Curriculum

Digital Citizenship

Lesson Plans and Student Activity Sheets

The CyberSmart! Digital Citizenship lessons are organized to align with the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students (2007) for Digital Citizenship (standards 5.a.-5.d.) and the nine elements of digital citizenship described in Digital Citizenship in Schools by Gerald Bailey and Mike Ribble (2007).

Digital Society Students consider the importance of digital technology access for all members of society.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
K-1	The Library^New!	Children learn that the library houses many forms of media for both research and leisure activities. They also learn that an important resource in the library is the librarian.
K-1	Cyberspace at School^New!	Children explore the concept of cyberspace as a means of communicating with real people within their school.
2-3	Ask a Librarian^New!	Students learn the library is the best place to begin research, because the librarian can help them find information in all kinds of media.
2-3	My Cyberspace Neighborhood^New!	Students explore the concept of cyberspace as a means of connecting people and explain how the ability to communicate can unite a neighborhood.
4–5	Citizens of Cyberspace^New!	Students learn that Internet users are citizens of a global community with the power to share ideas with people around the world.
4–5	Speak Out^New!	Students learn that, as citizens of their country, they have a responsibility to speak out on important issues and that the Internet provides easy ways to do so.
4-5	What's at the Library?^New!	Students learn that libraries offer easy-to-use resources for researching a topic for a school report.
4-5	Cyberspace Country^New!	Students contrast cyberspace with actual and fantasy places, learn that cyberspace is where real people connect using computers and real experiences take place, and visually express their conception of the geography of cyberspace in the U.S.
4-5	Imagining the Future^New!	Students consider emerging computer and Internet technologies, and predict how such developments might directly affect the lives of kids in the future.
6-8	Online @ the Library^New!	Students learn that there are often advantages to using the Internet from a school or public library and investigate the specific services offered by their own library.
6-8	Cyberspace World^New!	Students consider the concept of cyberspace as a place and learn that it can be defined as real people communicating through computers connected to the Internet. They create a map to visually represent that definition, taking into account the influences of population, language and geography around the world.
6-8	Debating the Future^New!	Students analyze social issues related to the future use of the Internet, decide if they agree or disagree, and support their views in a debate.

Digital Rights and Responsibilities Students consider the power and responsibilities of citizenship on social networks, when encountering cyberbullying, and adherence to their school's Acceptable Use Policy.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
2–3	Everyone Wants Friends^New!	Students examine face-to-face bullying behaviors and identify why these behaviors create problems. They role-play to find ways to resolve the problem and create a poster of “No Bullying” rules.
2–3	Is That Fair?^New!	Students learn that bullying behaviors may take place when they are online. They brainstorm slogans to remind one another that they can get help from a trusted adult.
4–5	The Power of Words^New!	Students consider that while they are enjoying their favorite children's Web sites, they may encounter messages from other children that can make them feel angry, hurt, sad, or fearful. They explore ways to handle a particular cyberbullying situation, learn some basic prevention rules, and propose actions to take to calm down when online language makes them angry.
4–5	Be Comfortable^New!	Students consider some online scenarios and examine their personal comfort levels. They learn to recognize such feelings and responsibly manage their actions in cyberspace.
4–5	Understand Your Acceptable Use Policy^New!	Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) contracts encourage responsible behavior by students and staff and give administrators enforceable rules for acceptable use of school computers. Students will interpret and make inferences about their school's AUP.
6-8	Power and Responsibility^New!	Students consider the power of the Internet to disseminate positive and negative ideas of individuals, as well as large organizations. They relate the privileges and responsibilities of cyber citizenship to their school's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
6-8	Cyberbullying: Not a Pretty Picture^New!	Students explore a scenario in which a friendly relationship turns to a bullying one involving cell phones and computers. Then they create a glossary of abbreviations that will give contextual clues to text messages.
6-8	Cyberbullying: Who, Me? Why Should I Care?^New!	Students explore the roles and responsibilities of bystanders to cyberbullying. Then they develop a plan for peer mentoring to prevent cyberbullying situations.
6-8	Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line^New!	Students learn that when cyberbullying includes threats to safety, they must involve trusted adults. They develop a plan to enable students to report cyberbullying to school authorities anonymously.
9-12	Your Online Image^New!	Students explore the consequences of unintended audiences viewing their social network profiles. They consider four key characteristics of social network sites and how they might affect teens as they try out new identities. Then students collaborate to write a letter to parents demonstrating their understanding of issues related to unintended online audiences.
9-12	Acceptable Social Networking?^New!	Students explore a scenario in which an angry student creates a false online identity in order to seek revenge. They explore ways to resolve the situation and develop a list of tips to help other teens avoid cyberbullying situations.
9-12	Connected, 24/7^New!	Students explore how bullying behaviors on social networking sites and cell phones can affect teens around the clock. They identify positive actions that bystanders can take to alleviate a particular scenario. Then they write a letter to the editor discussing the positives and negatives of social networking sites, messaging, and cell phone technologies used by teens.

