4th Grade Internet Safety- Digital passport Summaries

In January and February, 4th graders completed the following Internet Safety lessons:
Communication: Twalkers- Students learn why it's important to avoid multitasking with a cell phone. They consider the benefits of focusing on one task at a time.

Family Tips

Privacy: Share Jumper- Students evaluate examples of online messages. They decide what information is appropriate to share and when. Students are also reminded that nothing is truly "private" or "erasable" online.

Family Tips

Cyberbullying: E-Volve- Students make choices about what to do if they or their friends are cyberbullied. They are encouraged to "evolve" into an “Upstander” – someone who takes action to stop cyberbullying, rather than standing by.

Family Tips

Search: Search Shark- Students learn how to choose effective keywords for searching online. They practice selecting keywords that are most relevant to a search prompt. Along the way, students discover hints for narrowing their search results.

Family Tips

Creative Credit: Mix-n-Mach- Students remix media content to create a new creative piece. Along the way, they give proper credit to the artists whose images and sound clips they use.

Family Tips

6th Grade Internet Safety

This week 6th graders are starting their Internet Safety unit in technology class.  We are going to use CommonSense Media's Internet Safety lessons on safety and security as well as privacy and digital footprints, in addition to using their "Digital Passport" program.  The lessons will take us all the way until March break.  Helpful resources for parents are linked to below.


Safety and Security

• Safe Talk Online
• Safe Talk Online- Family Tip Sheet (Middle School version)  
• What's the Big Deal About Internet Privacy?
• Family Tip Sheet on Online Security (Middle and High School version)
• Strong Passwords
• Private and Personal Information
• Family Tip Sheet for Online Security (Elementary School version)

Privacy and Digital Footprints

• Trillion Dollar Footprint
• Family Tip Sheet on Protecting and Respecting Privacy Online
• Oops! I Broadcast it on the Internet!
• Family Tip Sheet on Privacy and Digital Footprints (High School version)

Digital Passport

• Communication "Twalkers"
• Family Tips on Cell Phones
• Privacy "Share Jumper"
• Family Tips on Privacy
• Cyberbullying "E-Volve"
• Family Tips on Cyberbullying
• Search "Search Shark"
• Family Tips on Search
• Creative Credit "Mix-N-Mash"
• Family Tips on Respecting Creative Work

4th Grade Update- January in Review

4th graders have been busy!  Since finishing their Excel graphs created with data from P.E. students have been practicing their touch-typing skills as well learning about Internet Safety.  In January, 4th graders started a new unit on Internet Safety, participating in several lessons from CommonSense Media's Digital Passport program.  Students will continue this program into February, completing lessons on cell phone use, distraction, and multitasking; the risks associated with sharing private information online; how to be an upstander instead of a bystander in cyberbullying situations; how to search more effectively online using keywords; and how to give creative credit when using other people's work in a project.

5th Grade Update- November in Review

5th graders have spent the month of November finishing their Explorers PowerPoint presentations.  They have also completed an Internet Safety unit using Common Sense Media’s new program called “digital passports.”  The program includes five lessons on the following topics: communication, privacy, cyberbullying, searching online, and giving creative credit.  Coming up in December- creating a Plimouth Plantation virtual field trip using photographs, GarageBand recordings, and iPods!

5th Grade Internet Safety- Search Shark

5th graders have now completed their 5th and final Internet Safety online lesson called "Search Shark" where students learned how to choose effective keywords for online searches.  Students practiced selecting relevant keywords after being given a search prompt, and through an online game and class discussion they learned how better to narrow their search results.  Please visit this page for related parent tips.

5th Grade Internet Safety- Privacy

Today during technology class all 5th grade students are discussing the Internet Safety topic of privacy. We are using Common Sense Media's "digital passport" program.  If you are interested in some parent tips, please visit this site.

5th Grade Digital Passport Parent Materials

All 5th graders have now completed two Internet Safety lessons- one on cell phone use and another on cyberbullying.  The next lesson will be on copyright law.

The digital passport site has the following resources available for parents:

Communication: Twalkers (proper cell phone use, multitasking, and distraction)
Cyberbullying: Evolve (cyberbullying, targets, upstanders, bystanders, and bullies)
Creative Credit: Mix-N-Mash (copyright law, plagiarism, and giving credit)

New CommonSense Media app

Common Sense Media released a new, free Kids Media app for parents, featuring Common Sense's age-based rating and reviews of media for kids.  The app covers movies, TV shows, music, books, websites, video games, and apps.  Click here for the press release.  Click here to view it on Apple iTunes.

5th Grade Internet Safety

This week 5th grade students started using Common Sense Media's new Internet Safety program called Digital Passport.  Digital passport is a web-based program designed to teach students about digital citizenship, with topics including online safety and security, privacy, cyberbullying, copyright and creation, and finding information online.  The program uses videos, games, and classroom activities and discussions to prepare students for using online and mobile technologies.  It's a perfect introduction to the topics that we will discuss more in depth next year as a part of the 6th grade technology curriculum.