Digital Citizenship Week: Free lessons for K-12 (Blog image)

Digital Citizenship Week: Free lessons and activities for K-12

December 20, 2023Nearpod Team

What is Digital Citizenship Week?

Every year, the third week of October is coined Digital Citizenship Week. Teachers use this time to teach about digital citizenship and support students in developing the skills they need to use devices safely, ethically, and effectively. Now more than ever, it’s important to empower students to think critically and participate responsibly in the digital world through media literacy and social and emotional learning skills.

Digital Citizenship Week free lessons and activities

Nearpod has curated free lessons for Digital Citizenship Week you can use to teach about online safety, cyberbullying, digital literacy, and more. We compiled our most popular and recommended lessons to help you plan your Digital Citizenship Month or Week.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these digital citizenship activities and lessons!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod digital citizenship curriculum lesson folder

The Nearpod Library and 21st Century Readiness Program include interactive digital citizenship activities, lessons, assessments, and videos covering topics like digital literacy, cyberbullying, media balance, news, and media literacy, communication, digital footprint identity, and online privacy. Check out our curated list of the most popular and staff favorite lessons from each library!

  • Available in the Nearpod Library
  • Available in the 21st Century Readiness Program

How Adirondack Central School District uses Nearpod for teaching digital literacy

Discover how the Adirondack Central School District, a rural public school district in upstate New York, embraced the challenge of aligning with New York State’s Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards. Leveraging Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program, educators navigated these standards with purpose, empowering both teachers and students for a digitally fluent future.

Digital Citizenship lessons for Grades K-5

  • Safe Online Behavior (Grades K-5) Most Used
    • In this Nearpod Time to Climb, students demonstrate their understanding of safe online behavior and examples of digital citizenship.
  • Digital Trails (Grade 2) Staff Favorite
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn what their digital footprint is and how it is created.
  • We the Digital Citizens (Grade 2) Most Used
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how to be a good digital citizen.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense digital citizenship for students lesson
  • Computer Vocabulary (Grades 3-5) Most Used 
    • In this Nearpod digital literacy lesson, students investigate how technology can be used to make their lives simpler, more productive, and more expansive.
  • Rings of Responsibility (Grade 3) Most Used
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students examine their in-person and online responsibilities.
  • The Power of Words (Grade 3) Most Used
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students decide what kinds of statements are OK to say online and which are not.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lessons: The Power of Words
  • My Media Choices (Grade 4) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn the “What? When? How Much?” framework for describing their media choices.
  • Private and Personal Information (Grade 4) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students identify why people share information about themselves online and investigate the difference between private and personal information.
  • Super Digital Citizen (Grade 4) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students will be able to reflect on the characteristics that make someone an upstanding digital citizen, recognize what cyberbullying is, and show ways to be an upstander.
  • Finding My Media Balance (Grade 5) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students reflect on how balanced they are in their daily lives.
  • What’s Cyberbullying? (Grade 5) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how to recognize similarities and differences between in-person bullying, cyberbullying, and being mean.

Digital Citizenship activities for Grades 6-8

  • Digital Life 101 (Grade 6) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students are introduced to the 24/7, socially progressive nature of digital media and technologies.
  • Digital Citizenship & Responsibility (Grade 6-8) Staff Favorite 
    • In this 6-8 activity, students will review what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to take responsibility on social media with Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.
  • Don’t Feed the Phish (Grade 6) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn about how they can protect themselves from identity theft using examples of digital citizenship.
  • Finding Balance in a Digital World (Grade 6-8) Most Used 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn about the benefits of balancing digital media use in their lives.
Examples of Digital Citizenship Lessons using Nearpod's Common Sense Lesson: Finding Balance in a Digital World
  • Sourcing Your Information (Grades 6-8) Staff Favorite 
    • In this Nearpod digital literacy lesson, students identify strategies for determining who creates information online. Students learn about credibility, conflict of interest, and native advertising.
  • Tik Tok (Grades 6-12) Staff Favorite 
    • In this Nearpod lesson, students investigate Tik Tok and its user base. Students consider how certain aspects can affect users’ behavior.
  • Tik Tok Bans (Grade 6-12) Staff Favorite  
    • In this Current Events lesson, students learn about the recent wave of restrictions on TikTok in the US. They learn about the platform in general and analyze the arguments for banning or restricting TikTok.
  • Tik Tok Challenges (Grade 6-12) Most Used  
    • In this Nearpod Current Events lesson, students will explore the potential impact of Tik Tok challenges in schools and communities.
  • How Retailers Stalk You Online (Grade 6-12) Staff Favorite  
    • In this Two Cents video, students learn about how retailers track their activity online to personalize ads and convince them to make purchases. They also receive some tips about how to be more mindful and deliberate with online shopping.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson: Upstanders and Allies: Taking Action Against Cyberbullying
  • The Power of Digital Footprints (Grade 7) Staff Favorite 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn what a digital footprint is and what it conveys.
  • Digital Media and Your Brain (Grade 8) Most Used  
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn how digital media is designed to hook users and what can be done about it.
  • Social Media Behaviors and Cyberbullying (Grade 8) Most Used 
    •  In this Classroom Complete Press lesson, students learn the importance of responsible use of online platforms and how to spot and stop cyberbullying.

Digital Citizenship lessons for Grades 9-12

  • Challenging Confirmation Bias (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
    • In this Common Sense Education lesson, students learn to change their own confirmation bias to help them leverage technology safely, responsibly, and ethically.
  • Sourcing Your Information (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
    • In this Nearpod lesson, students explore why it is important to know where information online comes from by analyzing websites and articles using examples of digital citizenship.
  • Teen Voces: Hate Speech Online (Grades 9-12) Staff Favorite 
    • In this interactive video from Common Sense Education, students listen to other teens’ thoughts about online hate speech.
Preview of Nearpod's Common Sense Digital Citizenship Lesson: DCL: Teen Voices: Hate Speech Online Video

What to do when the week is over:

Digital Citizenship is becoming a fundamental literacy that shouldn’t be confined to exploring for just one week. Continue the conversation about digital citizenship throughout the entire year Nearpod has a Digital Citizenship and Literacy supplemental curriculum available in the 21st Century Readiness Program. Our lessons support instruction in digital citizenship, computer science,  coding, applications of technology, and media literacy.

New to Nearpod? Make sure you’re signed up to access these lessons and activities!

Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Explore Nearpod’s free digital citizenship week activities and lessons here!

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