Amanda Whitehouse: educwhitehal@gmail.

com
Michaela Kemerly: educmikeme@gmail.com
Dana Alexander: educdamaalex@gmail.com

Title:
Grade: 8th grade

Overall Goal: The objective for this unit is for students to understand the importance of online
safety and security, and how to be a smart and responsible digital citizen. Students will recognize
unsafe conversations and understand the warning signs of being catfished, which is defined in
the key terms. This is an important goal because students need to know how to be safe in a
world that is dominated by technology. Commented [1]: Good work! You mentioned the DC
part. How about the learning goals under Standard
8.RN3.3?

Standards Learning Objective Assessment Commented [2]: Great learning objectives!

8.RN.3.3: Determine an Students will be able to Students will read an

Authors perspective demonstrate their
Or purpose in a text, and analyze knowledge of an authors
how the author purpose for writing a text.
acknowledges and responds Students will be able to write
to conflicting evidence or down 5 important ideas of an
viewpoints authors text in order to
determine the purpose of
the text.
article about
catfishing, and then
they will identify 5
main points of the
article. After
identifying 5 main
points, the students
will use these points
to decipher the
purpose of the
article.

D.C. 2b: Students engage in Students will be able to
positive, safe, legal and ethical identify an unsafe
behavior when using technology, conversation vs a safe
including social interactions conversation with a stranger.
online or when using networked Students will be able to
devices. demonstrate different catfish
warning signs.
Students will write
down at least 5
signs of a catfish,
and will also have to
provide an example
of an unsafe
conversation.

Key Terms & Definitions:

Catfish (n): A person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for
fraudulent or deceptive purposes.
 Catfishing (v): The act of using a fraudulent profile to entice someone into a relationship or
to send money.
Ethics (n): Moral principles that govern a persons behavior or the conducting of an
activity.
Technology (n): Methods, systems, and devices which are the result of scientific
knowledge being used for practical purposes.
Identity Theft (n): Possession of someone elses personal information such as their name,
address, credit card number, or social security number without their knowledge with the
intention of using it in a fraudulent way.

Lesson Introduction (Hook, Grabber):

Students will be shown a short clip of the MTV show: Catfish. Watch . What do you think
Catfishing is? This will be shown to prelude to the idea of catfishing We will then split the Commented [3]: Good question. Are you going to
students into 2 equal teams to show them how to play the game Fools Paradise. (Rules to the have only one question for this video to hook students?

game are attached). Then, to test the prior knowledge of catfishing and internet safety
guidelines we will do a mock run of the game. After this, we will move into the lesson main,
remaining in our teams.

Lesson Main:
Students will be asked a variety of questions such as:
What do you think is the most dangerous information you could give to
someone youve never met? (Address, Full name, School, Phone number)
Would you meet someone who hasnt video-chatted with you or sent you
pictures online? (No)
Would you believe someone who told you their age but would never tell
you their birthday? (You shouldnt)
Have you ever been catfished and what was that like? (Variety of answers)

From there, we will go over the list of vocabulary words provided, and have them write
them down as we go along so they can be prepared to study them. Students will then be
prompted to read the two articles from the catfish resources in the trello board linked below in Commented [4]: Which two articles? I did not get it in
resources. After the students have read the articles, we will split them into groups of 2-4 in order the resource part...

for them to play the board game. Commented [5]: You can directly link the articles here.
The board game rules are printed out and attached to the board game itself. They are
also here. The students will roll a die to determine how far they move, and each space has a
color that corresponds to a card. The students will pick a card that matches the color space they
are on and will follow the instructions on the card. If they are asked a question and get it wrong,
they have to go back to the space they were on before their turn. The first student to get to the
finish line wins.
After they play the game a few times, the students will be given a time to ask any
questions they have about the lesson, or complete any activity related to the lesson that they
have not completed yet. If they did not land on the space to read the article for the assessment,
they will use this time to do that. This will be a transition time into the assessment/lesson ending
period.

Lesson Ending:
The lesson will be wrapped up by finishing up the board game and announcing the
winner from each group. The assessment (described below) will be introduced. The students will
have 30-45 minutes to complete the assessment. It will be graded using the rubric below.
Assessment: If they did not read the article (linked in the board game rules) during their
run of the board game, the students will read that article and write down five key points of the Commented [6]: which article?
article. Once they have their five key points, the students must use the points to decide what
purpose the author had in mind while writing the article. The students will also have to write
down at least 5 signs someone could be a catfish, and create an example, unsafe conversation
with a stranger.

Assessment Rubric:
Great Average Poor Commented [7]: Great work! Please also include the
points for each column.
Five Key Points All 5 points are Not all points are Little to no points are
there, and are there, or do not come given, and little effort
actual points from from the article. is shown.
the article.

Purpose of Article A purpose is given A purpose is given, A purpose is not

that makes sense but does not connect given, or a purpose is
and uses the 5 key to whatever key given but is clearly
points given. points are given. made up.

5 Warning Signs 5 (or more) warning 3-4 warning signs are Less than 3 warning
signs are given, and given, and are actual signs are given, or 3-5
are legitimate signs. warning signs are given but are not
someone should look actual signs.
out for online.

Example Conversation Conversation is Conversation is Conversation is not

unsafe, and is at unsafe, but does not given, or does not
least 5 messages meet the length follow directions at all.
long. requirement. Little effort is shown.
Resources / Artifacts:
Catfish QR codes for board game (Michaela Kemerly):
https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/59e64d0353b5c74113806458/watch
https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/59e8c1fd15121740b6fce9c3/watch
https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/59e8c415c3a17740c4595b3a/watch
https://edpuzzle.com/assignments/59e8c4ff2c0d8340ad1faf00/watch

Trello Board (Amanda Whitehouse):

https://trello.com/b/B0fM3KzN/digital-citizenship-resources
Piktochart (Dana Alexander):
https://create.piktochart.com/output/24985430-new-piktochart
Youtube video (Michaela Kemerly):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S8C6UGXHt0 Commented [8]: I like your board game. Very clear
description of the board game. How does this meet the
standard 8.RN.3.3?

Differentiation:

1. Differentiation for ability levels

High ability learners and low ability learners will be mixed together in groups so that no
group will have an advantage or disadvantage. The high ability learners will be able to
help and/or guide the low ability learners in their group, and the teacher will walk around
and make sure everyone understands the game and lesson, and the teacher will answer
any questions the students may have and point them in the right direction if they are
having trouble.

2. Differentiation for demographics

Students can demonstrate their needs to the teacher and ask for help or a modification in
the lesson plan if it is needed. The teacher can help the student learn the lesson in a
special way, and can make modifications to the plan if necessary to allow the student the
same opportunities as everyone else. Commented [9]: It seems a little bit too general...

3. Differentiation for languages

Students who do not have English as a first language will work with students who speak
English natively so they can help translate if needed, and the teacher will pay special
attention to them in case the student who is still learning english needs help. Commented [10]: Maybe you can also provide
resources that we explored during the "differential
week".
4. Differentiation for access & resources
The entire project will be completed in class and the classroom will have access to
computers and these computers will have an internet connection, so it doesn't matter if
 students have access to these things at home. If a student does not understand how to
use a program, the teacher or other students in the group can help them.

Anticipated Difficulties:

Some difficulties a teacher may experience are groups not working together, groups
being off-task, and students not understanding the idea of the lesson. The teacher can address
these by walking around the room and keeping an eye on the students. They will also answer
any questions the students may have and will try to keep the groups in line.