In Grade 5, students learn the basics about ethical and responsible Internet research. Students learn how to carefully evaluate website resources for reliability, put information into their own words, and cite their sources in MLA format.
In addition to these valuable skills, students are able to learn about a fun Massachusetts tourist destination and create a website dedicated to increasing tourism into our state! Student websites become part of a larger collection of Massachusetts Tourism themed web pages. These pages include photo slideshows, maps, and more! You may view a sample Massachusetts Tourism website by going to masstourismt2a.weebly.com or by clicking the screenshot below:
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Have you ever wondered what you can and can't legally do with content on the internet? For example, can you take a picture from Google Images and sell it onto a t-shirt without running into legal troubles?
Copyright and Creative Commons help to make clear to students what their rights are as a creator and what their responsibilities are as a digital citizen. In this project, students will be learning about the difference between copyright and Creative Commons. They will create a video teaching how to do a Creative Commons search and embed it within a slideshow presentation. Students will also create a legally modified version of a photograph as well as find an image that they can legally sell on products such as T-shirts, posters, mugs, etc. You may view a sample of the project below. (Note: You will need to click on the presentation to advance slides and animations). Social media is an interesting place. Most teens are aware of basic safety and security issues, such as not allowing strangers to access social media profiles and not giving away passwords.
However, what is not as well known are some of the legal aspects behind social media. Who owns your Instagram photos? Are your snaps on Snapchat truly deleted? Can school officials and employers search your profile and/or demand your password? Many 7th graders are close to turning 13 years of age, if they are not already. This is the age in which a child can legally create a social media account on their own without parental permission. This project helps to prepare young teens for the world of social media. Students research two lesser-known issues related to social media and create a website dedicated to teaching other students about these issues. In addition to learning about these issues, they learn how to evaluate current news stories related to social media for credibility. Students also learn how to format in-text and MLA citations to give credit to the sources that they have researched. Students will be completing these websites over the course of the next few weeks. Once student websites are created, they will be shared on a main class website in which other students and families may view and comment on student work. This post will be updated once students create their websites so that you may view them as well. Here is a screenshot of an example web page in this project:
By Grade 8, students are fairly well-versed in searching the internet and giving credit to their sources, but they often want to know how skills they learn in school translate into real-life skills.
In this project, students identify multiple reliable website and database resources to convince the Hanover School Committee to add or change an existing program to our schools. Students find and evaluate website resources for credibility to support their arguments. They are then able to take the information that they researched in order to advocate for themselves and their classmates about issues that directly affect them. Students also learn to create an account on Easybib.com in order to cite their sources per Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines, and to save those resources for future use. Students are also given the opportunity to present their project to a member of the Hanover School Committee to closely simulate the actual experience of proposing ideas to an administrator or employer. This helps to prepare them for real-life situations in which they must persuade others. You may view a sample presentation by two Grade 8 students below: |
AuthorMy name is Erin Foley, and I have a passion for reading, technology and helping students learn! In addition to operating the HMS Library/Media Center, I also teach Grades 5-8 Digital Literacy. Archives
June 2018
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