Barnes' Booknotes

Personal Finanace Quiz

Tomorrow is the quiz on Personal Fianance.  Click in the following link to see what you need to study:Download things_to_know_for_the_personal_finance_quiz.doc

Textbooks should be turned in by Tuesday. We will meet for Social Studies on Wed. and Thurs. Since you will not have use of your locker after Wednesday, please bring your personal finance papers in a pocket folder or combine other classes into one notebook.  You will also need your agenda, paper, and something to write with. LEAVE BOOKBAGS HOME ON THURSDAY.

Do not bring anything to school on Friday. There has been a long-standing Cobb Co. policy that the students cannot bring anthing on the bus at the end of the day on Friday (yearbooks and a towel for the school picnic are OK).

As Simpson students clean out their lockers each year it makes me very sad to see nearly new and usable school supplies in the trash.  I've asked past students why they don't take them home and try to reuse them the following year and am told, "Its OK, my mom will buy me new supplies next year." This is a great place to begin some of the thrifty habits we learned in our personal finance lessons. Not only that, but family budgets may be feeling a big pinch as gas and other prices rise during the summer.  If you want your student to bring home their usable supplies, please discuss this with them.

Please speak with your student about their conduct the last week of school.  The students get very excited about the start of summer vacation, but we have to remind them they are still responsible for their actions.

Personal Finance Unit

SS6E4 The student will explain personal money management choices in terms of income, spending, credit, saving, and investment.

Today we started our personal finance unit with the Millionaire Game.  Students had difficulty identifying behaviors they thought millionaires would show. Surprisingly, according to Thomas J. Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door, wealth takes sacrifice, discipline, and hard work.

Rules for Improving Your Financial Life

1.  Get a good education

2.  Work long, hard, and smart.

3.  Learn money-management skills.

4.  Spend less than you could spend.

5.  Save early and often.

6.  Invest in common stocks for the long term.

One of the concepts we are trying to help our 6th graders learn is the beauty of compound interest with systematic saving.  Try this great investment calculator and notice what a huge difference it makes to start saving ten years earlier:

Compound Interest Calculator

The 6th grade teachers would like to thank the National Council on Economics Education for providing their wonderful publications for use in our classrooms.

CRCTs are OVER! Test Friday!

We are on the home stretch! 18 days and counting.  We will be taking a test over chapter 25 (Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, and Antarctica) on Friday.  Be sure to study the chapter vocabulary.

Students, the following items should be in the notebooks:  1) Map : Oceania 2) Assessment for Ch. 25, Sec. 2.  Also, workbook p. 89 should be complete.  You may check your answers for WB89 here:Download workbook_89_ans..pdf

Tomorrow and Thursday we will work on section 3, Antartica. Students will be assigned the Section 3 assessment and WB p.88 as a review for section 1.

Canada Test on Monday! Think your class can score 100%, 100%, aye?? We'll See!

We hit the ground running this week with our study of Canada.  Many of the concepts (government, trade, economics, indigenous people, colonization) were the same, just a different application for a different region. Having parents who immigrated to Canada in 1972, I have traveled to Ontario at least once a year since then and was able to share interesting observations with the students of how similar yet different the two countries are. Ask your student about washrooms vs. restrooms, sorry vs. excuse me---and more.

On Friday students will be preparing a matching card game for the vocabulary we have been studying.  By playing this self-checking activity repeatedly until the words are mastered, most students will probably earn an A on the test. All words tested in the vocabulary section are contained on the assignment "Building Vocabulary" from Thursday.

The second part of the test contains five questions about a map similar to the one in the text on p. 125.  Please study this map and understand all of its features. If you can answer the Skill Builder questions, you should do fine on the chapter test.  The third part of the test is reading a bar graph about the population of Canada.  Our students are getting quite proficient reading bar graphs, as this part of the Mexico Today test had very high scores.

My Challenge:  All year I have given the students a challenge.  Any class with all students scoring 100% on a test will receive a special treat----I will bake something special for them. . . chocolate chip cookies?  brownies?  It hasn't yet happened in the 28 years I've been teaching.  I think it is possible on this test if everyone puts forth a bit more effort and makes sure they are prepared.

