Quarter 1 Week 4

Happy Monday 3C!

I hope you all enjoyed a great week and fantastic weekend. The solar eclipse was a big hit in our class as well as our presentations for our science skits this week. We went to Mr. Chilson's station early this week to celebrate his birthday with him and spent our weekend relaxing! We have a busy week ahead and I look forward to seeing you all at curriculum night!

Curriculum Night!

Our Curriculum Night, or Open House, is this Wednesday the 30th, from 6:00-8:00 pm. This is an adults only event. It is a great opportunity to hear about our classroom, the curriculum, and our procedures. This is your chance to ask us anything! I hope that each of you will be able to make it. If child care is an issue for you, please try to attend one of our 45 minute classroom sessions (6:20 or 7:10). The official schedule for the evening is below:

Curriculum Night Schedule

6:00-6:15     Welcome and opening remarks by Mr. Gillingham, Ms. Pantalena, and Mrs. Mason

                        A-L                                                                           M-Z

6:20-7:05     Child's Classroom                                        Specials in MPR                                     

7:10-7:55     Specials in MPR                                           Child's Classroom

Eclipse Fun!

 A special eclipse snack, Sun Chips!

Language Arts:

This week, we will read chapters 14-18 of Pinocchio’s adventures.. We will be starting our first official spelling word week with a test on Friday. In grammar, adverbs will be the topic of choice and we will learn the many jobs of that part of speech. Don’t forget that on Wednesday, we will be reciting our poem “The Bee”.

Math:

We have begun exploring the mystical world of bar modeling! There will be a quiz on Tuesday over modeling with sums and differences. We will continue our study this week to review rounding of numbers to begin the discipline of estimation. There will be a short estimation quiz on Friday as well. Also, math groups will be back on Wednesday!

Science:

This week in science we will wrap up our section on reptiles and move onto fish! We will expand our writing skills by comparing and contrasting what we learn about fish and reptiles later in the week. Students will also have a short quiz to finish off a fun week of learning on animal classification!

History:

This week in history we are going to start learning about rivers! We will see how rivers bring life to farms and cities through irrigation and such. We will also get a chance to see what type of wildlife we could find on rivers.

Warmly,

Mrs. Chilson

Quarter 1 Week 3

It is hard to believe we are starting week 3 of our year! Our scholars have settled in to our routine and schedule well! It warms my heart to see what a community we have built in our classroom in just two weeks, the love and support the students have for one another is truly wonderful. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend stay-cation to celebrate Mr. Chilson's birthday this week and are recharged and refreshed for the week ahead! 

Here is a look at our week!

This coming week on Tuesday, the 22nd the third grade will be taking our internal benchmark test, MAP. Please make sure your child is in attendance that day, had a good nights rest, and breakfast. Thank you for your support!

Language Arts:

This week, we will read chapters 9-13 of Pinocchio’s adventures and using the text as inspiration for some writing activities. We will work diligently to begin the rule pages in our Spalding notebooks and begin our spelling word list on Thursday. There will be a “mock” spelling test on Friday. We will also learn how to diagram adjectives and try to figure out the meaning behind the phrase “beat around the bush”.

Math:

We will review addition and subtraction and take a short quiz on Monday. Later in the week, our scholars will learn how to use bar models to solve problems. On Wednesday, we will enjoy math groups and explore our math concepts more deeply with manipulatives and games. Thank you to all the parents who have committed to come in and volunteer!

Science:

We will spend the beginning of the week presenting our classification skits.Students will be able to practice audience etiquette, as well as taking notes throughout the presentations to continue learning about the different classifications. We will end our week with a study of reptiles and various readings about reptiles!

History:

This week in history we are going to learn how to read maps with map keys. We also are learning about different landforms. Friday, we will have a fun activity where we build those different landforms with play-doh!

Warmly,

Mrs. Chilson

Progress Packets

Hello 3C Families,

Tonight you will find a packet of graded work in your child’s backpack. I typically send these home every two weeks. In the packet you will also find a half sheet detailing your child’s assessment scores and participation score.

Please look over the packet, sign the half sheet, leave any comments you have, and have your child return it on Monday.

