Overview

Students will learn to use the free website Pocket to save web articles and remove advertisements and distracting images/links.

Goals

1. Develop student skills to remove and manage digital distractions

2. Raise student awareness about advertising and competition for their attention online

3. Encourage students to share this website and digital literacy strategy with friends, parents, and other acquaintances 

Preparation

1. Student computers should have the Chrome web browser pre-installed.

2. Students need to have a school-provided Google account / GSuite for Education account.

3. The teacher (or school IT department) should create a Seesaw Learning Journal Class, and all students should be added to the class in advance of the lesson.

4. The teacher should assign this Seesaw Activity to the class.

5. The school parent permission form for student use of Google Apps should grant permission for the use of teacher/IT department approved third party web applications.

Procedures

1. Optional: Play the "Introducing Pocket" video embedded on the right.

2. Play the tutorial video embedded on the right.

3. Ask students to login to their Seesaw class and complete the assigned activity, "Distraction Free Web Reading." The activity includes the following steps:

   1. Sign up for a free "Pocket" account by visiting https://getpocket.com (Use your Google Account)

   2. Add the Pocket Google Chrome extension to your Casady Google account. (Be sure SYNC is turned on.)

   3. Find three news article of interest by visiting Google News: news.google.com and Ground News: ground.news

   4. Save each news article to POCKET by using the Chrome extension.

   5. Read one of the articles.

   6. Share the link to your news article by responding to THIS ACTIVITY.

   7. Add a comment to your own article, explaining in 2 to 3 complete sentences why this article is interesting and/or important.

Extensions

1. Ask students to comment on each other's shared web links in Seesaw, using complete sentences and proper punctuation.

2. Share the alternative "Reader View" browser extension / button:

   1. If using Chrome, install the browser extension Reader View.

   2. If using FireFox, use the built-in “Reader View” button.

   3. If using Safari, use the built-in “Reader View” button.

3. Encourage students to also install the free Chrome Extension "UBlock Origin," which blocks almost all web ads, including ads on YouTube.