October is Cyber Safety Month

It's that time of year again-time to talk about Internet Safety. Really, this should be a topic to discuss all year long, but October is specially designated as Cyber Safety Month.  So my monthly lessons for 2nd-5th grade this month will cover this super important topic.  Here are some of the resources I use.

For these lessons, I use part of Common Sense Educations's free curriculum for educators.  

I also have a subscription to Nearpod.  Nearpod has partnered with Common Sense Media and offers a lite (read FREE) version of a Common Sense lesson for K-2 and 3-5.  You can find these resources and more on Nearpod HERE.

Common Sense Education also has free resources for Digital Citizenship week, coming up on October 14-18, 2019.  You can find those resources HERE.

Another great resource for Internet safety curriculum is Google's Be Internet Awesome.  Students can practice the skills they learn in these lessons with Google's Interland game.

For K and 1st, I recommend using  My Online Neighborhood, from Common Sense Education's YouTube channel.  You can find it HERE on YouTube.

To go along with this lesson, I made this Internet Safety freebie. Click HERE to download it from TpT.

For 2nd grade, I really like using this free video on BrainPop Jr.  You can find it HERE on BrainPop Jr.

For 3rd grade, I use Super Digital Citizen from Common Sense Education.  You can find it HERE on Common Sense Educations' YouTube channel.

With 4th and 5th, I use Being Safe on the Internet from AMAZE.org  You can find it on the AMAZEorg YouTube Channel.

And this is a great video on cyberbullying from the Federal Trade Commission-yes, the Federal Trade Commission.  They actually have some fabulous Internet safety resources available.

The Federal Trade Commission runs a program called OnGuardOnline.  They offer FREE resources for parents and teachers.  I like to order copies of their NetCetra kits and give them out to parents during our Internet Safety night in September.

You can find more videos that I have used in the past on my blog by clicking HERE and HERE.

 

 

There are also some great Internet Safety games you can find online.  You can view some of the games I've used in the past by clicking HERE.  Please note, some of these games may no longer be active.

During this week in October, I put out these special Internet Safety bookmarks that I made a few years ago.  You can find the set of 32 bookmarks HERE in my TpT store. There are 16 bookmarks in color and 16 bookmarks in black and white for your students to color.

I also offer a free version, with 2 of the bookmarks in color and 2 in black and white for your students to color.  You can find this freebie HERE in my TpT store.

Whether you choose to celebrate Digital Citizenship week next week or to teach about digital citizenship at another time in the year, I hope you find some of these resources helpful.

10 Cyber Safety Videos for Kids and Families

While preparing my lessons for this week, I ran across some great cyber safety videos that you might like to bookmark for later use.  I was really amazed at how many cyber safety videos are out there.  Some are better than others, but here are my top 10 picks.  If the videos don't work in this post, you can click on the direct link posted underneath each video to go directly to YouTube to watch them.

Internet Safety for Kids K-3

This short 7 minute video is about some rabbits at an elementary school who are using computers. They learn how to use the computer safely.  Younger elementary students might enjoy this video.

Wild About Safety with Timon and Pumbaa: Safety Smart(R) Online

This short excerpt from a Disney Education video teaches young children about appropriate behavior online.

Surf the Web- Kids Music about Internet Safety

This is a two minute music video about Internet Safety performed by a group from New Zealand called the Polkadots.  Younger elementary students would enjoy it, but might not understand all the terminology.

The Polkadots Cyber Five/ Cyber Safety Activity Video

Upper and lower elementary students might like this video about five safety rules to use when online. The video is about 2 minutes long and show how to make a Cyber Five sign to put on or near a computer to remind you how to be safe online.

Stop. Think. Connect.  Stay Safe Online

A fun rap about staying safe online, this video was created by EMC Corporation and RSA. It's around 2 and half minutes long.

Bad Netiquette Stinks

This is a short 7 minute video about using manners online...a.k.a. netiquette.  It's from the NetSmartz website.

UYN The NetSmartz Chat Abbreviation

This fun song, also from NetSmartz, reminds students to Use Your NetSmartz before posting something online.  Even though younger students should not be chatting online without supervision, they often do.  Showing them this video might help them remember what is safe to post online.

Safe Web Surfing: Top Tips for Kids and Teens Online

Although the title suggests this video is for kids AND teens, I think it's really geared more towards teens.  They will like the fun way the narrator talks about being online.  Video is about 5 minutes long.

Online Safety: Facebook Safety for Kids

This video is less than three minutes long but shows how you can't know for sure if people are who they say they are.  I wouldn't show this to younger kids even though the characters seem geared toward that audience, because children under  13 are not supposed to be on facebook and to me that would send a wrong message.  I think middle schoolers would still enjoy the video.

Playing and Staying Safe Online

And here's a great one for families. It's less than 2 minutes long, but has some good information.

Do you have any cyber safety videos to share?  Leave a comment and let us know. 

Internet Safety Games

To support the Internet safety lesson I taught, I often had links to Internet safety games for the kids to play once the lesson was complete.  I put these up on my website so that students could access them in their classroom and at home.  Here are some of their favorites:

Admongo

This is a fun, video-game type adventure that teaches kids to recognize the ads all around them, both off and online.

Cyberchase

Games, videos and activities inspired by the PBS Kids show Cyberchase.

Firewall

This is a fun tic-tac-toe type game that asks players to answer Internet safety questions.

Safety Land

Help save Safety Land from the nasty character who is trying to make the town sick.

Privacy Playground: The First Adventure of the Three CyberPigs

This is an interactive adventure that challenges players to answer Internet safety questions about the storyline.  It's a fun spin off of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.

CyberSense and Nonsense: The Second Adventure of the Three CyberPigs

The adventure continues!  This adventure talks about netiquette and determining the difference between fact and opinion.

Webonauts Internet Academy

Another fun arcade like game about Internet safety.  Kids learn to be safe while playing.

Do you have some fun Internet safety games that you use with your students?

Free Internet Safety Curriculum

Part of my job as the Instructional Technology teacher at my previous school was to teach about Internet Safety, even to Kindergarten. It's never too early to start learning how to be safe on the Internet.

When I first started out, I had no curriculum to go by, but after searching the for resources, I soon found CyberSmart! It was a comprehensive FREE Internet safety curriculum that included parent letters, handouts, lessons and lots of links. They even offer online workshops for teachers. My county paid for one teacher per school to take the training. I was chosen for my school. I found it very informative and even fun.

I also learned about Common Sense Media about the same time and soon began to use it to look up information about websites, movies, video games, and books for my students and kids.  It gave reviews from CSM editors as well as it's users and I have continued to find it a valuable tool.  I often direct parents to this site when they are wondering about whether or not a book or a movie is appropriate for their child. It is a wonderful, free website that all parents and teachers should utilize.

CyberSmart has since merged with Common Sense Media, but the free curriculum has not suffered with the merge. There are still FREE parent letters, handouts, lessons and links to enhance lessons.  But now there are also videos to go along with each lesson.

If you have not checked out Common Sense Media's free curriculum, I highly recommend it.