Internet Safety Day!

Today, we will watch a pair of BrainPop movies to review key elements of Internet Safety - Online Safety and Information Privacy:

I would like you to then finish the Scavenger Hunt from last week, then if you have time, play a pair of games to explore issues of web safety, information literacy and digital citizenship. Both games have been created by PBS Kids.  

The first is a simple introduction to some of the major topics in Internet safety, such as downloading, passwords, meeting people online and being safe. By navigating this game, and answering questions correctly, students will earn an official web license:

http://pbskids.org/old_license/

PBS has also created a more comprehensive game titled Webonauts, to be found here:

http://pbskids.org/webonauts/

Internet Search Scavenger Hunt

Today we will review how best to search the Internet to find answers to research questions.

First, we will watch a video from Common Craft titled: "Web Search Strategies in Plain English."  This short video gives a quick overview of how Search Engines work, then discusses the use of effective keywords and Boolean search strategies.

Next, we will watch another short video from BrainPop titled: "Internet Search."  This also gives a good overview of Internet Search strategies from the perspective of the ever popular Tim and Moby.

We'll discuss what we have seen on the videos, then review key strategies from the website Common Sense Media.  Armed with this knowledge, we'll tackle a Internet Search Scavenger Hunt.  Students will be required to use at least three different search engines, and list the keywords they used to find the answers to a series of trivia questions.

Parents - Please refer to the following page from Common Sense Media.  It's a great resource to have on hand next time your student is working on Internet research at home.

Teach Your Kids the Secrets to Smart Web Searching