Students learn concrete skills to stay safe and secure online.
Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum for Grades K-5
This FREE, pioneering curriculum is designed to empower students to think critically and make informed choices about how they create, communicate, and treat others in our ever-evolving, 24/7 digital world. Browse the units to find the topics and lessons that are just right for your students.
Safety and Security
Unit 1: Safety
Students learn that the Internet offers great ways to visit new places, learn new things, and collaborate with others worldwide. They learn to follow rules about safety online, such as not revealing private information without a parent or guardian's permission.
Unit 2: Security
Students learn several ways to keep their information secure online. They learn how to: create and keep secure passwords, handle spam or unwanted messages, be cautious about the enticing offers they see on websites, and recognize privacy policies and seals of approval on children's websites.
Digital Citizenship
Students reflect on how to behave ethically online.
Unit 1: Digital Life
The lessons in this unit are designed to harness students' enthusiasm, encouraging them to talk about the impact of digital media on their lives, their communities, and our culture. Students discuss the positive and negative aspects of digital life and are introduced to the concept of digital citizenship.
Unit 2: Privacy and Digital Footprints
In a world in which everyone is connected and anything created can be copied, pasted, and sent to millions of people, it is important that students bring a sense of ethical responsibility to the online spaces where they consume, create, and share information. In this unit's lessons, students learn to manage their own privacy and respect the privacy of others.
Unit 3: Connected Culture
Students explore the ethics of participating in and building positive online communities, as well as how communities are upset because of cyberbullying and other damaging behaviors. The lessons explore the impact of students' individual actions – both negative and positive – on their friends and on the broader communities in which they participate.
Unit 4: Respecting Creative Work
The lessons in this unit address students' rights and responsibilities about respecting creative work, as well as explore topics ranging from copyright to fair use. Students reflect on the ethics of using creative work from others, and they are encouraged to celebrate their role as 21st-century creative artists.
Research and Information Literacy
Students think critically about finding and evaluating information online.
Unit 1: Searching
Students learn how to select subject categories in a directory. They also learn that keyword searching is an effective way to find information online, and they practice selecting keywords to produce the best results.
Unit 2: Research and Evaluation
Students learn what to look for when evaluating the quality and usefulness of children's information websites, and understand that not all websites are equally good sources of information.
