Spring is in the Air!

Hello All,

     Welcome to the month of March!  Can you believe we are half way through the third quarter of the school year?  Spring Break is quickly approaching and the classes have so much to cover.  Students have started on their newest PBL project in which they will publish an encyclopedia on plants and animals.  Miss Grimm and Miss Saullo cannot wait to see what the students create.  
    In math, students are still working on fractions.  Miss Grimm and Miss Saullo decided to forego blended learning after observing students having some difficulty grasping the concept of fractions.  Students are now getting whole group instruction and small group instruction, so you may see more math homework being sent home so students are able to practice the skills covered in class.  Students are also continuing to work on multiplication fluency, so please practice multiplication facts nightly.  
    All fourth grade classes will be working on Trait Madness, which covers the components of writing in the Six Traits of Writing (word choice, sentence fluency, ideas-content, organization, conventions, and voice).  Students will be read different books that have emphasize one of these six traits, there are two books per trait and students will select which book they prefer and provide evidence to justify their reasoning.  In the end, fourth grade will have one winner out of the twelve books.  
     Next week, we have MAP Testing.  Please stress the importance of these test to your child.  Miss Saullo's students will be receiving a goal setting sheet that will need to be signed and returned to school.  It has also been shared as to what the state test will be this year, SC Ready.  The test dates are as follows, 26 April to 28 April, students will take a pencil and paper test covering writing, reading, and math.  Students will take PASS Testing on their computers 17 May and 18 May.  
    
REMINDERS:  

-  Fourth grade will be taking a field study to Congaree     
   National Park.  Please return the permission slip and money 
   by 18 March. 
             22 March:  Miss Saullo's class and Mrs. Young's class- 
                                 field study
             24 March:  Miss Grimm's class and Miss Lybrand's 
                                 class- field study

- Reading Response Notebook for Miss Saullo's class:  Students 
  are to read 20 minutes each night.  To receive full credit, 
  students need to log the book, number of pages, and the 
  amount of time they read on the reading log.  Once that has 
  been completed, students need to write a response about what 
  they read.  This does not need to be very long; if they are 
  having any trouble, sentence starters have been provided to 
  assist students.  

- Practice multiplication facts nightly.  

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
29 February Wear Stripes	01 March Crazy Sock Day CiCi’s Night 5:00 - 8:00	02 March Dr. Seuss’ Birthday Read Across America Twin Day	03 March Wear Green Text Dependent  Writing  Assessment PTO Meeting 6:30	04 March Dress Up As  Your Favorite  Dr. Seuss  Character
07 March MAP Testing	08 March AVID Site Visit?	09 March AVID Site Visit? Fractions Math Test	10 March MAP Testing	11 March College Colors  Day Science Safari  Day

~Loren Grimm and Ashley Saullo~

Pontiac Elementary:

"Where knowledge is nutured

and character blooms!"