Brief Description of the Site:
The FREE Cybersmart! K-8 Curriculum helps educators integrate curriculum and technology. Published online by Macmillan McGraw-Hill and a group calling itself The Cybersmart Program, the emphasis is on an online K-8 curriculum for children that is "safe, responsible, and effective". There's a Curriculum Overview, Lesson Plans and Activity Sheets, a Standards Alignment link, and a Using the Curriculum (a kind of "how to use this site") link. The Standards Alignments simply offers a link to download the .pdf version of ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). Leveled student activity sheets and lesson plans are available, but there are only two per grade level of each.
How to use the site:
The site map is the best place to start for an overview of the resources available. Teachers will want to make use of the Free Posters for Classroom Use link as well as the link to Online Resources for Background Information. Many of these pertain to safe Internet use for children. The Student Links for Lessons Requiring the Use of the Internet are further subdivided into Circle, Square, Triangle and Diamond links, shapes indicative of levels with grade appropriate links and resources for each. There are useful activities for every grade level while emphasizing and demonstrating safe use by children of the Internet. Non-sequential and easily integrated, in part or in full, each lesson stands on its own offering flexibility of use.
Submitted by:
Mala Bawer
Exec. Director, New Jersey
