CMLE understands the importance of learning good digital citizenship and literacy! One of our fantastic school library members shared that the FREE digital citizenship curriculum provided by Common Sense Education has been very well-received at her school. So we wanted to make sure you know about this resource in case it may be useful to you!

Today we’re looking at the curriculum for grades 3-5. In case you missed it, we covered the lessons for K-2 in last week’s post. For these older grade levels, more topics and lessons are available. Most lessons include slides or videos and tackle topics like privacy, cyberbulling, media literacy, and more. All lessons also come with family activities and tips.

Third graders get to practice their media balance and well-being through an interactive Rings of Responsibility activity. They learn about the meaning of the word “password” and practice creating a strong one. There’s also an important news literacy lesson about how fake photos and videos are created and contribute to the spread of untrue information.

Fourth graders learn about the definition of “digital footprint” and how their online activity contributes to the creation of their online identity. This information is delivered through a footprint game and quiz. There’s also a lesson about social interaction when playing video games, with a video and discussion time to analyze communication and behavior.

Fifth graders get acquainted with the concept of clickbait and learn strategies to avoid it. There are handouts and a quiz to go along with the lesson. There’s also a lesson that shows ways gender stereotypes can lead to unfair treatment online. A poem and avatar activity go along with the lesson. Cyberbullying is covered again, with a discussion about the similarities and differences between real-life bullying, being mean, and strategies to use if you encounter someone being bullied online.