How to Implement the Stock Market Game

Elementary or Middle School

Before/After School Club – Suggestions are based on a one-hour once a week Club. Students should be put in cooperative groups of 3 or 4. Divide the hour into a 15-minute mini-lesson/topic and then 45 minutes of the students being allowed to explore various stocks and purchase them for their portfolios.

Lunch Club – This can be run similarly to the Before/After School Club except lunch is usually a shorter time frame. You will not have as much time for lessons.

Stand Alone Lessons in the Classroom – Financial Friday! If you do this, it can be run similarly to the club format. This format allows you time to pull individual students for conferences regarding other academic subjects while they are working.

Infusion in a Classroom (Math/Social Studies) – You will have to do a few stand-alone lessons to get the program going. After this, you can allow students to do research as an enrichment center. This format requires some form of communication platform for the students to share their investment ideas for purchasing and/or selling stocks. You can use your school system learning management system or other approved communication channels. Students can also record their investment ideas in their team journals.

Plusses and Minuses -All formats have their plusses and minuses. Determine as a teacher what you are comfortable with, especially your first year. Whichever format you choose, see if you can connect with other schools in your district that are doing the same. This allows for you to have the students share information and for you to have a support group/network of teachers. The Financial Friday or infusion format allows for equity with all students being exposed to the rigors of the stock market.

Financial Friday - Dedicate time for lessons and/or research.

High School

Accounting and Finance -- The SMG is the perfect complement to the finance section of this course. Before purchasing stocks, students can perform a financial analysis of a company's financial statements (income statement, statement of cash flows and balance sheet). Specifically, students can look at net income/loss, receivables/payables, short-term and long-term financial management, cash flow and more.

Personal Finance or Financial Literacy  --  

JROTC -- Learning about savings and investing is one component of the life skills section of the JROTC program. Playing the SMG will allow students to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom.