September, 2019

Volume 5, Issue 1

Baltimore City Public

Schools

Letter from the Principal

Dear BIA Family,

IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER IS UP-ON US! As a reminder, Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for Monday, Novem-ber 4th. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher to confirm and/or schedule an appointment if you have not done so already. With the inclement weather soon approaching, children need to be dressed ap-propriately for the colder weather. Coats, hats, gloves, scarves and boots are es-sential for recess. Children will go outside for their 20 minutes of recess as long as it is not raining and temperatures are not “frigid”. You may also want to con-sider labeling the inside of his/her clothing as many student items including uni-forms look similar. Encourage your children to visit the “Lost & Found”; there are SEVERAL items have been already “found” this school year. We urge you to make every effort to have your child at school on time each day so that your child has a good beginning to his/her day. When students are late, it disrupts the class as well as causing the tardy student to miss specific directions for the day. If you drop-off your child after 8:00AM, PLEASE walk him/her to the main entrance. Students should not be walking through the parking lot unsupervised. This is NOT safe for anyone. We will continue to assess and evaluate various aspects of the school setting to ensure student safety throughout the school day. As always, I encourage you to contact me to share great news about your child, ask for clarification and/or express a concern. I am looking forward to working with you all this year! Thank you for your continued support to school and its mission.

Elena Lokounia, Principal

Inside this issue:

Letter from the principal 1

IB Update 1

News from ELA 2

News from Spanish Im-

mersion Program

2

News from Chinese Im-

mersion Program

3

News from Arabic Immer-

sion Program

3

News from Russian Im-

mersion Program

4

News from French Immer-

sion Program 4

Counselors’ Corner 5

News from the Resources

Team

5

Baltimore

International

Academy

“Knowledgeable” is the Learner Profile of the Month

For the month of October, the IB learner profile’s quality teachers focused on was “Knowledgeable.” The International Baccalaureate defines this Learner Profile as taking the initiative to “Explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance; acquire in-depth knowledge and develop under-standing across a broad and balanced range of disciplines” Teachers worked with students all month to explain, model and observe being Knowledgeable. We are please to announce that teachers had no problem identifying students who excelled in demonstrating these qualities. The students will be awarded certifi-cates during Morning Assembly and have their photos posted in the Main Lobby as Students of the Mont for October. Congratulations to them all.

4

ELA News You Can Use

Page 2 Baltimore International Academy

The ELA Department has started a new curriculum this year, Wit and Wisdom. Last year we had a pilot program for 4th and 5th grades. Test scores improved and we decided to recom-mend the curriculum for school wide implementation. It is rigorous and the students are loving it. Two reading inter-ventionists have been hired for elementary and middle school. We want to do all we can to help support our strug-gling learners. Our elementary school teachers are working are with their students building vocabulary and helping them to become proficient and advanced readers.

Our middle school had the opportunity to go to the Hippodrome theater to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was a magnificent performance. Seventy-seven middle school students and 6 staff mem-bers enjoyed this free trip thanks to the generosity of the Hippodrome Foundation for thee tickets and Baltimore City Public Schools for funding the transportation. Our next Positive Behavior In-centive (PBIS) trip is to Sky Zone on November 20th.

We have also started a school newspaper, The Eye of the Owl. The paper is for kids and by kids. Look for the first edition to come out soon. We have partnered with the Baltimore Urban Debate League to start a debate team. The first debate will be a scrimmage and we will see the format of

the debate. Our students are really looking forward to becoming great debaters.

News from the Spanish Immersion Program A Brief History of Día de los Muertos for Children

