I know that a lot of you are feeling discouraged right about now with your language arts and math grades. However, this is the time you tell yourself that you can do it, and that you are going to do your best to pull your grades up. If a teacher offers extra credit, DO IT!!!!! If she allows you to retake or redo assignments, DO IT!!!!! Every little thing counts, and at the end it will pay forward! 
​After discussing this matter with my homeroom students, these are some of the suggestions they made to improve their grades:
​1. Ask your parents or siblings to double check your work! They might even help you do it! :)
​2. STUDY! it is proven that when a person studies, their likelihood of passing the test is greater ;)
​3. Be neat and organized. Have everything neatly in folders by subject. This will eliminate the "I lost my work" popular phrase. As soon as you are given an assignment to take home, place it in a homework folder. Trust me, being organized will help you later in life.
​If I come up with more suggestions..I will make sure to add them later this week!
PEace!
​Mrs. Contini

A few of you asked me if I could post the vocabulary words that we are learning this week. Here they are:
Benchmark Fraction -- commonly used fractions such as 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4.
Equivalent Fractions -- Fractions that name the same number
Mixed Number -- A number with a whole number part and a fraction part.
Fraction -- A symbol that names a part of a whole, a part of a set, or a location on a number line.
Denominator-- The number below the fraction bar. It tells the total number of equal part.
Unit Fraction -- A fraction with a numerator of 1.
Numerator -- The number above the fraction bar. It tells how many equal parts.
Remember that you need to study the definition and the spelling of the word. If it is misspelled, you will be penalized on your quiz.
Quiz is Friday, January 26th.

Well, the 2nd report card of the year has been sent home. How did you do? If you are not happy with your grades, what are you going to do about it? Have you reflected and made a plan to achieve the new goals? 
​In order to be successful in school, well actually, in life... you must reflect and have a plan. Things don't always go as planned and things can change in an instant. Making A's in school is possible to all of you. It is not about who is the smartest. It is about who puts the most effort. 
​I remember my parents telling me when I was your age, how smart I was. I didn't believe them because I wasn't making honor roll or principal's list. They kept telling me how smart I was, and the reason why my grades were poorly was because I didn't apply myself enough. Have you ever been told that? Does it sound familiar?  
​After many many many years, and having completed college, I came to the realization that my parents were correct. I noticed that when I applied myself and actually devoted my time to my school work, my grades were all A's. I started to believe that ANYTHING is possible, as long as you put the work and the devotion towards it. 
​I want you to stop now and reflect about the last two quarters. How did you do in school? What can you do better? What can the teachers help you with? How can your family help you? How can you help yourself? Voice your opinions and comment if you would like below :)

​Love, Mrs. Contini

Math is used everyday in a variety of ways. If you think about it, we use it at the grocery store to add the prices of each grocery you are buying, we use it to measure medicine when we are sick, and your mom uses it in the kitchen to measure ingredients as she cooks. These are a few examples on how we incorporate math daily.
Let's talk about money, our favorite kind of math :) Banks work with numbers at all times. Let's dig in a little bit deeper. If you are opening a savings account, the bank will charge you interest. In this scenario, the bank is charging you 1.89% every month for the maintenance of protecting your savings. How can you find out how much money the bank will be taking monthly? Will you multiply numbers? Is this a multi-step problem?
Aren't those the same kind of questions Mrs. Contini uses in the classroom as we solve math problems?

Read the following article:
This article describes how we use math daily. For extra credit, do the following:
List 4 kinds of examples on how we use math daily
Write 2 paragraphs summarizing the article.
Due date is March 2nd.
Happy Reading ....