Internet Safety Resources for Teachers
by Anne-Marie Foret
Internet Safety Activities For Grades K-12
Protecting our students from the hazards of Internet use while maximizes the educational benefits is important to the Madison CUSD #12. Below you will find activities that are free and appropriate for students in grades K-12. Many activities have a home-school connection that make them a family friendly event.
Internet Safety Education for Grades K-2
1. Watch McGruff's FauxPaw the Techno Cat video as a class and discuss.
2. Remind students that they should be with a parent or trusted adult when using the Internet.
3. Discuss what "personal information" is with children (name, age, address, etc.) and why it is important NOT to give personal information out to strangers.
4. Use grades K-2 activities from NetSmartz. Watch the Know the Rules and Be Safer Online videos (both under 2 minutes each) and discuss as a class. These videos star NetSmartz characters Clicky, Nettie and Webster and have very catchy tunes!
Download the Know the Rules Activity and Lesson Plan here.
Download the Take a Friend Activity and Lesson Plan here.
Download the Tell People "No" Activity and Lesson Plan here.
Download the Tell a Trusted Adult Activity and Lesson Plan here.
5. Use any of the great CyberSmart lesson plans and activity worksheets found here.
6. Discuss basic copyright rules with students by visiting Cyberbee!
7. Send a note home to parents with tips and websites they might find helpful, including this one! There are some GREAT resources for parents listed to the left! Encourage parents to continue Internet Safety discussion at home to reinforce the lessons learned at school! Print and use Internet Safety and Real World Safety pledges (version for primary grades) from NetSmartz.
Internet Safety Education for Grades 3-5
1. Take the Stay Safe quiz as a class or individually.
2. Take the Safe Kids quiz as a class or individually.
3. Review McGruff's Cyberbullying advice and play the Shrink the Cyberbully game.
4. Watch the Unit 10 2007 winning Cyberbullying multimedia presentations and discuss as a class. IS News is a 10-minute video and The Goalsetters is a video-enhanced PowerPoint presentation; both were produced by Unit 10 5th graders.
5. Use grades 3-4 activities from NetSmartz. (Grade 5-6 activities). Watch the following NetSmartz videos (most are approximately 2 minutes long) and discuss as a class. These videos star characters Clicky, Nettie and Webster and have very catchy tunes!
The Password Rap: A Lesson in Internet Security Video Lesson Plan
Don't Open That File: A Lesson in Computer Viruses Video Lesson Plan
The Boy Who Loved IM: A Lesson in IM Video Lesson Plan
UYN: The NetSmartz Chat Abbreviation Video Lesson Plan
Tell a Trusted Adult Video Lesson Plan
Clicky's Stolen Song: A Lesson in Digital Ethics Video
The Ready, Set, Internet Theme Song Video
Kids PSA: Be Safer Online Video
Internet Safety Every Day Video
Don't Steal Like a Pirate Video
Rapmania Video
Router's Rap Video
6. Watch Who's Afraid of Little Sweet Sheep? on the Disney website as a class and discuss.
7. Send a note home to parents with tips and websites they might find helpful, including this one! There are some GREAT resources for parents listed to the left! Encourage parents to continue Internet Safety discussion at home to reinforce the lessons learned at school! Print and use Internet Safety and Real World Safety pledges (version for upper elementary grades) from NetSmartz.
8. Use the following online activities with your class, using a central projection device such as a large monitor or projector:
Introducing NetSmartz Web Safety Rules
Meet the WizzyWigs
Name that WizzyWig Part I
Name that WizzyWig Part II
Who's Your Friend on the Internet?
Which WizzyWig is Which?
What 2 Do on the World Wide Web (starring Clicky)
The Webville Outlaws
Clicky's Challenge: Name that Outlaw
9. Have students play the NetSmartz Internet Safety games on the classroom computers or in the computer lab. Games include:
Clicky's Quest
Puzzle Palooza
Printer Panic
Nettie's Chalkboard Challenge
Router's Bone Toss
The Password Rap (A Computer Virus Game)
UYN: The Internet Safety Game
Inbox Defender
NetSmartz Comic Book
Clicky Creation
Clicky's Comic Book
NetSmartz Coloring Book
The Webville Roundup
NetSmartz Picture Puzzle
Clicky's Coloring Book
Make-A-Match
Where's Clicky?
