TEACHING DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

Library Setup
Poster reminding students to Give Credit Where Credit Is Due giving examples for
citing books, pictures and websites.
At each computer an eyeball sticker/picture (the same that the technology teacher
uses in the computer lab) to remind students that others can see what theyre doing
on-line and to be safe.

Lessons and Modeling

In teaching digital citizenship for elementary school students, I would level my lessons
and activities based on the age group.

Pre-K and Kindergarten focus:

The place that I would start would be the concept of ownership, in preparation for citing
others works. As we read/discuss fiction books, I will always point out the author and
illustrator as persons who created something and should be given credit for it. When
reading/discussing non-fiction books, I will also point out contributors, authors,
photographers, etc.

1st and 2nd grade focus:

I would continue to model the giving of credit and would begin to model for them the
importance of including, in at least conversation, the creators of works. When the
children make a product, I will make sure they put their name on it and point out that it is
their work and they should get credit for it. For 2 nd graders, I would start showing them
how you would formally write citations. This could be through book trailers, during book
talks and pointing out displays that have citations.

Students would begin to be exposed to approved databases and programs that will help
them explore topics they like and are assigned to them, as well as that provide reading
practice, i.e. BrainPop Jr., PebbleGo, MyOn, etc. When they are introduced to these
on-line resources, we would discuss the importance of being safe on the internet and
only going to places where they feel safe and/or have been approved by their teacher
and parents. We would also learn about the reality of who/what you can trust on the
internet. I would model by putting something silly on the internet that wasnt true to
show them that they need to be careful believing what they find on the internet.

3rd grade focus:

Reminders and modeling of digital literacy they have learned in previous years will
continue.
Students will be expected to verbally and in writing provide credit for others and their
own work. I will begin to explicitly teach proper written citations with the expectation
that the students begin to attempt meeting the standards. This will be done through
having the students make mini-pathfinders of their own, where they find like materials
on the same topic. They will work with partners to find books, pictures, articles, etc. on
a topic they enjoy. Through this project, with teaching, modeling and supervision from
me, the children will begin to learn about evaluating the legitimacy of resources. When
students begin to work on their mini-pathfinders, they will be limited to certain on-line
searches/resources.

In coordination with the technology teacher, I will model and discuss internet safety
practices. This is a topic that will be explicitly taught by the technology teacher, and I
will provide support. I will use the same vocabulary as the technology teacher when
discussing and modeling safety.

4th and 5th grade focus:

Reminders and modeling of digital literacy they have learned in previous years will
continue.

I will explicitly begin teaching the art of website evaluation. Students will be required to
find corroborative information before they accept anything they find as fact. I will use a
false website and Wikipedia as examples of how anything can be posted. We will work
through Wikipedia to verify information and discuss the usefulness of different search
engines, databases and websites.

If classroom teachers and I do not have a collaborative research activity lesson planned
for the students, I will create one that will enhance their regular curriculum learning.
This will involve them creating more mini-pathfinders and/or creating presentations to
share in the library. All of these will have a focus on properly citing resources and begin
to have students evaluate and justify their sources.

In coordination with the technology teacher, I will continue to model and discuss internet
safety practices. Again, this is a topic that will be explicitly taught by the technology
teacher, and I will provide support. I will use the same vocabulary as the technology
teacher when discussing and modeling safety. At this point, the discussions will have
begun to include social networking safety.