Grades 6-8 Lessons


  •  Denotes resources for students
     Denotes the anchor lesson

    Module 1
    STUDENT
    		Lesson PlanPurpose
     
    		Digital Life 101/My Media

    • Learn about the 24/7, social nature of digital media.

    • Explore their digital lives.

    • Learn that it is important to act responsibly when carrying out relationships over digital media.

    • 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 plays in their lives.

     
    		Which me should I be?

    • 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.

    • Judge whether certain ways people present themselves online are harmless or harmful

     
    		 Cyber-Bullying: Crossing the Line

    Students learn to distinguish good-natured teasing from cyberbullying. Students learn about the difference between being a passive bystander versus a brave upstander in cyberbullying situations.

    • Students will analyze online bullying behaviors that “cross the line.”
    • Students will learn about the various ways that students can be cyberbullied, including deceiving, and harassing.
    • Students will reflect on what it means to be brave and stand up for others offline and online.
    • Students will learn to show empathy for those who have been cyberbullied.
    • Students will generate multiple solutions for helping others when cyberbullying occurs.
    • Students will compose their own definition of what is cyberbullying, giving an example and a solution or strategy
    • Students will create a Voki avatar and record/type their response.

    Module 2
    STUDENT
    		Lesson PlanPurpose

    		 Identifying High Quality Websites

    Students learn that anyone can publish on the Web, so not all sites are equally trustworthy.

    • Students will learn criteria that will help them evaluate websites.
    • Apply the criteria to a site to determine how trustworthy and useful it is.
    • Apply these criteria to evaluate a website.

    		Strategic Searching

    • 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.


    		Rework, Reuse, Remix

    • 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.


    Module 3
    STUDENT
    		Lesson PlanPurpose

    		 Trillion Dollar Footprint

    Students learn that they have a digital footprint and that this information can be searched, copied and passed on, but that they can take some control based on what they post online.

    • Recognize that they have a digital footprint and that this information can be searched, copied and passed on.

    • Recognize that people’s online information can be helpful or harmful to their reputation and image.

    • Evaluate and choose what they post online to shape their digital footprint.

    		The Reality of Digital Drama
    • Students draw connections between young teens’ perceptions of digital drama and stereotypes of men and women on reality TV.

    		Crossing the Line

    • Students learn to distinguish good-natured teasing from cyberbullying

    • Reflect on what it means to be brave and stand up for others offline and online.

    • Learn to show empathy for those who have been cyberbullied.

    • Generate multiple solutions for helping others when cyberbullying occurs.