Digital Safety and Security Students learn how to avoid cyberpredators, protect their identities, and handle e-mail, messaging, texting, password-protected accounts, and computer networks to avoid viruses and other malware.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
K-1	Go Places Safely^New!	A virtual field trip helps children experience the power and excitement of the Internet by taking them places in cyberspace that might be impractical for a class to visit. They also learn that, just as when traveling in the face-to-face world, they should always take an adult with them when traveling in cyberspace.
2-3	What's Private?^New!	Children learn about the power of the Internet to facilitate collaboration among students worldwide. While co-writing a story online, students learn an important safety rule: Before sharing private information in cyberspace, they must get permission from a parent or teacher.
4-5	Private Information^New!	By examining and identifying actual online requests for private information, students learn to apply the same safety rules in cyberspace as they use when encountering strangers in the face-to-face world.
4-5	Safe Talking in Cyberspace^New!	Students learn that they can develop rewarding online relationships, but they should never reveal private information to a person they know only in cyberspace without asking their parent or guardian for permission.
4-5	Powerful Passwords^New!	Students learn the benefits of using passwords and then play a board game to discover some strategies for creating and keeping secure passwords.
4-5	Handling E-mail and IM^New!	Students consider the positive uses of e-mail and instant messaging and identify strategies for responsibly managing spam and other messages that make them uncomfortable.
6-8	Private and Personal Information^New!	Students learn they can converse and share ideas and opinions with others in cyberspace. They adopt a critical thinking process that empowers them to protect themselves and their families as they visit sites requesting private identity information.
6-8	Savvy Online Talk and Messaging^New!	Students explore the benefits of online talk and messaging and consider scenarios in which they might feel uncomfortable or be asked to give away private identity information. They identify situations in which flirting and sexual talk is risky and discuss safety rules to apply online.
6-8	Smart, Safe, and Secure Online^New!	Students consider some security challenges related to e-mail, instant messaging, and free downloads—spam, malware attachments, electronic chain letters, and phishing—discussing ways of handling them safely and responsibly. Then they create cartoons and comics to educate others about cyber security.
6-8	Strong Passwords^New!	Students learn how to create secure passwords in order to protect their private information and accounts online.
9-12	Online Identity Theft: Information is Power^New!	Students learn about the methods criminals use to steal identities online. They develop an identity theft prevention tip list and propose ways to communicate their tips to their families.
9-12	Making Good Decisions^New!	Students take a true/false quiz about the risks to teens regarding online sexual victimization by adults. They use an analysis of the results as the basis for a classroom discussion of how they can harness the power of the Internet while avoiding risky behavior that can lead to involvement in criminal sexual activity.
9-12	Managing Passwords^New!	Students take a quiz to determine the strength of their passwords. They learn the reasons for building passwords that are hard to crack and practice creating passwords that follow recommended security rules. They devise a way to communicate what they have learned to their families.
9-12	Safeguarding Your Stuff, My Stuff, Our Stuff^New!	Students explore real stories of cyber security threats and damage and learn to think responsibly about securing their families' data at home and when using public computers. They think creatively about how to talk with their families about cyber security.

Digital Etiquette Students learn the dos and don'ts of appropriate conduct online.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
2-3	Good Manners Everywhere^New!	Students discuss good manners in the face-to-face world and learn some dos and don'ts for using E-mail in cyberspace.
4-5	Good E-mail Manners^New!	Students learn good manners dos and don'ts when sending E-mail.
6-8	Good Messaging Manners^New!	Students learn guidelines for good manners in cyberspace, including tips for E-mail, instant messages, chat, and message boards.
9-12	Acceptable Social Networking?^New!	Students explore a scenario in which an angry student creates a false online identity in order to seek revenge. They explore ways to resolve the situation and develop a list of tips to help other teens avoid cyberbullying situations.

Digital Law and Ethics Students examine some ethical and legal implications of using technology, including online threats, plagiarism, copyright infringement, identity theft, and hacking.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
K-1	Is This Yours?^New!	Children learn that computers, like other objects, are property and should be respected.
2-3	Filling Out a Form—Ask First^New!	Students learn that many Web sites have enticing offers in exchange for information and discuss how to responsibly handle such offers.
2-3	Whose Property Is This?^New!	Students extend their understanding of “property” to include not only computer equipment but also the work of others, and then discuss rules for respecting such property.
4-5	Privacy Rules!^New!	Students learn that children's Web sites must protect their private information, and look for privacy policies and privacy seals of approval.
4-5	Group Think^New!	Students learn that sometimes youths in groups think and behave differently than they would if each person was alone. They examine the role of the bystander in cyberbullying situations and develop an ethical pledge for bystanders.
4-5	Whose Is It, Anyway?^New!	Students learn that, although the Internet makes it very easy, copying others' work and presenting it as one's own is unethical. They also learn about circumstances in which it is permissible to copy others' work.
4-5	Do the Right Thing^New!	Students learn that they should apply the same ethical principles in cyberspace that guide them in face-to-face situations.
6-8	Check the Privacy Policy^New!	Students evaluate Web site privacy policies with a checklist based on Federal Trade Commission rules for compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
6-8	Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line^New!	Students learn that when cyberbullying includes threats to safety, they must involve trusted adults. They develop a plan to enable students to report cyberbullying to school authorities anonymously.
6-8	Considering Copying^New!	Students consider possible ways to copy others' works using the Internet and learn that many forms of copying are illegal or unethical.
6-8	Can You Hack It?^New!	Students learn that computers and electronic files are property and explore the reasons for, consequences, and ethics of teen hacking.
9-12	Online Identity Theft: Information is Power^New!	Students learn about the methods criminals use to steal identities online. They develop an identity theft prevention tip list and propose ways to communicate their tips to their families.
9-12	Safeguarding Your Stuff, My Stuff, Our Stuff^New!	Students explore real stories of cyber security threats and damage and learn to think responsibly about securing their families' data at home and when using public computers. They think creatively about how to talk with their families about cyber security.

