2016/2017 Academic Year
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. While in college I spent two summers as a camp
counselor in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
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 5th and 6th
grades. During those 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 thoroughly enjoyed my first year at Archway Arete due to the wonderful
students, parents, teachers, and leadership here. I feel very fortunate to be on the 3rd
grade team at Arete 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!). My husband and I love to travel to new
places and to visit friends and family around the country. This summer my husband left his job working
for a chemical manufacturing company to pursue a career in education; he is now
teaching Science at Lincoln Prep. When
we aren’t busy traveling or teaching, we love spending time with our adorable
puppy Koda and our sweet cat Nala.
Third
grade is going to be a very exciting year! We will be writing in cursive from
day 1 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 Little House on the Prairie. 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 absolute
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.
I am
really looking forward to meeting with you all on Meet the Teacher Night on
Thursday August 4th! We look forward to seeing students with last
names A-M between 5:30 and 6:30 and students with last names N-Z between 6:30
and 7:30. 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
all coloring supplies. Feel free to label you child’s binder and
notebooks. You are also welcome to bring
in your child’s copy of Little House on
the Prairie, since that is the first novel we will read.
I am
thrilled to have your child in my class this year. 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 2016-2017 school year unforgettable!
Yours in Learning,
Mrs. Kellie Bowers
P.S. Please see the letter below from my fabulous assistant, Mrs. Jean Geyer!
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