CRCT Begins Next Week

Letters are going home on Friday explaining about our upcoming CRCT testing. On a practical side, with the compressed schedule following the test each day, students should expect long lines at lunch.  This week and the first week of school are the two times of the year I would think about bringing my lunch from home. Unfortunately, during these weeks, some students find they have only 10-15 minutes to eat their lunch once they get through the line. Any student finding they have not had enough time to consume their lunch should let their teacher know so other arrangements can be made (I will let students bring food back to the classroom if practical).

I am sure everyone will agree....spring break was great....can't wait 'till summer!  But dont stop working (no spring fever allowed) We still have a lot of interesting things to learn! (Who wants to be a millionaire?......Personal Finance unit to begin in May!!!)

 

Our study of Latin America will be concluding this week.  We will be working on a few InspirEd Lessons that address Georgia Social Studies standards covering 20th century issues in Argentina and Columbia.

Recent grades have been updated on i-parent with the exception of the March 22nd test, "Mexico Today", for 5th and 6th periods. Those should be posted by Wednesday.  Students should check to make sure they have completed all work, as several still have assignments, tests, and quizzes to make up from absences.

Recent quizzes and tests have required students to respond with essay style answers. Quite often, the questions on the quiz or test were given earlier as a "warm up" question in class with answers fully discussed. Students should try to organize a thoughtful answer following all the criteria taught in language arts and evaluated every quarter on the school-wide writing prompt. Using specific examples and content related vocabulary always earns more points than vague, disorganized answers. Lastly, always proofread what has been written.  Being able to communicate ideas through written language is not easy, but is a true indicator of how well a student understands the material. Good writing skills will give life-long returns.  Hopefully, our 6th graders will soak in everything we are giving them.

There will be a test over Chapter 7 next Thursday.  Students should beging studying now, as this will be the first major grade of the new quarter.  Today we worked on a study guide for Ch. 7.3 Download chapter_7.3 You Must Know This.doc

Last Friday we began exploring Economic Systems as we compare and contrast the economies of countries we have studied. Students are practicing thier knowledge of these different kinds of markets with a matching game study tool: Download economic_systems_study_tool_extended.doc The ones we made in class are green and are in a plastic snack bag.  These should be practiced until the student is comfortable with the different concepts.

Prior to a simulation we have planned for tomorrow about trade, students have been introduced to a variety of economic concepts from our text, Ch.4, Sec. 3. The following notes can be made into a match game as well to review the concepts.  I told the class that these concepts will become an important part of social studies from now through their senior year in high school and have real-life meaning to them as adults. Learn them this year in sixth grade and it won't be necessary to relearn them next year or the year after. Download economics_ch.4 sec. 3.doc (

Additionally, the State of Georgia has been emphasizing and heavily testing economics on the CRCT.

Several students asked me to post the matching game I showed in class so they could print it from home.  Download 7.2 Names & Terms Match Game.doc  Before cutting the squares apart, put a matching code on the back of the term and its definition.  This will make it a self-checking activity that can be repeated as often as necessary. This particular sheet was made using MS Word Tables, but one can achieve the same by cutting index cards in half.  Organize your matching cards with paper clips, rubber bands, and a sandwich bag.

New grades have been posted on i-parent.  We have had a lot if illness.  If grades are missing, please see Mrs. Barnes during homeroom to make up work.  The grade period will be ending soon.  Failure to take care of this will result in a zero.  It is the student's responsibility to make arrangements for make up work. Scrapbooks are still being evaluated. They should be finished in the next two weeks.

We have finished the colonization and independence period off Latin America.  As we move ahead in our study of Latin America, we will focus on different regions.  We are currently looking at Mexico and working from Chapter 7 in our text as a resource.

Quiz Tuesday!

There will be a quiz on Tuesday over chapter 9, section 1. There will be five true/false questions and one short answer.  Each question is worth 15 points.  Check i-parent for the past two quiz grades posted from 2/11 and 2/15. These assessments followed the same format: only 5 terms and a short essay. Students should put the effort into learning this small amout of material. I recommend they make a flash card matching game to study using multiple answer cards. Students should see me or ask in class if they have questions. The Reading Study Guide that was issued to students is a valuable tool (the "big" workbook).Download 9.1 Reading Study Guide Pages.pdf It includes all the Terms and Names that should be mastered as well as presenting all the material in easy-to-understand language (it is written two grade levels below the textbook). I also have these pages avaialbe in Spanish.  Please email me (laura.barnes@cobbk12.org) if you would like a copy. Information for the essay questions are also on these pages.  To prepare for essay answers, a student should know the material well enough to explain it to someone else.