Lifelong Learning Students learn to take responsibility for lifelong learning, including avoiding plagiarism, and using digital resources and technologies.
Grades	Lesson Title	Lesson Overview	Codes^*
K-1	A-B-C Searching^New!	Children search for animal pictures online by clicking letters of the alphabet. They then print the pictures and, in an offline activity, color them and arrange a display.
K-1	Good Sites^New!	Children explore and evaluate a children's Web site, concluding that people's opinions about the quality and usefulness of a site will vary.
K-1	Find the Ad^New!	Children learn that the purpose of advertisements is to encourage people to buy something; children also practice differentiating ads from content on Web sites.
2-3	The Power of Writing^New!	Students are guided through a multi-lesson project to identify a real-world problem, investigate the problem, and communicate a written message to an audience outside their classroom.
2-3	Subject Category Searching^New!	Selecting subject categories is one of two main search tools used on the Internet. Students learn how to best select subject categories in a directory and explore the concept of narrowing their search.
2-3	Using Keywords^New!	Keyword searching is an effective way to locate information on the World Wide Web. Students learn how to select keywords to produce the best search results.
2-3	Finding Good Sites^New!	Students explore, evaluate, and compare several children's informational Web sites, concluding that people's opinions about the quality and usefulness of sites will vary.
2-3	Things for Sale^New!	Students learn that some Web sites are advertising environments intended to promote good feelings about products.
4-5	Purchasing Power^New!	Students are guided through a multi-lesson project to collaborate in making real-world purchasing decisions using mathematical and critical thinking skills and accessing Internet resources to collect information.
4-5	Choosing a Search Site^New!	Through online observations, students record and compare the features of four children's search sites. They then construct a lift-the-flap poster that will guide them in selecting appropriate search sites.
4-5	Rating Web Sites^New!	Students discuss and apply criteria for rating informational Web sites, compare their results, and infer that all Web sites are not equally good sources of research information.
4-5	Homework Help in a Hurry^New!	Students learn strategies for getting immediate help with their homework, including going online with an adult to homework help search services and reference databases.
4-5	E-mailing for Homework Help^New!	Students visit sites where, with a parent or guardian, they can ask a homework question and receive an answer from an expert over the Internet. They find out that such personalized help takes time and is not suitable if they need an immediate answer.
4-5	A Place to Advertise^New!	Students consider that some Web sites are designed as advertising environments to entertain visitors while promoting advertisers' brands and products.
6-8	Considering Copying^New!	Students consider possible ways to copy others' works using the Internet and learn that many forms of copying are illegal or unethical.
6-8	Using Real-time Data^New!	Students use a guide to locate quantitative and qualitative real-time data on the Internet, develop essential questions, plan collaboration, identify an audience, and decide how to communicate the results of their investigation.
6-8	Investigating Search Engines and Directories^New!	Students learn how search engines, directories, and meta-search engines work and compare and contrast their features.
6-8	Smart Keyword Searching^New!	When you know the specific information you need, keyword searching is the most effective method of searching on the World Wide Web. Students learn strategies to increase the accuracy of their search. They compare the number and kinds of sites obtained and make inferences about the effectiveness of the strategies.
6-8	Making Search Decisions^New!	Students interpret some powerful decision-making tips to increase their searching efficiency and then apply them in school research scenarios. They also learn to look for advanced search strategies offered at most search sites.
6-8	Identifying High-Quality Sites^New!	Students learn that, because anyone can publish on the Web, they must carefully evaluate the sites they use for research. They review evaluation criteria and use a checklist to "grade" informational sites.
6-8	Sticky Sites^New!	Students explore why and how commercial Web sites attempt to attract and keep visitors.
9-12	Managing Project Teams^New!	Students use a checklist to learn to manage collaborative teams and select digital tools to support collaborative authentic learning projects. Use as a stand-alone lesson or in preparation for team project assignments.
9-12	Evaluating Online Resources^New!	Students learn to think critically about their choices of Web sites for research by using an evaluation checklist that discusses the key characteristics of trustworthy sites. A sampling of sites on a topic of high interest to students provides the lesson context. Optional strategies for the use of Web 2.0 tools are included. Extend the lesson to examine the use of Wikipedia.

No computer required =
Optional Web 2.0 tool activity =
Internet connection required =