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Welch Elementary April PTA Newsletter
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
● April 9th-No School-School Improvement Planning ● April 11th-Picture Day ● April 11th-Culture Night 6:30pm-8:00pm ● April 17th-General PTA Meeting ● April 24-Crazy Hair Day
WELCH PTA ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The PTA popped popcorn for Welch students and staff on Welch Spirit Day, the first
Wednesday of each month.
We held the second annual STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Fair on March 15th with 150 participants.
The PTA administered the Accelerated Reader program at Welch, open to all Kindergarten through 5th grade students, and distributed incentive prizes to participating students.
We began planning the year-end celebration - known as Fifth Grade Farewell - for Welch’s oldest students.
We provided bus transportation for the Welch first grade field trip to the Waubonsie Valley High School Planetarium.
The PTA administered the Six Flags Read to Succeed program, earning participating Welch students Six Flags tickets.
We ran a second Box Tops campaign, raising funds for LMC materials at Welch.
The PTA provided incoming Kindergarten parents with lots of information at Kindergarten preview as well as an opportunity to purchase Kindergarten t-shirts.
We provided food and drinks for the White Tiger Awards Breakfast.
FROM THE PRESIDENTS
Welcome Back! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Spring Break. As we look back in March, we would like to thank all of our volunteers and participants who helped to make this year’s Welch PTA STEM Fair a success. Mark your calendars! Our first Welch cultural event will be held on Thursday, April 11th from 6:30-8:00 p.m. We are so excited to be able to share some of the unique cultures that form our own Welch school community. Please join us on Wednesday, April 17th at 7:00pm for our General PTA meeting. We will be holding elections for the Fall 2013 Executive Committee. All are welcome, including children! We will once again be providing activities for children in the MPR, while parents attend the meeting. Are you interested in becoming more involved with the Welch PTA? Do you have a few extra hours each month to volunteer? There are so many ways to lend a hand! We currently have openings for various committee chair people for the 2013/14 school year and are always seeking volunteers to help out with ongoing PTA activities and events. What a wonderful way to become more involved in your child’s elementary school experience! If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us. ([email protected], [email protected]) Looking forward to another wonderful month at Welch! Sincerely, Karen Duncan & Michelle Enns
BIRTHDAY CLUB PARTICIPANTS
Jacob Birthday: August Book: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Milan Birthday: March Book: Days With Frog and Toad Alexa Birthday: March Book: Ramona and Her Mother Ryan Birthday: April Books: Pokemon-Wrath of the Legends, Ninjago-Masters of Spinjitzu Christopher Birthday: September Books: Ninjago-Rise of the Snakes, Pokemon-Battle for the Bolt Badge Adarsh Birthday: March Book: I Spy Fly Guy! Johnny Birthday: September Book: Go, Dog. Go! Lucy Birthday: April Book: Little White Rabbit Katelyn Birthday: July Books: Barbie in a Mermaid Tale, Barbie-I can be....A Baby Doctor
Joshua Birthday: Febriaru Book: Super Fly Guy! Amr Birthday: April Book: Can I Play Too? Gabriella Birthday: March Books: Rainbow Magic - Best Friends in Fairyland, Rainbow Magic - A Fairy Ballet, A Special Friend Lea Birthday: May Book: Wayside School is Falling Down Nitin Birthday: December Book: The 39 Clues - The Maze of Bones Samantha L. Birthday: March Book: Let's Go For a Drive Riley Birthday: July Book: Babymouse - Cupcake Tycoon Brian Birthday: March Book: Breaking Stalin's Nose Nathan Birthday: March Book: The 39 Clues - The Maze of Bones Sophia Birthday: July Books: Mermaid S.O.S. - Misty to the Rescue, Ellie and the Secret Potion, Sophie Makes a Splash, Holly Takes a Risk, Scarlett's New Friend, Lucy and the Magic Crystal, Amber's First Clue
CLASS NEWS
4TH GRADE NEWS
Why do your veins appear blue? How much blood does the heart pump in a day? Why do you need to breathe faster when you exercise? Students will amaze you with their ability to answer these challenging questions thanks to their study of the circulatory and respiratory systems in health. The third quarter also had our fourth graders cruising the solar system learning about planets new and old. Fourth grade geographers and historians are continuing to learn the about the various regions of our country. Students have also begun their state report projects by writing business letters to their assigned states. Work on state projects has begun and culminates on Wednesday, May 8 as Welch celebrates its annual State Fair. Children and parents are all invited to view other students' floats and listen to a performance of regional music by our fourth graders. We look forward to seeing everyone in May. Classrooms continue to be literature-rich environments. Children are exposed to a variety of quality writing through our reading program, whether through whole-class activities, or during small-group instruction. Class activities allow students to delve into excellent books and learn a great deal about themselves and the world around them. Novel studies and other projects and activities also provide students the opportunity to learn from quality books. Writing and language arts also have activities that come from literature. Mathematics continues to be a favorite subject for many students. Children are able to construct their own meaning from the material and choose a style that works for them. Children also enjoy the games that reinforce the concepts being taught. Parental support in the area of facts is continually encouraged and appreciated. Thank you for your continued support. We especially appreciate your reviewing students' Monday or Friday folders for important notes and graded work. We would also like to thank the PTA for the wonderful holiday parties. The children have thoroughly enjoyed participating in them. The Fourth Grade Team
