Tell students to close their books or devices (or to keep them closed). Display the table from the Task Statement for all to see. Give students 1 minute of quiet think time, and ask them to be prepared to share at least one thing they notice and one thing they wonder. Record and display their responses without editing or commentary for all to see. If possible, record the relevant reasoning on or near the table.
Tell students to open their books or devices, and introduce the concept of shares in a company. Shares have a specific value at a specific time that can change up or down. They represent a measure of the worth of the company. We sometimes express the change as a value in dollars so investors can see how much money they will make or lose. We can also present these as a percentage to compare companies in terms of growth.
Before students begin working on the task, consider asking how they would represent an increase or decrease in value so that it were easily apparent.
To familiarize students with the information in the table, consider asking which companies’ stocks increased in value and which companies’ stocks decreased in value from day 1 to day 2. Ask students to explain their reasoning and come to an agreement before anyone begins doing calculations.
Action and Expression: Internalize Executive Functions. Invite students to verbalize their strategy for completing the table before they begin. Students can speak quietly to themselves or share with a partner.
Supports accessibility for: Organization, Conceptual Processing, Language