Clicky's Picture Puzzle
10. Discuss basic copyright rules with students by visiting Cyberbee!
11. Use any of the great CyberSmart lesson plans and activity worksheets found here.
Internet Safety Education For Grades 6-8
1. Complete the Students Online: How Much Do You Know (be patient...you will be downloading a 2003 PowerPoint presentation) quiz as a starting point for yourself or your class!
2. Watch these two short Cyberbullying videos and discuss as a class. Powerful!
3. Print and discuss Cyberbullying: Tips for Taking Action.
4. Have your students take the Internet Safety Survey to gauge their current online practices or use the survey (and the posted results) to start a class discussion .
5. Play the ID the Creep game as a class or individually.
6. Use grades 6-8 activities from NetSmartz. Watch the following online videos, download the activity cards and discuss:
Cyberbullying: Feathers in the Wind
Cyberbullying: You Can't Take it Back
Cyberbullying: Broken Friendship
7. Use the CyberSmart! lesson entitled Dealing with Online Bullies. There's even a great downloadable activity sheet you can copy for your class!
8. Play Internet Safety Jeopardy with your class!
9. Use the "Cyberspace Users Manual: A Newspapers in Education Series" articles to discuss the following topics with your class (contact your building technology staff member for copies of these materials):
CyberBullies
MYOB (Blogging)
Blog Safety
Social Networking Sites (www.me&u.com)
Evaluating Online Information
Using What You Find Online
Shopping Online
10. Order and play Missing with your class.
11. Use any of the great CyberSmart lesson plans and activity worksheets found here.
12. Discuss and have students sign Internet Safety and Real World pledges (version for middle and high school grades).
Internet Safety Education For Grades 9-12
1. Complete the Students Online: How Much Do You Know (be patient...you will be downloading a 2003 PowerPoint presentation) quiz as a starting point for yourself or your class!
2. Print and discuss Cyberbullying: Tips for Taking Action.
3. Have your students take the Internet Safety Survey to gauge their current online practices or use the survey (and the posted results) to start a class discussion.
4. Share some safety tips with your students from the Safe Teens website
5. Use grades 9-12 activities from NetSmartz. Watch the following online videos, download the activity cards and discuss:
Cyberbullying: Feathers in the Wind
Cyberbullying: You Can't Take it Back
Cyberbullying: Broken Friendship
6. Have students take the SonicWall Phishing IQ test online to see if they know how to tell real email messages from phishing messages. Alternatively, take the test as a class and discuss each question. These real-life examples help illustrate how difficult it is at times to tell when you are being "scammed."
7. Have students take the Copyright Self-Quiz from the University of Colorado. Discuss as a class. Or: The Copyright Challenge. Here's another: CopyRight - CopyWrong Quiz.
8. Use the high school's subscription to Turnitin.com to discuss plagiarism and copyright rules with students during media center time and English classes.
9. Review the techniques for evaluating websites. A great resource can be found on UC-Berkeley's Library website.
10. Show examples of bogus websites (scroll to the bottom of the site) to students and discuss how easily it is to be fooled on the Internet.
11. Have students complete activities found on the ICYouSee: T is for Thinking website, developed by Ithaca College Library staff.
12. Invite a local law enforcement officer or ICAC speaker to discuss online safety with the school.
13. Invite students to form an Internet Safety team to speak to younger students about staying safe online.
14. Discuss with students the process for reporting abuse, including the CyperTip Hotline and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
15. Use the following i-Safe lesson plans and webcasts (requires i-Safe certification and a school implementation plan):
Cyber Relationships (key words--harassment, grooming, staying safe, cyber stalking)
Intellectual Property (key words--file sharing, copyright)
Privacy and the Internet (key words--personal privacy)
Social Issues (key words--cyber dating, cyber relationships, cyber stalking, grooming)
Cyber Security: Malicious Code (key words--computer safety, viruses, worms, Trojan horse)
Cyber Harassment: Bullying and Stalking Online (key words--reporting cyber stalking and harassment)
Security: Cyber Citizenship (key words--hacking, steganography, cyber terrorism)
16. Have students research and write reports about online safety topics in English class.
17. Use library time to reinforce safety tips and intellectual property issues.
