Middle School Students and Social Media

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable):

  Foundations of Web Design

  Course Title:

  Fundamentals of Web and Software Development

  Course Number:

  9009500

  Career Cluster:

  Informational Technology

  CIP Number:

  149009500M

  Course Type:

  Orientation/Exploratory

  CTE Standard(s) and Benchmark(s):

  04.06 Describe risks associated with social networking sites (e.g., FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter) and ways to mitigate these risks.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Social Media and its Effects on Middle School Students.” See CPALMS resource ID#207937.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson will support students and give them coping mechanisms for exposure to social media overload and ways to limit screen time to effectively benefit them in the classroom and beyond. This lesson will also help to develop their use of technology and communication.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Describe ways to mitigate the risks of using social media in influencing student behavior at school.
  • Use digital tools to create a presentation on ways that students can mitigate the risks of social media.
  • Explore ways to limit screen time effectively.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Social media platforms.
  • Estimate how much screen time they use daily.
  • Using technology to create digital presentations.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • Why do you think it is important to limit screen time on devices?
  • What are the potential hazards of using or being exposed to social media?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. Students will take a poll using available technology in which they respond telling how much screen time they use per day and in what ways they think social media affects their day-to-day lives.
  2. Ask students these questions to think about during the lesson:
     • Why do you think it is important to limit screen time on devices?
     • What are the potential hazards of using or being exposed to social media?
  3. Pass out the case study, “Social Media and its Effects on Middle School Students,” (see CPALMS resource ID#207937). Allow students time to independently read the case study before asking and discussing the following questions:
     • Why are the social media trends an issue?
     • How can social media be used to bring about positive trends in school?
     • Based on the case study, what is the biggest issue needing to be addressed?
  4. Explain to students that they will create a digital presentation to highlight the potential effects of social media use. Ensure students have access to technology.
     • Students must include what they believe is the main issue from the case study.
     • Students need to list the dangers and issues with bringing social media trends to school.
     • Students must give solutions to ways that the students can mitigate the risks associated with social media.
     • Students must list ways social media can be used to bring about positive change.
  5. To close the lesson, have students provide a written response to the following prompts:
     • What are some risks of using social media?
     • How can social media usage affect student behavior at school?
     • How can students mitigate (lessen) the risks associated with social media usage?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Students can work with a partner or research information before creating the presentation.
  • Students can ask questions of their peers to get further insight on the topic.

• Optional

  
  

  Summative Assessment Idea:

  • Teachers can use the student research and presentation to assess student understanding of mitigating the risks of social media and social media effects on students and their behavior.