Lesson 1: Cyber Community Citizenship
Educational Technology and Online Learning 3Unit 2: Internet Safety
Activity Summary
Today's lesson is comprised of four brief activities in which your student will be using the mini-booklet that you printed out earlier.
Activity #1
Tell your student to turn to page 1 in the mini-booklet.Give your student some time to draw and label a place that he or she likes to go in the community.
Engage in a discussion with your student by asking the questions below.
1. Canyougive an example of another type of community?
After your student gives his or her response, tell your student, "A community is also made up of people who have something in common with each other. Do you belong to any clubs, sports teams, or church groups? These groups are communities of people who get together because they have a common interest."
2. People in communities communicate with each other. What are some of the ways they can communicate?
Answer should include: Talk, telephone, mail, television, signs, etc.
Activity #2
Tell your student to turn to page 2 of the mini-booklet. Read "I Am a Citizen." Provide time for your student todrawhimself or herselfas acitizen in a community, and write the name of the community (town, club, sports team, school, etc.). When finished, have your student share his or her picture with you.
Engage in a discussion with your student by asking the questions below.
1. How does a community help keep its citizens safe?
Answer should include: People obey rules and/or laws.
2. What are some of the rules followedin aschool community to keep people safe?
Give some examples of how rules and/or laws help to keep people safe in the larger (neighborhood) community.
3. Laws are made to protect people. Who helps enforce laws to keep us safe?
Answer should include: Law enforcement officers.
4. What are some of the things that your parents have told you that will keep you safe?
Answers should include: Don’t talk to strangers, tell your parents where you are going, wear your seatbelt, look both ways when you cross the street, etc.
Activity #3
Haveyourstudent turn to page 3 in the mini-booklet. Read the sentence together: I am safe in my community when I follow this rule. Haveyour student write a rule that he or she follows to stay safe and to be a good citizen. Provide a few minutes for your student to complete the activity.
Engage in a discussion with your student by asking the questions below.
1. Do you know what appropriate means?
Answer should include: Places and things that are suitable and good for kids.
2. Then what does inappropriate mean?
Answershould include:It’s the opposite of appropriate. Places and things that are not suitable for kids are called inappropriate.
Tell your student, "Inappropriate places are unsafe. There are places in the local community that are inappropriate and unsafe for children."
3. Can you give examples of places you are not allowed to go to in the community because they are inappropriate?
Tell your student, "There are community laws, and rules made by your parents, which keep you safe from these places. Good citizens are called responsible citizens when they follow the rules to keep themselves and others safe. Responsible citizens go to appropriate places and stay away from inappropriate places.”
Activity #4
Have your student look at page 4 ofthe booklet. Tell your student, "Read the list of words. Circle the places that are appropriate for kids. Put an X over the places that are inappropriate and unsafe for kids." When your student has finished, go over the words.
Engage in a discussion with your student by asking the questions below.
1. What does the word Cyberspace mean?
Answers will vary. Cyberspace is a community, which contains places to visit, just like in the real community.
Tell your student that Cyberspace is called the cyber community .
2. What do we call the places in the cyber community?
Answer should include: The places are called Web sites. For instance, there are Web sites that are stores, Web sites that are libraries, and Web sites that are schools.
3. How do people get around in the Cyber community?
Answer should include: People get around by using the Internet
Tell your student, "Sometimes the Internet is called the Information Superhighway to make you think it’s like a road in the real community."
4. If Cyberspace is a community too, who are the citizens?
Tell your student, "Every time you go on the Internet, you are a cyber citizen in the cyber community. There are lots of real people in the cyber community, and they live in places all around the world. They are able to get together by using their computers to log on to the Internet."
Conclusion
Ask your student if he or she remembers what inappropriate means? Remind your student that youlearned that inappropriate means that it’s not a good place for kids.
Present the following scenario:
“Remember when we talked about appropriate and inappropriate places in our real/physical community? There are inappropriate places on the Internet too. Sometimes people get lost on the Internet, and get to inappropriate websites by mistake. It’s not their fault!”
Ask your student, "Can you think of Internet sites that would not be appropriate for kids?"
Tell your student, "Websites that ask for money, that say mean things about people, or tell about hurting people are inappropriate. As a matter of fact, any website that doesn’t make sense to you is inappropriate. Inappropriate websites can be unsafe. Responsible cyber citizens help keep others safe! You can be a hero when you help others by telling an adult about it. This is one way to be a responsible cyber citizen."
"Remember, it’s not your fault if you happen to get to an inappropriate website."