Día de los Muertos is a very old Mexican tradition when people take the time to remember family members and friends who have died. Today, it is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd..Because it is colorful and joyful, it is now cel-ebrated by more and more people around the world. In Mexico, it is mostly celebrated in the rural areas - or countryside, towns, and villages - by indige-nous people. Indigenous means those people who have lived there a very long time. Each of the towns or regions may celebrate the day in a slightly different way. For example, some towns may celebrate the day by going to the cemetery and preparing a feast at the gravesite of a relative on the eve of Nov. 2. And the custom of altar-building may differ from one state to another. Some of the native people in Mexico believe that the souls of their family and friends first gather at major archaeo-logical sites, such as the pyramids of Teotihuacan outside Mexico City or Monte Alban in Oaxaca. They then find their way back home by the church bells in their hometowns or by following trails of marigolds, or cempasúchiles. Mexicans begin to get ready for the holiday about a week before Nov. 1. Panaderías (bakeries) are filled with pan de muertos (bread of the dead), and florists sell out of every kind of flower, especially the cempasúchil. Stores are filled with sugar skulls (calaveras) of every size, and museums proudly display their exhibits of skeleton figurines dressed as mariachis or everyday workers, such as plumbers, taxi drivers, or doctors. THE ALTER: In the days leading up to the holiday, each family creates a beautiful altar, sometimes referred to as an ofrenda, in their home. The altars are carefully decorated and covered in gifts. The altar is constructed with at least three levels. It is lovingly decorated by all family members with pictures of the loved ones that are being remembered Gifts of water, flowers, candles, and more may be placed on the altar. Each item has symbolic value. Some of the de-ceased's favorite foods and other items may also be included to honor their memory or recall their habits. CALAVERAS: Calaveras, or skulls, can be placed on the altar as decoration. Sugar skulls, especially, have become quite popular. As their name suggests, these little skulls are made of sugar and taste like candy. They are usually dec-orated with icing to make them more fun and colorful. Not only are they great for decorating, but they are also yum-my to eat. Smashing it with your fist and eating the shattered pieces is a way of showing that you've conquered death, if only symbolically.

Taken From : http://www.mommymaestra.com/2010/11/brief-history-of-dia-de-los-muertos-for.html

Page 3 Baltimore International Academy

News from the Chinese Immersion Program

2019’s Annual Chinese Fall Conference

On Oct. 19, the 2019 Fall Conference of the Chinese Language Teachers Association-National Capital Region(CLTA-NCR) was held at the Uni-versity of Maryland, College Park. It was also the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the CLTA-NCR. Nine BIA Chinese immersion teachers along with the assistant principal, Ms. Xiao attended the conference.

The previous president of the CLTA-NCR, Ms. Airry Zhang, a kinder-garten Chinese immersion teacher at BIA, gave the welcoming speech at the beginning of conference and introduced Mr. Xiaoquan Zhang as the new president. The minister councilor of the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy, Ms. Xinyu Yang made the opening remarks. After that, the distinguished guest Ms. Dottie Li, commissioner of the Maryland Gover-nor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs gave a speech and read out the Governor’s Congratulations to all the audience.

During the seminar, the keynote speaker, professor of East Asian Studies, Director of the Chinese Language Program at Prince-ton University, Dr. Chih-p’in Chou presented a talk titled, “Understanding and Proficiency in Chinese teaching”. In teaching, teachers often ask their students if they understand something or not. However, Dr. Chou promotes making sure that the students not only understand but are also proficient in whatever subject is being taught. In teaching language, understanding is the ability to use a word correctly; proficiency is when the correct usage becomes second nature. In the end of his presentation, he gave the teachers a rare invitation to participate in the 28th International Conference on Chinese Language Instruction at Princeton Uni-versity.

After the lunch break, the conference was separated into two panels, one for the university Chinese teachers/professors and the other for the K-12 Chinese teachers. Our BIA third grade Chinese immersion teacher, Ms. Wu held a presentation during the first period about “Characteristics of Teaching Chinese Characters”.

She shared many different activity ideas that can help a student learn new Chinese characters; for example, students could use a graphic organizer to split up parts of a character, or use games such as each student having a different part of a character and try-ing to find the person with the corresponding part.The BIA Chinese Immersion teachers said they appreciated the opportunity to learn from these professionals and communicate with them and other Chinese teachers. We also want to say a big thank you to the CLTA-NCR board members for organizing this great conference for all Chinese teachers in the Nation’s capital region.

News from the Arabic Immersion Program

ARABIC CALLIGRAPHY

Styles of calligraphy

Decorative writing – calligraphy – is one of the highest art forms of the Arab world. This is partly because strict Muslims disap-prove of art which represents humans or living things. A wealth of information about Arabic calligraphy can be found at islamicart.com, a website produced by the Islamic and Arabic Arts and Architecture Organisation. This includes a gen-eral overview of calligraphy in an Islamic religious context and discusses the work of famous calligraphers. It describes the instruments used for calligraphy and how the proportions of the letters are determined. It explains the six major scripts used

in

traditional calligraphy, and the differences between them. There are also some examples of high-quality work in various

styles. Another Sakkal Design is a website produced by Mamoun Sakkal, a Syrian-born designer and teacher. The site provides a historical view of the development of Arabic writing and calligraphy, from the earliest alphabets to the evolution of kufic and cursive styles. For those who want to try their hand, there are a couple of lessons for designing in the Kufic style.

