Grade 6-8 Activities

Grade 6-8 Student iPad Activities

This video was the San Diego area iVIE (innovation in video) award winner for 2019 and was created by the students at Marston Middle School. It has a short, yet powerful message about cyberbullying and is a great starting point for discussions on this topic or even as a guide for a student to create his or her own public service annoucement video. 

 

Activities for Students to Complete With Their Parents

Our goal in Santee is for parents to be active partners in their child's learning. Look below to find a number of quick and fun activities that you can complete with your child on their District-issued iPad or other device(activities that require the use of a District-issued iPad will be highlighted in red). Through these activities, both you and your child will learn more about digital citizenship and digital safety. 

 
1. "What apps do you use?" - District iPad Activity
 
There are a number of different apps loaded onto your child's District-issued iPad. Sit down with your child and him/her show you what apps they are using in class. Pick one app and have your child demonstrate how it works. Continue to do this at different times until your child has shown you all of the apps used in his/her classroom (of course, you can do this over several days!).
 
 
2. "How Can You Stop Cyberbullying?" 
 
With a family member, create a comic strip about a cyberbullying situation. In the first frame, show a cyberbullying scenario: Who says something mean and hurtful, to whom is it said, and exactly what is said? In the next frame show how the recipient might feel when receiving the message. In the last frame, show a positive outcome to the situation, which might involve confiding in a trusted adult. If your child knows how to use the Book Creator app on the iPad, he/she could use the comic book template to create this. If not, click HERE for a printable, paper version. 
 
 
3. "Is Your iPad Full?" - District iPad Activity
 
Keeping a minimum amount of free space in the iPad is one way to make sure that it stays "healthy." It is easy to check, and something that you and your child can regularly do together.  To check available storage, launch the "settings" app (it looks like a gray gear). Next, click "General" on the left hand list and then "About." Next, look at the number next to "Available." This number should always be at least 1GB (to get more available space, look at the next activity). To show your child what a gigabyte is, as well as other storage sizes, see below.

 

Digital Storage Chart

 
4. "Do You Have Too Many Photos?" - District iPad Activity
 

Many times iPads run out of storage space because students have too many photos and videos in the device. To check this, go to the "Photos" app to see what's there. Photos and videos should be related to school projects, so if you are seeing lots of "selfies" and other unrelated photos/videos, these should be deleted. To do this, click the photo or video and then tap the "delete" button (it looks like a trash can).  
 
 
5. "Is Your Password Strong?"
 
DinoPass is a password generator for kids that has two options: SIMPLE passwords and STRONG passwords. Go to DinoPass, generate at least three of each, and write them down. Next, see if your child can spot a pattern to figure out the difference between STRONG and SIMPLE passwords. Tougher, come up with at least one reason for and one reason for not using each type of password.  
 
6. "Do You Surf Safely?"
Ask your child to name one Website they would like to visit. If you approve of the destination, have them first name three safety rules for going places online and discuss them (for younger children, have them draw a picture of one place they would like to visit through the Internet. At the bottom of your picture, help them write the three safety rules for going places online).


7. "Can You Find It?" 
 
Can your child figure out how to find the information below without using any of the words in the subject? Ask your child to think of keywords that are synonyms, alternative words, or related phrases. If you are up for a challenge, ask him/her to see how many keywords they can come up with in 60 seconds for each of the following searches. Then, have them circle the two keywords that they think would be MOST likely to help them find what you are looking for:
 
"Inexpensive plane tickets"
 
"Most popular movies last year"
 
"Best dessert in San Diego"

 
Next, have your child test out his/her searches by typing the two keywords he/she circled into Google or another search engine. 

 

 
 
Many of these resources were developed by Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children (and their families) make smart media choices. To learn more, go to Commonsensemedia.org