Lesson plans

Three progressive units for StockSt. Pick a band, then open a lesson.

StockSt uses fictional currency and simulated shares for education only. This is not investment advice.

Elementary School Grades 3–5

Own a Piece of the Story: Saving, Choosing, and Growing

Students learn that people can save money, buy small pieces of organizations or ventures, watch values change, and make patient choices. The celebrity-share market is used as an engaging stand-in for company ownership, not as a suggestion to invest in celebrities.

Open unit
  1. What is ownership?
    45 minutes · Students explain that owning a share means owning a small part of something.
    Open
  2. Save first, then choose
    45 minutes · Students distinguish saving from spending and set a simple goal.
    Open
  3. Why do share prices move?
    45 minutes · Students identify simple events that can raise or lower a simulated share price.
    Open
  4. Don’t put all your coins in one place
    45 minutes · Students explain diversification in kid-friendly language.
    Open
  5. Simulation showcase
    45 minutes · Students present a simple portfolio and reflect on what they learned.
    Open

Middle School Grades 6–8

Market Movers: Research, Risk, and Diversification

Students learn how public interest, news, risk, and diversification affect simulated asset prices. They practice making and defending investment decisions using evidence rather than hype.

Open unit
  1. Stocks, shares, and markets
    50 minutes · Students define a stock, share, market, portfolio, and volatility.
    Open
  2. What moves a price?
    50 minutes · Students analyze how news, popularity, scarcity, and sentiment can affect simulated prices.
    Open
  3. Research before you buy
    50 minutes · Students gather evidence, compare options, and justify a simulated purchase.
    Open
  4. Risk, reward, and diversification
    50 minutes · Students compare concentrated and diversified portfolios and explain the risk-return tradeoff.
    Open
  5. Avoiding hype and FOMO
    50 minutes · Students recognize emotional decision-making and practice a disciplined process.
    Open
  6. Portfolio challenge
    50 minutes (launch session; the challenge runs over two to four class sessions) · Students manage a diversified simulated portfolio and present results.
    Open

High School Grades 9–12

Capital Markets Lab: Valuation, Strategy, and Risk Management

Students apply economic and financial reasoning to a simulated market. They evaluate price drivers, construct portfolios, assess risk, understand behavioral biases, and communicate an investment thesis.

Open unit
  1. Markets, ownership, and price discovery
    60 minutes · Students explain how buyers and sellers establish market prices.
    Open
  2. Fundamental and sentiment analysis
    60 minutes · Students evaluate a simulated asset using both fundamentals and sentiment.
    Open
  3. Valuation and expected return
    60 minutes · Students estimate whether a simulated share is relatively expensive or inexpensive and calculate expected return.
    Open
  4. Portfolio construction and diversification
    60 minutes · Students design a portfolio with explicit goals, constraints, and risk limits.
    Open
  5. Behavioral finance and market psychology
    60 minutes · Students identify cognitive biases and create rules to reduce emotional trading.
    Open
  6. Risk management and scenario analysis
    60 minutes · Students quantify downside scenarios and apply position-sizing rules.
    Open
  7. Capstone: Investment committee
    60–90 minutes · Students present, defend, and revise a portfolio strategy.
    Open