Sakkal also offers a commercial service for rendering names and phrases into Arabic calligraphy as well as calligraphic ver-sions of company logos, and sells a range of Arabic type fonts. Resources :https://al-bab.com/arts-and-culture/arabic-calligraphy

News from the Russian Immersion Program

YOU’VE GOT MAIL!

October was fruitful in the Rus-sian Immersion program. Middle school students received letters from their pen pals from Korolev, Russia. This program has been active within the department for the past five years. Ms. Zvonareva has been in charge of it for the last two. She also organized Reading Buddy program with Friends School for middle schoolers. Attending students participate in a partner reading of books in Russian. Both programs promote literacy skills among students in the target language through extensive reading and writing.

News from the French Immersion Program

Launched in 2012, the "LabelFrancÉducation" seal is granted to schools promoting French language and cul-ture as part of their specific curriculum. "LabelFrancÉducation" recognizes and rewards public or private schools that offer students enhanced instruction in the French language while also teaching other subjects in French. Baltimore International Academy will be hosting on November 12 2019 at 10 in the multipurpose room the ceremony of recognition to have successfully meet the requirement to be part of these few schools in the family of labelFrance education.

The French immersion department and the AATF are pleased to announce its organization of the twenty-first annual National French Week. This week-long celebration of all things French will take place in schools and communities and AATF chapters across the U.S. from November 11-15, 2019 (and 2020) B. We always use this even to take French out of the classroom and demonstrate all the reasons to learn French. This year we will additionally have a French immersion book fair with French books from France in room 205 from November 12th to November 20th. You are all invited to be part of closing ceremony on Friday No-vember 15 at 5Pm

Counselor’s Corner

Greetings from your clinical team!

October has been National Bullying Prevention Month! We have been busy providing presentations to the entire school family to support our young people with developing healthy relationships and promoting a safe learning environment for everyone. In addition, in collaboration with Ms. Choi, the art teacher, there has been a school-wide poster contest.

For your own information, “bullying”:

Adversely affects a student's ability to participate in or benefit from the school's educational programs or activities;

Is a result of repeated negative actions (intentional, aggressive behavior) by one or more other students over time; and

Occurs in a relationship in which there is an imbalance of power. “Harassment” occurs:

When a student perceives or actually experiences discomfort with identity issues in regard to race, color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or other identifying characteristics;

And whose ability to participate in and benefit from the school's educational programs or activities is adversely affected.

Harassment causes harm from discriminatory conduct that is pervasive or severe.

Students in the Middle School program also had an opportunity to further understand what “cyber bullying” is. Remember, bullying does not only happen at school. It can happen anywhere, including through texting, the internet and social media. Be advised to tell your child “don’t respond to and don’t forward cyberbully-ing messages” and to “block the person who is cyberbullying”. Most importantly, report all concerns to the school so that the situation may be addressed directly.

Baltimore City Public Schools

Baltimore International Academy

4410 Frankford Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21206

Phone: 410-426-3650

Fax: 410-426-36

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BaltimoreInternational

News from our Resources Team

Here are some updates from the Resource/Specials Team:

• Art Club is in full session! Congrats to the students who were chosen. Any open spots will be filled in quickly

by the waitlist for this popular club.

• Be on the lookout for extra-curricular school Music Ensembles to be announced soon!

• Kickball Team has been kicking some serious stuff! We are so proud of our kids for winning their most recent

game!

• If you want to be a part of the Arts Integration Committee, please contact Mrs. Levitzky at KELevitz-

ky@bcps.k12.md.us. We have won the Arts Every Day grant two years in a row and need your support for assem-

blies, field trips, and workshops to be booked utilizing the funds from the grant!

• We have also won the Young Audience's of Maryland Access for All grant. This will help us cut the cost of

booking a workshop or program for our students by 80%!

• Mrs. Levitzky is in need of an 88 keyed electric piano with legs built-in. If anyone has one they'd like to do-

nate for a tax deduction, please contact her at KELevitzky@bcps.k12.md.us. Here is a picture of the type of piano

she needs below! Remember, any instruments you donate to BIA are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

• The Winter Concert is soon approaching! This year's concert theme is Hot Chocolate. Feel free to donate

packets of hot chocolate as prizes for students who attend the concert and bring holiday treats to share. Teachers

may be giving out BIA bucks/incentives to those who attend. The date will be announced AS SOON AS POSSI-

BLE!

• The head of the Resources Department (Visual, Performing, Physical Education, Technology, and Design) is

Mrs. Levitzky, the music educator. If you have any questions, feel free to contact her at KELevitz-

ky@bcps.k12.md.us.