6-8 Lessons & Activities
Looking for some core lessons on Digital Citizenship for our sixth through eigth grade students? This is your place! These essential lesson are followed by additional lessons that teachers may wish to incorporate as circumstances allow.
Any student who has access to district provided email must be taught how to use email safely and ethically. The bottom of this page has a section of email related lessons and resources. We encourage the sites and classrooms teachers to decide which lessons best meet the needs of their students.
Many of these lessons are from the curriculum at Common Sense Media. When you click a link, it will navigate you to the appropriate Common Sense Media webpage. The full lessons may be downloaded from those pages.
The lessons are aligned with Common Core ELA, AASL, and ISTE standards.
SIXTH GRADE
Key Lesson: Finding Balance in a Digital World
How do we balance digital media use in our lives?
Learning Objectives - Students will be able to:
Reflect on their common online and offline activities.
Analyze and prioritize the activities that are most important to them.
Identify ways to "unplug" to maintain balance between online and offline activities.
Key Lesson: Who Are You Online?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of presenting yourself in different ways online?
Learning Objectives - Students will be able to:
Reflect on reasons why people might create fake social media accounts.
Identify the possible results of posting from a fake social media account.
Debate the benefits and drawbacks of posting from multiple accounts.
Key Lesson: Digital Drama Unplugged
How can you de-escalate digital drama so it doesn't go too far?
Learning Objectives - Students will be able to:
Reflect on how easily drama can escalate online.
Identify de-escalation strategies when dealing with digital drama.
Reflect on how digital drama can affect not only oneself but also those around us.
Key Lesson: Chatting Safely Online
How do you chat safely with people you meet online?
Learning Objectives - Students will be able to:
Analyze how well they know the people they interact with online.
Reflect on what information is safe to share with different types of online friends.
Learn to recognize red flag feelings and how to respond to them.
Suggested Lessons:
Interland - A game from Google that teaches Internet safety basics.
Strategic Searching - What steps can help you find what you're looking for when you search online?
SEVENTH GRADE
HOW WE USE MEDIA
6-8, Unit 2, Lesson 1: My Media
Essential question: What are your personal media habits, and how much time do you spend with different forms of media?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
assess how much time they spend with media activities.
record and compare the time they spend with different forms of digital media (cell phones, Internet, etc.) and in different activities (texting, posting, and watching or creating videos).
formulate a viewpoint on the role that digital media play in their lives.
Additional supplemental options for using media conscientiously:
Cyberbullying:
Sharing Too Much Information
USING MEDIA RESPONSIBLY
6-8, Unit 2, Lesson 2: A Creator’s Responsibilities
Essential question: What responsibilities do you have to respect others' creative work?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
consider ethical questions about real-life decisions young creators make in exercising their creative rights and responsibilities.
understand that piracy and plagiarism are irresponsible and disrespectful behaviors that have ethical and legal implications.
brainstorm solutions to dilemmas creators might encounter.
Additional supplemental options for Plagiarism and Citations:
YOUR IDENTITY ONLINE
6-8, Unit 2, Lesson 4: Which Me Should I Be?
Essential question: What are the outcomes of presenting yourself in different ways online?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
reflect on the benefits and risks of presenting their identities in different ways online.
evaluate – from an ethical point of view – the feelings, motivations, contexts, and possible outcomes associated with adopting different roles online.
Additional supplemental options for Identity Awareness Online:
False Identities Online:
Discussion Guide - Friend or Fake
Activities - Friend or Fake
EIGHTH GRADE
ONLINE REPUTATION: HELPFUL OR HARMFUL
6-8, Unit 3, Lesson 1: Trillion Dollar Footprint
Essential question: What is a digital footprint, and what does yours convey?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
learn that they have a digital footprint and that information from it can be searched; copied and passed on; seen by a large, invisible audience, and can be persistent.
recognize that people’s online information can be helpful or harmful to their reputation and image.
consider their own digital footprints and what they want those footprints to be like in the future.
Additional supplemental options for Online Reputation: Helpful or Harmful:
Activities - Profile Penalty
Activities - Your Photo Fate
Discussion Guide - Two Kinds of Stupid
RELIABLE INFORMATION
6-8, Unit 3, Lesson 2: Identifying High-Quality Sites
Essential question: When can you trust what you find on the internet?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
understand how the ease of publishing on the Internet might affect how much they can trust the content of some sites.
learn criteria that will help them evaluate websites.
apply the criteria to a site to determine how trustworthy and useful it is.
Additional supplemental options for High-Quality Sites:
COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE
6-8, Unit 3, Lesson 5: Rework, Reuse, Remix
Essential question: What rights do you have as a creator?
Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to ...
identify the key points required for a creative work to fall under fair use.
judge whether or not the two case studies can be called fair use.
understand the value of fair use by reworking and remixing copyrighted material in a collage or video.
Additional supplemental options for Copyright and Fair Use:
Additional Resources:
Be Internet Awesome - Located in your Google Team Drive under Technology Lessons
6-8 EMAIL RESOURCES:
Any students using district email must learn about email safety.
Scams and Schemes - What is identity theft, and how can you protect yourself from it?
Student-Directed Video: Email Etiquette for Students
