Barnes' Booknotes

Family Concert, Sunday, May 17 --- Please come!

Everyone is invited to a free concert offered by the Cobb Wind Symphony on Sunday, May 17 at 3:00 PM. at the Kell H.S. auditorium. Bring your family and friends. Small children are welcome. We will be playing a lot of tunes you will recognize. Many of our musicians have played professionally, so you will not be disappointed. For those of you who don't know, I started playing the flute when I was in 5th grade. Playing with this band is a way I have continued enjoying my instrument as an adult. Click here for the concert flyer:Download May2009concert

Textbooks Due

Textbooks were due last Friday, but a number of them are still missing. Please turn your book in by Tuesday to avoid receiving a bill for $45.99 from the office for your book.

Personal Finance Study Guide

We will have a vocabulary quiz on Friday over personal finance terms and a test onf Tuesday. Here are the pages from the study guide that will be given in class on Friday:

Download Economic Way of Thinking  Download Why Stay in School Download Why Save

Download Saving and Investing Download Credit p1 Download Credit p2 Download Vocabulary

Things to do in social studies....

1. Return the research permission form (signed by parent) to Mrs. Barnes. These were sent home on Friday and were due on Monday.

2. Finish readings and practice activities for the 22 standards (target date to finish these was this past Monday).

3. Take the post-test for Australia. If you get 100% go to #6

4. Rework any standards you missed on the post-test.

5. Write essay follow-up assessment.

6. Extended Learning: research any topic about Australia you find interesting. This can be something from the standards or something new. Try to learn as much as you can about it.

7. Create some type of "product" that demonstrates your  new learning.

8. Present your extended learning to the class (short presentation, about 3 min.) on Monday (5/4) or Wednesday (5/6) (sign-up for a time).

100% mastery of Australia Standards:         75 pts.

Learning Journal Entries                               0-5 pts.

Extended Learning                                        0-20 pts.

One grade, based on 100 point possible will be given for the Australia Unit.

We hope to begin our personal finance unit on Thursday .

Australia! How Can You Help Your Brain Remember?

Updates for the Australia unit will be added to this post. Don't let the above date fool you. The most recent addition to this post was made on 4/15 at 12:35 am.

4/3 If you were out the last few days, you need to read Ch. 25, sec. 1 & 2, answer both assessents, ALL questions.

Directions for Australia Accelerated Learning Unit:

1. 4/14: Each evening, plan and print readings or graphic organizers you will need in class the following day. Students will probably want to spend 20-30 min. each evning working on this or additional readings. If students average 2-3 readings a day, they should have no trouble finishing by the target date, April 24. Due to upgrades being done to our school network, there will be no printing available in the classroom on Wednesday, April 15.

2. Print each reading so you can mark the page and take notes as you read. This website has some good strategies for reading: Greece NY Reading Strategies

Download Australia1A Download Australia1B Download Australia2 Download Australia3

Download Australia4 Download Reading 5 Download Reading 6 Download Reading 7

Download Reading 8 Download Reading 9A Download Reading 9B Download Reading 10 

New! 4/15 Update

Download Reading 11 12 Download Reading 13 and 14 Download Reading 15 and 16

Download Reading 17 and 18 

Comparing Canda, Brazil, and Cuba

Monday: Using the chart from class, spend about 30 min. adding to your comparisons this evening and searching for data that couldn't be found  during class. The  CIA World Factbook has a lot of information, but some items may require a more determined search. Hint: from the CIA World Factbook page, choose "Print Friendly Page" to display some of the information like poverty levels, internet providers, etc. For some reason, this site does not display this information in the other format.

Tuesday:  Use the following study guide to prepare for class on Wednesday. I will not collect any written work, but you are expected to speak intelligently on the issues covered in the guide. Consider it an "oral" quiz. The economics handbook in the back of our text would be a good resource. Also, consider reading about these topics using material from Cobb Virtual Library or other internet search.

Download Cuba Canada Brazil Economics SG

Study Guide - Latin American Governments

There will be 12 questions about Latin American governments on tomorrow's test. Please use the attached study guide and the chart you made in class to prepare. Notes on the governments will not be permitted during the test. You may, however, use your 15 Star Choice projects.Download Study Guide-Latin Am Govt.

Latin American Governments

We will be comparing different types of government in Latin America in class tomorrow. We will make a chart like this one on notebook paper: Download Are all federal governments alike L.A. If you prefer, you may print this at home and bring it with you to class.

Handouts and Class Resources: (Added on Friday PM)

Download Political systems

Download Brazil Government

Download Mexico Government

Download Cuba Government  

15 Star Choice Board Information

We will be researching about several Latin American liberators and two movements, the Cuban Revolution and the Zapatista guerilla movement over the next few days in class. Parents, please do not ask your student to do these assignments at home unless they are absent from school. Although the work is expected to be done at school, students may work at home to prepare and plan for the activities we are doing in class. Below you will find several handouts we are using in class. These may be printed from home if a personal copy is desired. We are very limited in resources at this time to make large quantities of copies. To maximize learning, I encourage all students to use two or more resources, as the text alone and these handouts supply only minimal information.  Cobb Library Resources and the Internet are good sources of information.

Download 15 STAR CHOICEBOARD

Download Regions of the Americas

Download Bolivar

Download Hidalgo

Download L'Ouverture

Download Zapatistas

The Daily Anchor

Anchor activities, as we have discussed in class extend your learning. These are sometimes assigned or you can do on your own when you have finished other assignments.

NEW!! CNN Student News: Watch daily! There are so many connections to 6th and 7th Social Studies curriculum. 

Try this: Take the GeoBee Challenge!

How did the Columbian Exchange change the world?

This week we have been learning about the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires and what effects it had on the history of the world. The Columbian Exchange that spread new foods and ideas all over the world has affected every student in our class. Hopefully when we are finished with our unit, they can tell you how.

Helpful Sites (check back, as new sites will be added later):

View this photo  

Interactive Triangular Trade Map

Handout: The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange: Learn NC

On a personal note, I want apologize for the gap in blog and iParent updates. I had to be out of the classroom for the first two weeks in February as my mom was hospitalized in Toronto, Canada for advanced stages of breast canacer. She passed away on February 10.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as I play catch up with the paperwork for my students and coursework for the graduate courses I am taking.