A Powerful Digital Privacy Lesson in Grade 4

I am always on the lookout for effective digital citizenship activities for elementary students. Therefore, I was delighted to learn that Common Sense Media developed a website for students in grades 3-5 focusing on digital citizenship.

I have been impressed with their teaching materials but the lessons were always too long for the time I had with the children.  This new site is brilliantly made.  There are five modules. For each module the lesson plan gives you an opening activity. Then students login to the website. The format for each online part of the lesson is first there is a video with middle school kids. This imparts some information. Then there are three levels of the game. Each level includes more instruction along with a new round of the game.  Completing all of the levels unlocks a worksheet and a badge.

For the digital privacy lesson I modified the lesson a bit and it was highly effective. First, we reviewed YAPPY which they learned in the Professor Garfield Online Safety simulation in grade 3.

YAPPY is an easy way for students to remember that when online, they should not share the follow pieces of personal information.  

Y - your last name

A - your address

P - your password

P - your phone number

Y- your plans

Next, we watch and discuss the following PSA. 

We watch it through once. The kids really seem to relate to it. Then we watch it again with me pausing it to think aloud or giving them chances to pair and share.

Next I teach them to login to their  www.digitalpassport.org accounts.  They play the Share Jumper game. The game play is like Doodle Jump on the iPad, but each round of the game has 10 different dilemmas.  To earn the points, they need to choose the correct solutions.

Students found the games engrossing and the questions asked during the games were at a just the right level.  No one failed miserably or always got them all correct.

If time permitted, we viewed and discussed this entertaining, student-made digital privacy video. 

The ticket out the door was for each student to share their something they learned that day about digital privacy. Many students asked if they could play again at home.  I was happy to let them do so.

Note: There is also a paid Digital Passport iPad app.