Sixth-graders study stock investments through life-like simulation

What happens if you give a sixth-grader $1 million to invest in the stock market? Students at Shaler Area Elementary School in Shaler Area School District are about to find out. Each student in Mrs. Gurekovich and Mrs. McDermott’s accelerated math class is given a million dollars in imaginary funds to invest over six weeks in the stock market.

After learning background information about the stock market with Mr. Penn and Mrs. Oros, Mrs. McDermott and Mrs. Gurekovich led their Accelerated Math students in setting up accounts on a web-based stock market platform. The students are given $1,000,000 and are required to invest the money. The main curricular focus of the activity is “percent change.” The students apply skills as they track their investment over the course of the 6-week activity.

While the success of their investment decisions has no bearing on their grade, that doesn’t stop some of the students from being very competitive! To add to the interest, excitement, and competition, many staff members participate too. It is common to hear students discussing the performance of a particular stock with Mr. Mangold, the custodian, and Mr. Saxman, the IT technician. Students discuss how world events may affect their profits and banter with participating teachers.

All participants have full access to the web platform at any time and are encouraged to watch the news, do research on their own, and take some risks — after all, it is not real money! Students can track their progress in rankings posted outside the cafeteria. Whether students double their virtual money or lose it all, there will be a net gain of learning about how the stock market works.