BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO

Dear Boulevard Families,

It is hard to believe how close we are to the end of the school year. Our staff and students have made tre-

mendous strides in the understanding and development of the IB Primary Years Programme. The staff has

worked tirelessly during collaborative planning time, writing and reflecting on the six units of inquiry

your children experienced this school year and incorporating the standards and practices of IB into their

classrooms. They have also participated in workshops to develop the inquiry model of teaching and con-

cept based education. The students have embraced the units of inquiry and are wondering and inquiring

in their classes throughout the day. Classroom and hallway displays of student work are extraordinary.

We hope you are able to spend some time looking at these displays as you come into the building during

the final weeks of school. Notice how your children work together to learn, share knowledge, help each

other, and take ownership of their learning. They are beginning to understand and emulate the Attributes

of the Learner Profile.

Our IB Coach, Mr. Randy Koch, was with us for two days in January. He spent time with all staff members,

visited classrooms and met with parents and administrators. His impression of our progress toward au-

thorization was very favorable. Mr. Koch will be returning in August to work with our staff in preparation

for our submission of Application B by October 1st. We will know by late fall or early winter if we have

been accepted as an official IB World School. Our work will not end at authorization. Teachers will con-

tinue to develop and refine the units of inquiry working toward a transdisciplinary programme of global

significance. We will begin a three year journey toward re-evaluation and continue to grow and learn just

like your children.

Thank you for communicating with us throughout the year. We enjoy talking to you, hearing your com-

ments and suggestions, and reflections on our progress. Please call, email or stop by to see us if you

would like more information about the Primary Years Programme (PYP) at Boulevard School.

We hope your summer is full of wonder.

Brenda Kline Beth Coyne

IB Co-Coordinators

Dear Families,

Cleveland is blessed with a wealth of revered cultural institutions: the Cleveland Museum of Art, the

Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University to name a

few. Many of the talented men and women who work for these esteemed institutions are parents of Boule-

vard students. This year, some of these talented members of our school community, dedicated to passing

on their knowledge and love of the arts to our children, joined forces with Boulevard faculty to create two

phenomenal enrichment programs that link the IB curriculum with the arts. In this issue of the Interna-

tional Baccalaureate News we are highlighting the enrichment opportunities occurring for Boulevard stu-

dents and the world famous Cleveland Museum of Art.

(continues on back)

Our Journey Continues...

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE NEWS

MAY 2011 VOLUME II, ISSUE 4

Principal’s Letter

Taking Action in Art

Page 2

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE NEWS

In art class, students are presented with lessons which allow them to make personal choices. For

example, recently our fourth grade students learned about the artist, Pablo Picasso, and his influ-

ence on the art world. They learned about his contributions which included his style, his individual-

ity, and his long career. Students were led to act and create their own interpretation in a painting

influenced by their knowledge. After the completion of their work, they reflect in a personal jour-

nal. This gives them the opportunity to think about their effort, collect their thoughts and record

them.

Art provides students a means of communication, exploration and experimentation. The process

involved in each lesson is directly related to the IB Action Cycle. Students first must think about

what they have been taught, they make choices based on their individual thoughts and feelings, they

create artwork and ultimately reflect on the results of their effort. Following lessons students often

report to the class on their visits to museums in which they observe works of art related to what

they had learned at school. Some students create art on their own outside of class which also relates

to lessons they have had at school and others inform us of books and media they have explored out-

side of class. It is exciting to know that students are able to form knowledgeable personal opinions

and take individual action based on what they learn in art class.

When I first began learning about the IB Program several years ago, I was overwhelmed with ques-

tions and wondered how I would incorporate it into my curriculum in art class. Today I see it be-

coming a natural way in my teaching approach and in the path in which students are learning. I

work to emphasize the Attributes of the Learner Profile, integrate the Key Concepts and relate to

the Action Cycle when opportunities arise.

The Action Cycle is a process of learning and thinking, feeling and choosing, doing and acting. It is

repeated again and again in lessons at each grade level.

Mrs. Naomi Loges

Art Teacher

Page 3

VOLUME II, ISSUE 4

Essential Elements in Mandarin

IB has opened up my mind. Two years ago when I was asked to translate some of the IB vocabu-

lary, I couldn’t help looking at all the Essential Elements - the Key Concepts, the Transdiscipli-

nary Themes, the Transdisciplinary Skills, the Attitudes, and the Action Cycle and I said to my-

self, “Oh, This is GREAT!” The enthusiasm about IB keeps me thinking how to incorporate IB

into my Chinese instruction.

One of the attributes I like most is “inquirer” in the Learner Profile. I believe every student is an

inquirer by nature. My job is to foster their inquiry thinking in a natural way. When I teach a new

word, instead of telling them directly what it means, I say that word in a sentence with my body

language and facial expressions. Kids are very excited when they figure out what it means, and I

am very excited when they can use that word in their real life communication. The inquiry of how

to use an abacus has added so much fun for the learning of this ancient Chinese calculating tool.