In case you have any questions on this, the participation is assessed based on SLANT:

S- Sitting up in the chair with good posture ready to learn

L- Listening politely to the teacher during instruction

A- Asking and answering questions to check for understanding and show knowledge

N- Nodding to show understanding, or visibly showing signs of engagement with the material

T- Tracking the speaker with our eyes (teacher or peer)

Best,

Mrs. Chilson 

Quarter 1 Week 2

Good Morning Families,

It is hard to believe week 1 is over! It has been a true pleasure getting to know each and every student apart of 3C! Our class is full of great hearted students and I can't wait for us to continue to grow together. This past week we dove right into learning, with a review of manuscript writing and jumping into cursive; the class really seemed to enjoy it. We will begin using cursive from here on out! We also worked on place value in math and our unit on classifying animals in Science. We had a wonderful discussion in touch pebbles and had fun memorizing the continents/ oceans on the map! 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It was great to have plenty of time with my family and unwind from our busy week. We spent some time at the mall and visiting Mr. Chilson at his station!

Fun with Play-Doh while studying Vertebrates and Invertebrates!

One strong creation!

Lunch with the Mrs. Chilson was a hit! We may have to do this more often.

This Week in 3C:

Language Arts:

We dove straight into the content last week and I am excited to present more rigorous material in the weeks to come. The children will be assigned their first third-grade poem to memorize on Wednesday. They will have two weeks to memorize the poem and will be reciting it before the class on August 30th. Our poem is “The Bee” by Isaac Watts. We began Pinocchio last week and will continue onward with our adventures. We are using the story to practice textual evidence, dictionary and thesaurus skills. For Spalding, we will begin writing in our blue notebooks and there will be an assessment on phonograms 1-70 Friday. In grammar and writing we will continue our study of nouns and verbs and extend that knowledge with diagramming.

Math:

Last week, we began third grade mathematics with a study of place value. We will continue that pursuit through rounding and estimating to the nearest thousand. There will be a short quiz on Wednesday as well as a review, and a unit test on Thursday.

Science:

We began last week with our Unit on Animal Classification, particularly Vertebrates and Invertebrates. This week the scholars will have a chance to present the Reader’s Theater skits they have been preparing in small groups about Vertebrates and Invertebrates. We look forward to seeing the creativity that the scholars put into their skit to go along with the content! We will end our week by learning about reptiles and certain features of reptiles.

History:

This week in history we are learning about the Cardinal Directions and Intermediate Directions! We will also have a quiz on Monday reviewing the continents and oceans that we learned about last week. Try to play games with them at home to help them learn their directions!

Bonjour!

Madame Gebara kindly requested for us to let you know that the students need to bring their French Activity Book (level 2) to school. It is found at Barnes and Noble:

Les Loustics level 2  cahier d’activités

Hachette

Français Langue Etrangère

ISBN: 978-2-01-1559067

Merci Beaucoup!

Enjoy your week!

Warmly,

Mrs. Chilson & Ms. Warren

Good Afternoon 3C Families!

It was a pleasure to meet our scholars and families at Meet The Teacher on Friday! We are honored to have each one of you as a part of our classroom community. I hope this weekend was filled with excitement and a bit of relaxation as we are about to begin a year of learning, fun, and growing! Mine was busy getting all of our supplies set up for the first day, but I did find time to enjoy with my family!

I had a great helper Saturday afternoon as I organized our supplies! 

Please let me know if you have any questions, I am happy to help as I know what a busy week it is! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for trusting us with your precious children.

Warmly,

Mrs. Chilson

Welcome to 3C!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

                

Welcome to third grade, and welcome to section 3C. My name is Kellie Bowers, and I am truly honored to be your students’ third grade teacher.  Here is some more information about me:

                I am originally from Mission Viejo, California.  I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in History from the University of Southern California in 2013.  In college I tutored students from kindergarten-twelfth grades in all subjects and on the SAT.  In addition, I worked for a summer program called Breakthrough, which works with highly achieving underprivileged children.  That experience led me to Teach for America.  Teach for America is an AmeriCorps program that places teachers in underserved schools throughout the country.  I taught in Glendale, Arizona for two years in both 5^th and 6^th grades.  During my first two years of teaching I pursued a masters degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University, which I completed in May of 2015.  In the summer of 2015 I moved to Gilbert and started teaching at Archway Arete.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years at Archway Arete due to the wonderful students, parents, teachers, and leadership here.  I love teaching third grade and I am looking forward to working with the other third grade teachers and assistants this year, as well as our talented specials teachers.

                When I am outside of the classroom I love to read!  Some of my favorite classics are Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, and Anne of Green Gables. In the fall, I love spending the weekends watching football games in person or on television (Fight on USC Trojans!).  In May my husband Stephen and I welcomed our first child, Lily, who has been an absolute joy.  The day after she was born we also celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  I am going to be extending my maternity leave until October 3^rd, when I will return as the lead teacher for 3C.  I will be around for special occasions before then, but I am entrusting my class to Mrs. Chilson and Ms. Warren for the first two months.  We have worked together to create a cohesive classroom plan and I am confident that they will get our school year off to an excellent start. 

