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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Digital Smarts

Trust, privacy and credible sources

What your child practices

Telling misinformation from disinformation, checking sources before trusting them, managing passwords and privacy, spotting phishing, and citing and using other people's work respectfully.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 9.1.9.2; 9.1.6.2 · judging sources for bias and credibility, and how a publishing date affects a text

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Misinformation is false information shared by mistake. Disinformation is spread on purpose to mislead.
  2. A padlock means the connection is encrypted, not that the content is true. Check facts, including chatbot answers, with reliable sources.
  3. Use strong passwords, watch for phishing and ask permission before posting about others.

Example: A chatbot gives you a statistic for your report. What is the best next step? Chatbots can make mistakes or invent numbers. Confirm before using it. Answer: Check it against a reliable source before using it

Digital Smarts in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 12 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Literary Devices and before Forms & Features.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is an algorithm in a social media app?

    • A photo filter only
    • A set of rules that decides what content you see
    • A kind of password
    • The name of a website

  2. Question 2

    A social media feed shows you posts based on what you liked before. This is an example of…

    • an unbiased news report
    • a random sample of all posts
    • curated information
    • a printed encyclopedia

  3. Question 3

    What is a filter bubble?

    • When you mostly see ideas that match your own because of what a site shows you
    • A bubble in a video
    • A pop-up window
    • A strong password

  4. Question 4

    Which of these is an example of cyberbullying?

    • Liking a friend's post
    • Sharing a recipe
    • Posting a vacation photo with permission
    • Repeatedly posting mean comments about someone online

  5. Question 5

    Which password is the strongest?

    • 12345678
    • password123
    • Jay2010
    • Blue!Canoe7Maple

  6. Question 6

    Which is a sign that an image may be edited or AI-generated?

    • It is in color
    • Odd details such as extra fingers or blurry text
    • It has a caption
    • It is on a phone

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