Typically, we suggest that you assign 3-5 students per team. First, it is easier for a small group of students to work at one computer, and 3 to 5 students makes a manageable cooperative group for decision-making. (You may want to check with your Coordinator to see if there is a requirement for number of students on a team).
As you organize your teams, you may let students select their own team members, or, you may assign students to teams. Some teachers group students balancing individual strengths and weaknesses. Read about Using SMG with Cooperative Teams .
Team
Assignments
Many teachers using SMG assign roles for each team member, to be sure that all students are involved in the learning process and decision making. See Investment Teams for suggested role assignments.
Team Building Skills
Team skills like consensus building and time-management are vital to students for their roles in the future workplace. Using SMG is an excellent way to develop these skills.
Team building skills don't come naturally and students will need guidance in developing their skills. Share the following document with your students at their first team meeting to guide them in team building. See Team Building Skills.
Finally, you may want to evaluate students on their team skills and consensus skills. You can use this Team Building Evaluation Grid as you observe students, or let team members evaluate each other.
Access to Computers
The Stock Market Game works effectively if you have only 1 or 2 computers in a room, or have access to a computer lab once or twice a week. If you only have one computer in your class, you will need to rotate teams -- giving each time to look at their portfolio, enter transactions, or research stock data. If students have access to computers at home (or after school), let them do their research as homework. If time/access is still insufficient, let one student (or parent) enter team transactions and print out team portfolio reports.
In a computer lab situation, students can all access their portfolios at the same time -- and once or twice a week can be sufficient, especially if they can use other print resources for research.