What exactly IS Digital Citizenship? It’s been a buzzword recently, especially with the use of so much technology in our lives the past two years. Advent students across all grade levels are starting to explore what it means to be an informed digital citizen.

Navigating the digital world is a skill that students work to build through guided exploration, similar to skill acquisition in literacy and math.

This year, The Advent School assembled a Vertical Team of teachers and administrators. The Digital Citizenship Vertical Team is utilizing resources from Common Sense Media and the Be Internet Awesome curriculum from Google to develop a scope and sequence that is responsive to the social-emotional needs of our students and reflective of the mission and vision of The Advent School.

ECC (pre-K) and Kindergarten

This curriculum is meant to prepare students for future exposure to the digital world. Instead of focusing on digital experiences, we are building off of Advent’s social-emotional learning curriculum to explore the ideas of communication and safety within their communities.

Guiding Questions:

• How do we manage our emotions when it is time to stop a preferred activity?

• What do we do to stay safe when we visit new places?

• What can we do to be kind to people?

• How do we stay safe when we visit places on the computer?

First and Second Grade

First Grade students are just beginning to step into the digital world. In order to best prepare them to make safe and appropriate digital choices, we prompt students to think about their digital experiences and how they connect to their physical and emotional well-being.

Second Grade students at The Advent School learn how to navigate technology independently. Utilizing the Common Sense Media and Be Internet Awesome curricula as a jumping-off point, students begin to explore what it means to make safe and appropriate technology choices independently.

Guiding Questions:

• How does technology make me feel?

• How do you stay safe when visiting a website or an app?

• How might others see things from a different perspective?

• How are we part of an online community?

• What information is it important to keep private online?

Third and Fourth Grade

Third Grade students spent the year exploring technology as a learning tool and what it means to be members of a digital community. Fourth Grade students work with Ms. Behen to test out lessons from Common Sense Media and Be Internet Awesome to adapt them to fit the needs of our school best.

Guiding Questions:

• How do digital citizens take responsibility for themselves, their community, and their world?

• What should you do when someone uses mean or hurtful words on the internet?

• What makes a media choice healthy or not?

• How does our online activity affect the digital footprints of ourselves and others?

• How can I be positive and have fun while playing online games, and help others do the same?

• How do I create effective and appropriate search queries?

Fifth and Sixth Grade

Fifth and Sixth Grade students are also working on testing out lessons from Common Sense Media and Be Internet Awesome to adapt them to fit the needs of our school best.

Throughout this unit, students will work to create a proposal for a Digital Citizenship scope and sequence to be used in future years.

Guiding Questions:

• What is digital citizenship?

• What digital communities do you engage in?

• What is media balance?

• Who am I online? How does our online presence shape people's perception of our identity?

• How do you identify safe online friendships and avoid conflict in online communication?

• How can you de-escalate digital drama?

• What is clickbait, and how do you avoid it?