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Page history last edited by Becky Anderson 1 week, 5 days ago

Welcome to Mrs. Anderson's Web Page!

ATTENTION STUDENTS: To access your book talk sheets and vocabulary lists, look directly to the right hand side of this page: the Sidebar.

I am a member of one of three seventh grade teams, the R Team, at Stilwell Junior High School. The members are pictured above. I have been teaching at Stilwell since 1994, and, prior to that, was a "stay-at-home mom" for 14 years. Right out of college I taught high school English and drama. After teaching both at the high school and junior high levels, I thoroughly enjoy the junior high-aged child; their enthusiasm and honesty are refreshing and stimulating to me.

I was born and raised in Des Moines and graduated from Iowa State University. I have over 40 graduate hours from Drake University, the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa. My husband and I live in West Des Moines and have four children, all of whom graduated from Stilwell Junior High, Valley High School, and the University of Iowa. They are working around the Des Moines area and in Chicago. My husband, an attorney in Des Moines, is a Stilwell, Valley, and Iowa graduate, as well; he even had math class at Stilwell in my current classroom! One can see why our connections to Iowa City and West Des Moines remain quite strong!

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I am privileged to work with outstanding teachers on the R Team. Mr. Bissinger, Mrs. Matthias, and Mr. Herr are always willing to assist me in doing whatever it takes to help the 100+ students we serve.

Curriculum for Mrs. A's Seventh Grade English Class

Reading is very important in my English class. The students are required to have free-reading books

with them at all times and are given a grade for reading at the end of each semester. If a student reads eight books, completes the required reading strategy sheets, and completes eight book talks, he/she will receive an A in reading. Students reading six books receive a B, and so on. I have a classroom library where students are welcome to check out as many books as they wish. With nearly 800 titles I have read myself, I can personally recommend books of many different genres to individual kids. The class will also read two novels together later in the year. The AGS Reading Assessment is given in the fall and again in the spring, and in the past two years nearly all of my students have grown at least 1.5 years in their reading comprehension scores. Success in reading has made believers of the kids and their understanding of how reading can be a joy as well as a necessary requirement for all that they seek to accomplish in school. R Team readers read nearly 1800 books last year; reading does make a difference!

Stilwell has a building-wide reading goal and the entire school attempts to focus on the same reading strategies throughout the year: questioning, connecting, predicting, inferring, visualizing, evaluating, summarizing, and finding theme.

Vocabulary is a large part of the seventh grade curriculum this year. We have started a new

program where ten new words are introduced every other week. It has been lots of fun for the kids since each word is accompanied with a linking word to help them remember it, as well as a humorous cartoon. I am placing the lessons on this website so that anyone can access the words for extra practice. After taking a pre-test in the fall, the students never thought they could learn these words; now that they have found success in mastering the lessons, they have been quite proud of their accomplishments. Extra credit is given to kids who find the words in their free reading books, write down the sentence in which it is used, and turn it in to me. I also ask them to share with the class when they hear the words in real-life settings (the evening news, family conversations, a recent movie); it has been refreshing to see them so excited about learning! Please take a look; the words have been very challenging, but because of the fun connections, the kids have been having a good time while enriching their personal vocabulary.

Writing in seventh grade is primarily expository, with an emphasis on the basic five-paragraph essay

(known in class as a Power Paper). The six+1 traits of writing are also incorporated into the student writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, conventions, sentence fluency, and presentation. The "writing process" is practiced as the year progresses. My students also write in their free-writing journal on a regular basis.

My Schedule:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Tiger Time (Home room): 7:35-8:00

English, Period 1: 8:05-8:50

English, Period 2: 8:55-9:40

English, Period 3: 9:45-10:30

Free Planning/Lunch, Period 4: 10:35-12:00 (Day one)

Study Hall/Lunch, Period 4: 10:35-12:00 (Day two)

English, Period 5: 12:05-12:50

Free Planning/Team Collaboration, Period 6: 12:55-1:40

English, Period 7: 1:45-2:35

Wednesday: Early dismissal

(Note different order of class periods)

English, Period 1: 7:35-8:20

English, Period 2: 8:25-9:10

English, Period 3: 9:15-10:00

English, Period 5: 10:05-10:50

Free Planning/Lunch, Period 4: 10:55-12:20 (Day one)

Study Hall/Lunch, Period 4: 10:55-12:20 (Day two)

Free Planning/Team Collaboration, Period 6: 12:25-1:05

English, Period 7: 1:10-1:50

Ways to reach me:

Email: andersonb@wdmcs.org I always try to return your email messages as soon as possible--usually within 24 hours.

Phone: 515.633.6055 This will go to voice mail during the school day while I am teaching; I will return your call as soon as possible. This will not produce a response as quickly as email since students are frequently in my room and privacy is not always possible.

Address: Stilwell Junior High School, 1601 Vine St., West Des Moines, IA 50265

Click HERE to access Infinite Campus for your grade updates.

Click here to access Mr. Bissinger's Wiki Page.