Viking Vendors Unit


Starting in October, we (as a team) will be working on the 8th-grade Viking Vendors unit. This is a project that will get grades in all classes and will be worked on intermittently until Winter Break in December. Students will have chosen their own group of 4 students to work with. They will be creating a product to sell to other students for "fake" money. They will even complete some product research before "production" to be sure they are making a product that will appeal to the other 8th-grade consumers. However, there will be some expenses for each student because they need to buy supplies to make these products. This is not meant to be expensive, nor should it be, so please don't let your children tell you otherwise. Each group member is responsible for the production and cost of 15 items, although we hope they work together to make them. Remember, students will be "buying" other products with their fake money (which is an average of their 4 core classes' grades at mid-quarter), so they will come home with a lot of other items that they purchased. 

We will be working on consumer reports and doing some online comparison shopping. We will have people with interesting careers come in to talk to students about their jobs and the path they took to get there. If you have a job that you think would appeal to 8th graders, please feel free to contact the team. 

Overall, we want the kids to understand that there is an importance to being an educated consumer. We also want them to get a glimpse at how a business operates, and that being a business owner takes planning, and that they need to know what the public wants and needs so that they can be successful.

Again, this is not meant to be a major cost, so if there are financial questions or issues, please contact one of us.

Thank you for your support. Kids come back years later and tell us how much they enjoyed this unit. We hope your child will have the same experience!