Scope & sequence
Scope & Sequence
The breakouts build digital-citizenship judgment across grades K–8 — from a student’s first trusted-adult and kindness habits to evaluating the bias and reliability of a source. Each grade adds the next layer.
The learning arc: trusted grown-ups, kind words & keeping private things private (Gr K) → passwords, kindness & asking first (Gr 1) → your digital trail, credit & strong passwords (Gr 2) → your digital footprint (Gr 3) → why the internet remembers, etiquette & credit (Gr 4) → footprint components, tracking & secure connections (Gr 5) → intellectual property & fair use (Gr 6) → evaluating media spin (Gr 7) → judging a source’s bias & reliability (Gr 8). Themes of footprint, etiquette, IP, and safety deepen every year.
| Grade | Activity & big idea | Essential question | Key vocabulary | Substrands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade K full · §126.5 |
Safe & Kind Online Being safe and kind online starts with a few simple habits: ask a trusted grown-up, use kind words, and keep private things private. |
Who can help you online, and how do you keep yourself safe and kind? | trusted adult, kind, private, safe, ask | (c)(10) (c)(8) |
| Grade 1 full · §126.6 |
Smart Choices Online Online, you make choices: keep passwords private, treat people kindly, and ask a grown-up before you tap something new. |
What choices keep you safe and kind when you use a device? | password, private, kind, upstander, ask first | (c)(10) (c)(8) |
| Grade 2 full · §126.7 |
Fair, Safe & Kind What you do online leaves a trail; giving credit, using strong passwords, and speaking up about mean messages keep that trail positive. |
What trail do you leave online, and how do you keep it safe, fair, and kind? | digital trail, credit, strong password, private, report | (c)(10) (c)(8) (c)(9) |
| Grade 3 full · §126.8 |
Your First Digital Footprint Everything you do online leaves a digital footprint; choosing safe links, giving credit, and being kind keep that footprint positive. |
What marks do you leave online, and how do you keep your footprint safe and kind? | digital footprint, safe link, password, credit, kindness | (c)(10) (c)(8) (c)(9) |
| Grade 4 full · §126.9 |
The Permanent Record Your online record can last a long time; good etiquette, giving creators credit, and being an upstander keep it positive. |
Why does the internet remember, and how should you act because it does? | permanent record, etiquette, copyright, credit, upstander | (c)(10) (c)(8) (c)(9) |
| Grade 5 full · §126.10 |
Track the Trackers A digital footprint has parts (activity, games, social); secure connections and etiquette protect it, and copyright has consequences. |
What makes up your footprint, and how do trackers and secure sites affect it? | tracker, cookies, HTTPS / secure connection, audience, permission | (c)(10) (c)(8) (c)(9) |
| Grade 6 full · §126.17 |
Fair Use Detective Intellectual-property terms (copyright, fair use, creative commons, public domain) guide reuse; citing sources and spotting scams keep you safe. |
When can you reuse a creator’s work, and how do you cite it and stay safe online? | copyright, fair use, creative commons, public domain, citation, phishing | (c)(10) (c)(9) |
| Grade 7 full · §126.18 |
Spot the Spin Media can exaggerate or misrepresent; understanding IP consequences and defending against cyberattacks builds a critical, safe user. |
How does media spin information, and how do you defend against it and against cyberattacks? | spin, exaggerate, misrepresent, clickbait, cyberattack | (c)(10) (c)(8) (c)(9) |
| Grade 8 full · §126.19 |
Evaluate the Source Strong digital citizens evaluate a source’s bias and reliability, create within IP law, and respond to real cybersecurity situations. |
How do you judge whether a digital source is reliable, and how do you create and stay secure responsibly? | bias, reliability, credibility, source, breach / authentication | (c)(10) (c)(9) |
Pacing
- One breakout ≈ 25–40 minutes including debrief; it works best as the engage or collaborative-practice phase of a lesson, not the whole lesson.
- Run one per grading period, or cluster a band into a 1–2 week digital-citizenship unit.
- Each grade has a free featured lesson on the home page; the full per-grade lessons go a level deeper — and are just as free.
Standards alignment is a good-faith paraphrase for planning — see the TEKS correlation guide and cite the § at tea.texas.gov. Not legal advice.