The South Dakota Stock Market Game Program Spring 2020 trading session registration now open

Teachers may now register for the Spring 2020 session of the South Dakota Stock Market Game Program (SDSMG) operated by the Black Hills State University Center for Economic Education. The Spring session begins Monday, Feb. 10 and ends its 10-week trading period on Friday, April 17. To register, go to www.stockmarketgame.org and click on Register and select the Feb 10 – Apr 17 trading session.
 
A series of free web-based teacher-training workshops will be conducted for registered teachers prior to and during the trading session and at different dates and times to accommodate teacher class schedules.  The webinars are divided into topics as follows:

Webinar Topics for Spring 2020  

1. SMG - The Basics (30 min) – Getting started, Teacher Support Center, and student portfolios
2. SMG Rules (30 min) – Overview of the main Stock Market Game rules
3. Team Portfolio Review (30 min) - A closer look at the student/team portfolio 
4. Winning with Diversification (30 min) – Strategies for building a diversified portfolio with stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds
5. Basic Company Research (30 min) - Using Yahoo and Nasdaq, basic terminology and company headlines will be reviewed
6. SMG Lessons, Tests & other Publications – An overview of Teacher Support Center offerings will be provided
7. Weekly Portfolio Analysis (30 min) – Analysis of major indexes and portfolio holdings
8. Let’s Trade Today! (30 min) - A quick overview of the SMG portfolio and how to get Stock Market Game students trading          
9. Handing Market Volatility (30 min) - Team strategies for a market rising or falling
10. How to InvestWrite (50 min) – Learn about InvestWrite, see the resources available to you and your students and hear about the great prizes and recognition, and BEST OF ALL hear teachers talk about their own InvestWrite experience and how they use it in their classrooms!
11. InvestWrite: Easy to Submit (30 min) – Learn how easy it is to submit your student essays online and/or just join in for a quick question and answer session
12. InvestWrite: Join Us Live! (1 hour) – We will be available every Wednesday evening during the month of February between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM ET. Join the InvestWrite Team and other InvestWrite teachers for an informal time to ask questions and share ideas or just pop in to listen!

A $10.00 team registration fee includes access to online team-trading screens to research companies and a Teacher Support Center with online lesson plans by grade level and subject and classroom activities to integrate the program into a variety of subjects. 

Students who participate receive free entry into InvestWrite, a highly successful culminating writing activity where students submit online essays judged by investment professionals.  Essay questions focus students on the importance of long term saving and investing and sharpen their critical thinking skills.  Winning essays receive state and national awards including a chance to win a paid trip to the New York Stock Exchange.  Learn more at www.investwrite.org
 
The SDSMG is a real-time online stock market simulation where student teams research and purchase a portfolio of stocks and compete for cash prizes in the middle school, high school and college divisions.  Teachers receive weekly newsletters, online training and a variety of online classroom teaching tools to integrate the program into a variety of grade levels and subjects.  The SDSMG program is the only online stock simulation program endorsed by the South Dakota Council on Economic Education.
 
The Black Hills State University Center for Economic Education has an exclusive license to operate the program in South Dakota with the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).  This SMG program is consistently identified as the leader in youth financial education and the only program proven in rigorous, independent studies year-after-year to raise math test scores, economics test scores and personal finance test scores and to change financial behavior for the better for students and teachers.  Nationwide, over 600,000 students from all 50 states participate each year. 
 
The South Dakota Stock Market Game is sponsored by the Black Hills State University Center for Economic Education, the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the South Dakota Council on Economic Education. For more information on the program or the webinars, contact Professor Don Altmyer, SDSMG Coordinator at donaltmyer@bhsu.edu or 605-642-6266.