                Third grade is going to be a very exciting year! We will be writing in cursive and deepening our understanding of Spalding over the course of the year.  We are also going to be using Singapore math, which helps students truly conceptualize the concepts we will be covering.  We will be doing a lot of bar modeling!  I know bar modeling can seem intimidating, but I truly believe the method helps students understand math more deeply and cultivates critical thinking skills.  In addition, it is critical that our students master their multiplication tables in third grade- something you can start working on at home right away!  For Literature, we have many engaging novels to read, starting with Pinocchio.  As historians, we will begin our year with Geography.  In addition, we will cover Ancient Rome, the Vikings, Native Americans, and the Thirteen Colonies.  Finally, as scientists we will be starting off the year with a unit on the classification of animals.  We will cover many other topics including ecology, the human body, light and sound, and space.

                I am committed to keeping communication between you and myself very open. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Email is the best way to contact me. (KBowers@archwayarete.org) I encourage you to regularly check my blog as I update it weekly with useful information about what’s happening in the classroom.  The link for my blog is: http://mrsbowersarete.blogspot.com/. I highly encourage you to sign up to follow by blog by e-mail (it can be found on the left hand side of the page).  Blogger will e-mail you every time I post.  Let me know if you have any trouble with this process and I will do my best to troubleshoot with you. Mrs. Chilson is your point of contact for the first quarter.  I will be in close contact with her, and I look forward to hearing about all of the progress the students will make in the first quarter. 

                I am really looking forward to meeting with you all on Meet the Teacher Night on Friday August 4^th! Please have your child bring his or her school supplies.  If you ordered them online, the boxes have arrived to our classroom and will be waiting for you.  Nearly all of our supplies will be communal including: pencils, glue, white board markers, and paper. Feel free to label you child’s binder and notebooks.  You are also welcome to bring in your child’s copy of Pinocchio, since that is the first novel we will read. 

                I am looking forward to a productive year in which all of us in 3C will nurture our love of moral and intellectual virtue.  Archway Arete is a very special place and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to teach your children this year.  I look forward to working together and making the 2017-2018 school year unforgettable!

Yours in Learning,

Mrs. Kellie Bowers 

Dear Families of 3C,

Welcome to third grade, I am excited to begin this journey with you! My name is Victoria Chilson and I am honored to be a part of the third grade team this year and to be working with Mrs. Bowers! I will be acting as the lead until Mrs. Bowers returns from her maternity leave.  Ms. Catrina Warren will be assisting me for the first quarter. We are looking forward to this fun time of year to get to know your children and embark on our journey of learning together.

It is important for me to get to know our students and families, but my hope is for you to get to know me as well. I am an Arizona native and grew up in Scottsdale. While completing community service as part of my high school experience I quickly fell in love with elementary education and helping children learn. I volunteered as a tutor at my elementary school and worked with students in summer camps throughout the summer. I am an NAU Lumberjack and have put the finishing touches on my degree in Liberal Arts this past summer.  I have been a part of the Archway Arete family for three years now and I am so grateful for the community and family I have gained here! Prior to joining the third grade team I was part of the Kindergarten team for the past two years. I am excited to join third grade and dive into the literature and history we will be discussing this year!

I have been married for three years to my husband Michael and we have a 15 month old daughter, Charlotte Isabella, who lights up our world. While a big portion of my free time is spent enjoying time with my family, I also enjoy taking our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Lou for walks, baking, decorating, watching and playing sports, and reading. I am fluent in Italian and Spanish, which is a really fun connection that the scholars seem to enjoy as well!

Please feel free to come to me with any questions or comments, as I am happy to answer them and get to know all of our families better as well!

Warmly,

Victoria Chilson

Hello everyone!  My name is Catrina Warren and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself.  I am a California native who played volleyball on a full scholarship at Iona College in New York.  At Iona College I earned my bachelors in Criminal Justice.  From there I worked at Enterprise Holdings until I moved out to Arizona this summer and found my home at Great Hearts.  In addition to my duties as a third grade assistant teacher, I will also be coaching one of the varsity volleyball teams at Cicero Preparatory.  I am extremely excited to start working alongside the amazing teachers at Archway Arete and learning with my students this year.  I am looking forward to a great year with you all!

We look forward to meeting our scholars and your families this evening! Have a wonderful day!

Warmly,

Mrs. Chilson, Mrs. Bowers, and Ms. Warren