When I introduced the Chinese writing system, I let students compare the characters with alpha-

betical letters. I showed them two thank you cards, one in Chinese and the other in English. Stu-

dents came to conclusion that the forms of writing are different, but the functions of communica-

tion are the same --- they both expressed our appreciation of others. Students showed great inter-

est in the changes of the character writing, especially when they know the causations of the

changes in the background of Chinese history. They are learning the Key Concepts!

Through the activities I did for the celebration of Chinese New Year, I could see that "IB is in our

minds and hearts" (as our IB coach Randy Koch said)! When I brought dumplings for the second

graders to taste, I was so glad to see a group of adventurers eating with open-minds and apprecia-

tion. They are learning the Attributes and the Attitudes.

While introducing the different cultures in China, I also emphasized the common values we have.

I hope my students will grow up to be global citizens, and when they meet people who speak dif-

ferent languages, they understand that we are more alike than we are different.

Mrs. Qiuhui Li

Mandarin Chinese Teacher

The 5 Essential Elements

The Key Concepts

Transdisciplinary Themes

Transdisciplinary Skills

The Attitudes

The Action Cycle

Boulevard Elementary School

14900 Drexmore Road

Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120

United States

Phone: 216-295-4020

Fax: 216-295-4019

Contact Information/IB Coordinators

Mrs. Brenda Kline Mrs. Beth Coyne

216-295-4928 216-295-4020

kline_b@shaker.org coyne_l@shaker.org

Principal

Mrs. Colleen Longo

216-295-4020

BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A Community of Learners...Together we imagine...inquire...inspire.

(continued from front page)

Boulevard parent Lara Mullen is a consultant to the Education Department of the Cleveland Museum of Art

as well as a gallery and Art to Go docent. In her role as a Boulevard parent volunteer, Mrs. Mullen saw first-

hand the teacher’s initial steps toward developing inquiry in the classrooms. She realized that the Educa-

tion Department Art to Go “suitcases” were an outstanding link to our new IB curriculum. With the financial

support of the Boulevard PTO, Mrs. Mullen was able to arrange Art to Go presentations for the students in

grades 2 and 4. This year, our fourth grade students experienced the Problem Solving: What in the World

suitcase and second grade students experienced the Native North American Art suitcase.

During the Art to Go presentations, students had an amazing opportunity to be inquirers! Donning white

gloves, students were given a once-in a-lifetime opportunity to handle ancient artifacts from the museum’s

collection. Students investigated the objects up close to find thoughtful answers to questions such as, How

were they made? What were the original purposes? and What meaning might they have held for the peo-

ple who created them? While being led through these interactive discovery sessions, students also had the

opportunity to develop their own wonder questions. Throughout the presentations, facts and ideas about

the cultures that created the objects emerged and helped the children develop a broader view of our

world.

Boulevard teachers report that the Art to Go experiences have been a huge success and a dynamic addi-

tion to the curriculum! The fourth grade students in Mrs. Shaw’s class couldn’t wait for their Art to Go pres-

entation. Mrs. Shaw described the experience as, “an unbelievable hands-on opportunity for the students

to wonder or question on the spot with some truly amazing artifacts.” She went on to say, “I love Art to Go

and my students loved it too. It was a really special experience for the kids!”

In addition to bringing Art to Go to Boulevard, Mrs. Mullen also had the idea of tying the transdisciplinary

themes of the IB Primary Years Programme to the children’s yearly trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art. In

order to ensure that all students at Boulevard have a consistent curriculum-related experience, Lara began

a training program for select school tour docents about the IB curriculum, the six themes and the key con-

cepts, and how to use them during tours as an extension of the school curriculum.

IB co-coordinator Brenda Kline recently attended an art museum field trip with a fourth grade class. She

was thrilled with the trip and the fabulous connections that were made between the art (in this instance ar-

mor and artifacts from the European Middle Ages through the Renaissance) and the central idea of the unit

of inquiry, People establish structures of power and authority to promote the welfare of societies. Mrs. Kline

was deeply impressed by what she witnessed on this trip and looks forward to attending other trips next

school year with students in different grades.

As this year comes to a close we are already eagerly planning for next. Thanks to the generosity of our

Boulevard PTO, all students in grades one through four will be enriched with an Art to Go experience dur-

ing the 2011-2012 school year as well as a curriculum aligned gallery visit. Our students look forward to

exploring much more of the Cleveland Museum of Art over their school career at Boulevard!

In Our Next Issue: Read about the Boulevard third graders’ visit to Herr Chapel and the Sanctuary of Ply-

mouth Church for a presentation by Boulevard parent musicians, Peter Bennett, Todd Wilson, and Neil

Mueller who presented a wonderful program comparing and contrasting attributes of the harpsichord, pi-

ano, trumpet, and organ. A truly magnificent enrichment experience!

Sincerely,

Colleen Longo