5TH GRADE NEWS
“Scullen Fever” has definitely hit the fifth grades at Welch! They are all looking forward to becoming middle school students next year. Fifth grade teachers will be incorporating a variety of activities into the fourth quarter to prepare students for their middle school experience. This quarter can be a challenging time for students, so please encourage your child to keep focused on achieving their best during this busy time. Many fifth graders will have the opportunity to participate in a novel study as well as guided reading during the fourth quarter. Please encourage your child to continue reading at home each night. Independent reading is the best way for them to enrich their vocabulary and practice those reading skills being taught in the classroom. Writing focuses on a review of the 6+1 traits: ideas/content, word choice, voice, organization, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation. This quarter social studies will focus on a study of the Civil War. Students are participating in a variety of cross curricular activities to help them understand what times were like in our country during that period in our history. In May, students will be taking a field trip to Cantigny in Wheaton. They will be visiting the two museums there as a way to enrich their social studies curriculum in the fourth quarter. Currently students are engaged in a unit which builds on their knowledge of fractions. Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing fractions will be covered in unit 8. Common Core math units for the fourth quarter will include a focus on data, algebra concepts and skills, coordinates, area, volume and capacity. Otter Creek math facts practice has enabled students to become better at retaining their facts. Please continue to practice those multiplication and division facts at home. Science in the fourth quarter involves the study of Small Life and the use of microscopes. Students will learn the difference between plant and animal cells and will discover the world of living things too small to see without the use of a microscope. This is an exciting unit and a great way to end the year in science! Fifth grade teachers would like to express their appreciation to Welch families for all of their support this year. That support will be essential next year as your child enters middle school.
FIFTH GRADE FAREWELL COMMITTEE
This year's 5th Grade Farewell Party will be held on Friday, May 24, 2013, with a rain date of Wednesday, May 29, 2013. We are looking for donations of $25.00 per student this year for a fabulous party. Donations will be accepted as well on items such as bottled water, paper goods, portable canopies, coolers, ice, and much more. Volunteers will also be needed the day if the event.
We are also looking to put together a video show for the students the day of the party. We need photos of your students. Three to be exact. One as an infant, one from kindergarten and one from 5th grade. Please label the back of each one. We also need volunteers for the day. Please contact me at [email protected] (Jennifer Bergeron) if you can help.
WELCH CLUB NEWS
Kindergarten—2nd Grade Free Apps
Booksy by Tipitap INC—a learning-to-read platform for young kids. It is designed from the ground up to help young children, Pre-K through 2nd grade, practice and develop their reading skills
Schoolhouse by BizzyTime INC-provides Math, Spelling, Time, US Currency and Sight Word combined flash card study tools
BrainPOP Jr.® Movie of the Week—Get a different animated movie every week with related quizzes and educational activities
Flat Stanley Superimpose a Flat Stanley cutout character with your photo. Your image, along with a greeting, is pinned with your location and shared on a Google map. It is a fun way to for a child to get a sense of world geography.
Rocket Speller by Little Big Thinkers-4 different levels with increasing difficulty and over 130 words to spell, children using this app will get practice in spelling, reading, and vocabulary, all while having fun.
3rd-5th Grade Free Apps
Mad Libs— provides 21 amazing stories to play over and over. You can share your stories with your friends.
Rocket Speller by Little Big Thinkers-4 different levels with increasing difficulty and over 130 words to spell, children using this app will get practice in spelling, reading, and vocabulary, all while having fun.
Cookie Next Door-Rainy Days– children use their imaginations to tell stories based on illustrations that are provided. Each page has various pictures that children narrate with the voice recorder .
BrainPOP Featured Movie —Get a different animated movie every week with related quizzes and educational activities
Scholastic Reading Timer—promotes reading practice by encouraging reading every day. Children of all ages can use the Scholastic Reading Timer as a fun and functional reading timer throughout the year.
Miss Spell’s Class—players test their spelling skills against the most commonly misspelled words on Dictionary.com. They quickly decide whether each of 20 words is spelled correctly or incorrectly.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Aurelio’s Pizza- Naperville
Eggs Harbor Cafe’- Naperville
HELPFUL WEB SITES:
http://welch.ipsd.org/
www.ipsd.org
www.illinoispta.org
http://www.pta.org/
PTA OFFICERS:
Co-Presidents Karen Duncan [email protected]
Michelle Enns [email protected]
Vice President Ritu Mahajan [email protected]
Treasurer Anju Ravindran [email protected]
Secretary Lopa Dhar Banerjee
Multicultural Event
Where: At Welch When: April 11th Time: 6:30 – 8:00pm Cost: FREE
Volunteers are needed to share their culture/heritage. Please sign up below!
For Questions/More Info Email: [email protected] Or Text: 630-318-6049 SHARE IDEAS (To display): Currency Crafts or Art Traditional clothing Books 2-6 words (i.e. Thank you, please, hello, Mom, Dad) Flag
(Would you like to volunteer to share your heritage?)
Parents: ____YES____NO Parent Name: ________________________________ Culture to share: ______________________________ Parent e-mail/contact info: _______________________________
