What’s in the News? - Ellipsis Education

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What’s in the News?

Digital Citizenship Lessons

 

Extra, extra, read all about it! But is what’s in the news always true? Teach digital citizenship for elementary students with a free lesson from Ellipsis Education. Receive a digital citizenship PDF for What’s in the News, built for grades 3-5.

Explore courses in this grade band:

About the Lesson

In this activity, students will discuss the emotional impacts of breaking news and the trustworthiness of digital media. Students will learn how to approach news headlines and how to use a critical lens when viewing media. This lesson is built for grades 3 – 5 and introduces examples of good digital citizenship. The digital citizenship lesson includes links to the appropriate materials and resources, a detailed procedure, activity tips, and a bonus challenge activity.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
  • Students will be able to recall strategies for regulating emotional responses to news headlines.

  • Students will be able to judge the trustworthiness of news headlines and digital media using a critical lens.

VOCABULARY
  • Clickbait

  • Digital Media

  • Trusted Sources

Digital Citizenship Activities

WHAT’S IN THE NEWS

Introduce digital citizenship for elementary students with a free lesson from Ellipsis Education. Receive a digital citizenship PDF for What’s in the News, built for grades 3-5.

Digital Citizenship Curriculum

This lesson represents Ellipsis Education Computer Science Fundamentals courses, made for grades 3-5. Inspire your students with courses that spark their creativity. Coding lessons use Scratch, a block based coding language, ideal for the transitional and fluent reader. Other lesson types include digital citizenship, unplugged, STEM careers, and hardware integrations. Learn more about each Computer Science Fundamentals course below.

COMPUTER SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS 3RD GRADE

Explore fundamental computer science skills by building coding and debugging projects. Expand understanding of variables, loops, and conditionals. Discuss internet safety, real-world technology, and STEM careers.

COMPUTER SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS 4TH GRADE

Establish fundamental computer science skills. Understand concepts like variables, parameters, and comparison operators. Discuss ethical Internet behaviors and problem solving strategies, and STEM careers.

COMPUTER SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS 5TH GRADE

Reinforce fundamental programming concepts and experiment with advanced coding. Understand the applications of booleans, loops, and arrays. Evaluate online activity and the impacts of computing on society.

What is Digital Citizenship?

Digital citizenship is the responsibility we all have to interact safely, intelligently, and respectfully in online communities. According to DigitalCitizenship.net, there are 9 elements of digital citizenship: access, commerce, communication and collaboration, etiquette, fluency, health and welfare, rights and responsibility, and security and privacy. Although many of our students have grown up with technology, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a good grasp of each of these topics. Strong understanding of each of these nine components helps students use technology productively and ultimately, for the greater good. Especially as the lines between digital and physical spaces blur, these skills have implications beyond just online citizenship; they can help students become good global citizens, too.

At Ellipsis Education, we understand that digital citizenship curriculum makes the most impact when students receive equitable access, are empowered to make informed decisions, and understand that their actions have consequences. That is why digital citizenship is one of our Core Pillars of Ellipsis Education. Each course in our K-12 curriculum includes digital citizenship projects and discussions. Our goal is to help students be prepared with age-appropriate content and safe interactions with other users of technology.

Digital Citizenship for Kids

Looking for more? Here are other downloads that are representative of Ellipsis Education Computer Science Fundamentals for grades 3-5. Mix and match Ellipsis Education free resources to organize your own hour of code event.

Removing barriers to teaching computer science.