" on tape and then drawing a picture of him and writing their opinion of him. In the fourth center, they are sequencing the events in the story, "The Little Red Hen." Similes In Literacy, the 7-Year-Old Black Class has been studying similes. Students learned that similes are a figure of speech that compare two things using the words "like" or "as." Understanding similes can help students visualize when they are reading and be more descriptive writers. To show that similes create mental images, students illustrated the lyrics to the song "Everything at Once" by Lenka which happens to be a song full of similes. You can enjoy their illustrations in a clip in this week's Tiger News. Learn how to be Independent In the Crickets class, we are continuing to learn about self-care and independence. We can do so much by ourselves! We can put our food away and push in our chairs after mealtimes. We are learning to dress ourselves and put on our shoes. We are even learning to make our own beds after nap time. Go Crickets! Is it possible to paint a song? Secondary art students have been challenged with such a task recently. They had to represent the lyrics and mood of a song in a picture. Using visual language, which comprises imagery, line, color, texture, and composition, young artists conveyed what they feel when listening to their favorite pieces of music. Family Tree During French class, the 7 and 8 years old played a new game about the members of the family and they loved it! They already know to answer the questions about family, to introduce family members and complete a family tree. We are progressing and enjoying our time together! TIS Boxing TIS Boxing is modeled on England Boxing Standards for Coaching Olympic-Style Non-Contact Boxing in Schools. Good coaching is vital in providing children with a positive introduction to boxing which allows them to learn the basic skills and techniques in a safe and enjoyable way. This year boxing is being offered as an elective for Secondary I students and an After-School activity for High School. As part of our comprehensive approach to keeping your children safe, TIS had adopted the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum. We are piloting the program with our middle school and secondary students during their Wednesday advisory time starting January 23rd. All students 4-years-old and up will engage in the curriculum for 45 minutes per week staring in the 2019-20 school year. Please read the following letter for more information about the middle and high school plan for this year. Additional Resources for all parents can be found on the KS:CPC website: Math Inquiry In Advanced Math I students learned the rules for finding vertical asymptotes and removable discontinuities through inquiry. They investigated on their own provided graphs and made conjectures based on their observations. They were then provided with a theoretical consolidation and confirmation of the findings of their investigation Parents, TIS is excited to announce our winter Saturday Sports Program. TIS will offer a six-week gymnastics and basketball program for our students from ages 5-13. Dates: January 12, 19, 26 February 2, 16 March 2 Gymnastics for ages 5-7 will run from 9:00 until 10:00 Gymnastics for ages 8-13 will run from 10:00 until 11:00 Basketball for ages 8-10 will run from 9:00 until 10:00 Basketball for ages 5-7 will run from 10:00 until 11:00 Basketball for ages 11-13 will run from 11:00 until 12:00 The cost for the gymnastics is 6000 Leke for the six-week session. Payment will be made directly to the coaches at the first session. The gymnastics training will be conducted by 3 coaches with extensive experience in the United States and Albania. There is no cost for the basketball program. Both programs are open to boys and girls. The schedule has been organized so that children may participate in both activities. Registration for the Saturday Sports program can be completed by filling out the Google form HERE Advisory Board Meeting Notes The TIS Advisory Board meets several times a year to provide guidance for the school and decide on issues of importance. The latest meeting was held on January 15 and you can find notes from the meeting here. We have a new website where you can look through the items and see if you find anything that belongs to you. The Valdete Trust, an organization TIS has partnered with in the past, is holding a fundraiser on February 8th. Please see the image for details and contact information. The Valdete Trust exists to provide care, education, and support to people in Albania with muscular dystrophy or other degenerative conditions. |