The Basics

What is the Stock Market Game™?

The Stock Market Game™ is an interactive, interdisciplinary educational program you can use to help students learn about economics, finance and the American economic system. During the 10-week simulation, teams of up to five students manage a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio and invest in stocks found on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.

The program is offered twice each year in Georgia, every spring and fall.

What are the prizes?

Teams are ranked based on their performance and have the opportunity to win some of the great prizes below:

• Overall State Winner- The #1 ranked team statewide will receive a $150 Amazon gift card for each student winner + their teacher.The winning team will also receive an invitation to the annual SMG Awards Luncheon at the Fox Theatre, a trophy, and a banner.
• Grade Level State Winner- The top elementary, middle, and high school teams in the state will receive a $100 Amazon gift card for each student winner + their teacher. The winning teams will also receive invitations to the annual SMG Awards Luncheon at the Fox Theatre, a trophy, and a pennant. (Prizes not eligible for the overall state winning team).
• Congressional District (Regional) Winners- In each congressional district, GCEE will recognize the top elementary, middle, and high school team with an invitation to the annual SMG Awards Luncheon at the Fox Theatre, pennant, certificate, and medals.
• School District Winners- Certificates & medals for each student winner.
• Teacher Competition Winner- $100 Amazon gift card (teacher winner must have active student teams & cannot also be the state winner).
• Rural Division Winner- $75 Amazon gift card for each student winner + their teacher.
• New Teacher Division Winner- $75 Amazon gift card for each student winner + their teacher.  (Eligible only to teachers playing SMG for the first time).
• Randomly Selected Winners- Classroom gift boxes awarded each week to randomly selected teachers. All Stock Market Game teacher participants are eligible to win.
• Refer A Teacher Program- $50 Amazon gift card for referring a teacher who has never played SMG before. To be eligible, the new teacher must register student teams and complete a 10-week competition (Limit one gift card per referring teacher per semester).

*Important note: Teams may range from 1-5 students. No more than 5 students are permitted on a team.

How much does it cost?

The fee for a team of up to five students is $10. That’s just two dollars each. Contributions from businesses and foundations allow the Georgia Council on Economic Education to offer one of the lowest fees in the nation for the Stock Market Game.

Registration fees are waived for Title I schools and any public school in APS, Decatur City, Fulton, Bibb & DeKalb County.

GCEE provides workshops and materials at no charge to teachers to introduce them to the program with instruction provided by experienced educators.

What’s different about this program from other online programs?

The Stock Market Game™ is the only market simulation endorsed by the Council for Economic Education and the Georgia Council on Economic Education. It is correlated to the voluntary national standards in math, economics and business education. No other stock market simulation offers the insight and expertise of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

What do I need to know about investing?

To make the most of the Stock Market Game™ as an educational experience, teachers must attend a GCEE workshop to be classroom advisors for the program. This workshop gives teachers the grounding they need to get started. The program teaches basic investing skills, so students and teachers learn as they go.

What will students get out of the program?

Primarily designed to help students learn and understand the stock market and the costs and benefits involved in investing, the Stock Market Game™ can be used across the curriculum to teach many different lessons and subjects. Students can learn problem-solving, risk assessment, cooperation and teamwork- capabilities that will last a lifetime. Find out more about the research-proven benefits of playing the Stock Market Game at https://www.stockmarketgame.org/impact.html. 

Can teachers play?

Yes. Teachers are encouraged to participate and many do so. There’s even a separate category for teachers to compete.

Getting started

How do I register?

Teachers can register online here. Once registered, teachers will receive an account number and password to participate.

What kind of support is there for teachers participating for the first time?

The Georgia Council on Economic Education provides workshops each September and January where teachers can learn to make the most of the Stock Market Game™ in the classroom. GCEE also offers classroom materials and other programs for teaching economics and financial literacy. GCEE’s staff is here to help.

How much paperwork is involved?

The only paperwork involved is sending in teams fees. Once teams are registered, students receive daily transaction updates over the Internet.

What do I do with my administrative teacher/ advisor log-in account?

Teachers can monitor team portfolios and access useful instructional resources online with this feature. Teachers registering one or more team accounts are provided a log-in account free of charge, so they can access team portfolios even as students use them.

Learning with the Stock Market Game

Why should my class participate?

The Stock Market Game™ is a hands-on way to help students understand economic concepts and important life skills such as budgeting, decision making and personal finance.

How do I make time for the Stock Market Game™ in an already full curriculum?

The Stock Market Game™ can be integrated into subjects including social studies, mathematics, business, language arts and economics. It can also be used in school clubs, after-school programs and gifted activities.

How much class time does it take?

This varies greatly from teacher to teacher, but usually two to four 50-minute class periods to introduce students to the Stock Market Game™. When the program starts, older students can run the game quite independently. Younger students may need at least one opportunity per week to make trades. Teachers can choose how much or how little class time to devote to the program. Students can access their portfolios 24/7 online.

What concepts and skills can the Stock Market Game™ teach my students?

Depending on the grade level, the Stock Market Game™ can be a tool to teach:

Mathematics - ratios, decimals, estimating skills, fractions, monetary transaction, basic computation, percentages, graphs and charts

Economics - financial markets and institutions, supply and demand, profit and loss, opportunity costs, stock and capital markets

Life Skills - budgeting, decision-making, personal finance, and consumer education

Social Studies - citizenship, economics, government, world history, U.S. history, geography, behavioral sciences, current events

Language Arts – journalism, spelling, reading, research, vocabulary, writing skills

Business Education - decision-making, understanding the securities industry, business organizations, record-keeping, interpersonal skills, information processing, marketing, finance, and comprehension of financial statements

Technology - computer proficiency, Internet research, data entry, email communication, keyboarding skills, online financial transactions

How can I measure how well my students are doing?

Please visit Teaching the Game for ideas on how to assign a grade in the Stock Market Game™.

For what grades is the Stock Market Game™ appropriate?

The Stock Market Game™ is designed for use in grades 4 through 12. Gifted-program students in earlier grades have played successfully. It’s not unusual for students to participate several times in different grades, with different learning objective for different grade levels.

Computer issues

What technology is required to play?

You need an active email address, a computer and Internet access.

Do I need to be computer-proficient?

Only very basic Internet and Web-surfing skills are needed.

Do I need to computers in my classroom?

Teachers will need access to a computer or computer lab to participate. Many teachers with limited access to computers have found creative ways to involve students, through an extras-curricular activity, during lunch or after school, for example.

If I register, is the information I enter distributed elsewhere?

No. Information provided for the Stock Market Game™ is never given to third parties or used for commercial purposes.

What about student passwords?

It’s important to stress to students the need to safeguard their team IDs. Every team ID is set up for an individual team and all IDs and passwords are secure on the Stock Market Game™ system. However, if someone outside of a team learns the team ID and an unauthorized trade is made, it cannot be undone.