Update on Supplies

It has been brought to my attention that an important supply was left off of this year's supply list. Please have your child bring in a 2 inch, 3 ring binder or trapper keeper to store all of their supplies for class. In the past, this important item has been wonderful in preparing students for middle school and supporting them in keeping their materials organized. Please have your child bring this in when they come to school this week. Thanks and sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!

Class Schedule

Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope you are ALL out enjoying the beautiful weather here in Tampa today! I wanted to let you know that I have uploaded our class schedule under the "Schedule" tab, so check it out to see what we will be up to each day! I look forward to seeing you ALL this week! We are going to have an AWESOME year!

Welcome Back 2013

Hello! Welcome to our class blog! This website it used as a tool to communicate our studies, achievements, homework assignments, important dates, etc. to students, family, and friends. I update this site on a regular basis by posting pictures of what the students are working on as well as what is going on in our classroom. I look forward to meeting you all at Meet The Teacher on Monday, August 19th, 2013 immediately following the Info Fair! I have been working hard to get our classroom ready for your arrival! Please collect all of your supplies and bring them to school on our first day. Feel free to look around on our class blog to see what we will be working on this year. See you at Meet The Teacher!

Conference Night

This year, our conference night for your child is scheduled for Thursday, May 23rd. By following the link below, you will be able to sign up for a time slot for a conference with your child. In fifth grade, the conferences are student-led, which means your child will be running the show. Please be sure to sign up for ONE time slot. If you are having difficulty accessing the document, please let me know and I will find a way to get you signed up. Thanks in advance!

Student Led Conference Sign Up 2013

Mini Mall Tips

I wanted to send a few tips for preparation of Mini Mall. On Friday morning, students do NOT need to bring their backpacks to school (they will not be necessary since Mini Mall lasts almost the ENTIRE day). For each booth, the students will need a "cash box". This can be a reused shoe box or other place that money can be stored throughout the day. Also, groups are going to want to have some "start up money" in their cash box for the first few groups that come to shop at their booth. We suggest about ten dollars in bills/ coins (depending on how much they are charging for their items). At the start of sales, I will personally go around to each booth and record how much money they are starting with in their cash boxes so we can be sure to pay them back at the end of the day. Just to be clear, money loaned for the cash box to start the day (approx. $10), WILL BE RETURNED at the end of the sales day. We will be meeting in the cafeteria instead of the classroom on Friday morning to set up booths starting at 7:30am and assist students in finding their sales spot. We are SOOO pumped for Mini Mall and look forward to a REWARDING day! Thanks in advance!

Mini-Mall

Mini – Mall Economics Project

Summary

A successful business takes a lot of planning and research. Understanding a market, then providing a service or product (on a limited budget) to meet the need of that market are benchmarks for success. This project will give each student a unique opportunity to experience the business world while incorporating math, writing, economics, and cooperative learning.

Objectives	Due Date
Introduce activity	March 27
Group Members and product submitted to teacher to be approved	April 1
Design a product or service and create a prototype or visual of the product	April 5
Create Budget	April 8
Fill out and turn in Loan Application	April 12
Develop ad campaign (create signs/create & rehearse commercial)	April 15 – April 19
Morning Show Commercial will be taped (be prepared)	April 22 – April 26
Posters due for ad campaign	April 29
Commercials will air on the Morning Show on the week of April 29****	April 29 – May 3
Conduct your business during Mini Mall	May 3
Chart profits/losses and complete evaluation	May 3 – May 10

****Machines are NOT permitted at Mini Mall due to the Hillsborough County Safety Guidelines. This includes: crock pots, fondue machines, popcorn machine, snow cone machine, blender, microwave, etc. Foods needing any of these machines need to be prepared at home ahead of time. Please see your teacher if you are unsure if you can use a machinenotlisted above.

In order to give the students a real life experience, we are allowing each business to borrow an amount, not to exceed $40.00 to berepaid with verification of receipts at the conclusion of the business day. They may borrow from a parent, use their savings, or the 5^thgrade fund. Each business will fill outONEloan application and haveONEco-signer (an adult).

We ask that you help keep the expenses to $40.00 to be fair to all students.

The profits that the students make will be donated to the Universal Studios Reward Trip Fund.

In lieu of cash profit payouts, awards will be given out for different categories such as:most creative, most items sold best booth, most profit earned, etc.

Each business will incur “business expenses”. They are as follows:

1.     Rental of booth - $1.00OR $2.00 with electricity

2.     Advertising fee - $1.00 for two12 inch by 18 inchsigns and a commercial on the Morning Show. Signs must be approved by the teacher andcannotbe posted prior to Monday, April 29th. Signscannotbe taped to any painted surface.

3.     10% tax on profit

4.     Materials and supplies – with creativity you can keep this to a minimum

 

Homework This Week

Parents - 

Students will be taking the SAT-10 next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  This is what most teachers refer to as the "NRT" or "Norm-Reference Test."  The difference between the SAT-10 and the FCAT is that the FCAT compares 5th grade students amongst each other in the state of Florida while the SAT-10 compares 5th graders across the nation.    

• Many of you might remember that the students took this NRT assessment AFTER we finished FCAT during the 2 week testing window in April.  However, THIS YEAR, the students are taking the NRT assessment early which means our 2 week testing window in April will be much shorter.
• 
  
• The SAT-10 is NOT used for placement next year in middle school or benchmark achievement - FCAT is used for both of them.  
• During testing, please remember:
• - that students should receive plenty of sleep the night before the assessment.
• - that students should eat a hearty breakfast to fuel them up for the assesment.
• - that students will not have homework other than to read nightly.

- that students need to arrive ON TIME each day because we will begin testing promptly after we take attendance.  If a student is tardy and we have already begun testing, they will get pulled out later in the week for MAKEUP testing.  

Since testing will be going on this week, students will NOT have Word Study Homework or Math Homework. Instead, we are asking that students read nightly (as always) and also visit http://www.fcatexplorer.com/ and practice their reading, math and science skills for 30 minutes a night. Students should have their usernames/passwords with them. 

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!  Have a terrific week!