Take a minute and write down a list of 5 things you’d like to get for your birthday. Is your list done? Good! Now read over your list and ask yourself… how do I know about these things? Did I find out about them from a commercial that played before a video I watched on … Continue reading What is Advertising?
Last week we tried a new technique called ‘Lateral Reading’ to help us become better fact-checkers. This week we are going to learn about various websites that are out there that can help us find out if what we have heard or read is factual or not. You are going to read the following article … Continue reading Become a Fact-Checker – Part 2: A Little Help From My Friends
Lower School Digital Citizenship Lesson Week of March 16th Everyone enjoys connecting with others online (especially when we are all stuck at home!) This game is perfect for all of us right now because in a simple and clear way, it explains what kinds of information is okay to share online and what kind of … Continue reading Online Sharing Safety Game – Share Jumper
There is a constant stream of misinformation and disinformation out there about a lot of world news and this is especially true about the Coronavirus. Misinformation is false or inaccurate information that is often posted deliberately to deceive. Disinformation is false information put out through certain politicians or governments to deliberately deceive. Unfortunately, both misinformation … Continue reading Become a Fact-Checker… Part 1: Reading Laterally
Copyright and Fair Use are tricky subjects for adults as much as for students. These issues can be quite complex and confusing. The point of today’s workshop was to simplify it a little bit and help students to navigate these issues. As our students become more prolific creators of content with blogging, social media, and … Continue reading Copyright and Fair Use Middle School Workshops
Our two grade two classes got their first lesson about online footprints and how we leave them. They learned how to make sure that the footprints they are leaving online are the good kind! I made sure to highlight a few other ways we can leave our footprints online that were not touched on in … Continue reading First Footprints with Grade 2
Our grade two class got to meet some fun friends today, the super cute Common Sense Media Digital Citizens! Each one represents a different aspect of digital citizenship; Arms: Use your arms when you’re online to balance your time. Guts: Listen to your gut to stay safe online. Feet: Use your feet carefully when leaving … Continue reading Introduction to Digital Citizenship
Today students were introduced to the concept of a Digital Footprint. We used the example of tracks left by animals and how we can use our own deductive capabilities to infer quite a lot about an animal based on its tracks. The same is true for us when we go online. The sites we visit, … Continue reading What is a Digital Footprint?
“Don’t believe everything you read” parents often scold their kids, and we are giving them the skills to do exactly that! Grade 2 came for a visit to learn about how to use critical thinking and the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where and why) when evaluating if information on a website is credible or … Continue reading You’re Never Too Young to Start Thinking Critically
Grades 6, 7, and 8 visited the library this week for a lesson on the effects of social media on our personal relationships. Whether they are allowed legally to be on certain platforms or not (most require you to be at least 13), the reality is that most middle schoolers are on Snapchat, Instagram, Tic … Continue reading Social Media and Our Relationships