Nebraska Digital Citizenship for Middle School: Six Units on Online Life
Nebraska Digital Citizenship for Middle School: Six Units on Online Life
For Nebraska middle school teachers who need digital citizenship lessons, the Digital Life Units Bundle puts six ready units in one $89.99 download: cyberbullying and hate speech, influencers, AI and responsibility, data protection, phishing, and recommendation algorithms. It suits advisory, ethics or an early computer science class in Grades 6–9. It is not tied to Nebraska's standards, so you check the fit.
View the Digital Life unitsThe Digital Life Units Bundle ($89.99) gives Nebraska middle school teachers six units on students' digital lives: cyberbullying and hate speech, influencers and social media, AI and responsibility, data protection and cyber safety, phishing and social engineering, and recommendation algorithms and filter bubbles. It fits advisory, digital citizenship, ethics or computer science time. It is not aligned to the 2024 Nebraska Computer Science & Technology Standards, and it includes no software or accounts.
The resources
Digital Life Units Bundle, Grades 6–9
6 resources in one download: $89.99 instead of $149.94 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Digital Life Units Bundle | Cyberbullying, Influencers, AI, Privacy, Phishing & Algorithms | 6 Units | Grades 6–9
AI & Cybersecurity Units Bundle | How AI Works, Prompting, Phishing, Encryption & Data Privacy | 6 Units | Grades 6–9
Digital Citizenship Activities | Cyberbullying, AI, Social Media & Media Literacy Lessons | Grades 7–10
Middle School Ethics Curriculum | Justice, Conscience, Freedom, Digital Life & Climate | 10 Units | Grades 6–9
The real problem
Why digital citizenship matters more in Nebraska middle schools now
Nebraska approved its 2024 Nebraska Computer Science & Technology Standards on February 2, 2024. A second change follows in high school: under Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-729(2)(b), beginning with the 2027–28 school year at least five of the minimum high school credit hours must include computer science and technology education. As of the 2026–27 school year, that puts middle schools in an interesting spot. Today's seventh and eighth graders are the students who will face that high school requirement, and many middle schools want them to arrive with a basic understanding of how technology works and how to behave online. The trouble is where to put it. Few middle schools have a dedicated digital citizenship class. The topics end up in advisory, in a computer lab rotation, in a counselor's lessons after an incident, or in an ethics or social studies class. Teachers in each of those settings need short, complete units they can teach without being technology specialists. They also need lessons that go past a list of rules, so that students understand why a phishing message works, how a feed decides what they see, and what happens to their data, and can talk honestly about cyberbullying and influencers.
Why it fits
How the units fit Nebraska middle school schedules
Each unit stands on its own, so you can place it wherever your school teaches these topics.
- Cyberbullying and Hate Speech gives advisory or counseling time a structured unit instead of a one-off talk.
- Influencers and Social Media helps students question what they see and why it was posted.
- AI and Responsibility opens discussion about fair and honest use of AI tools in school.
- Data Protection and Cyber Safety uses worksheets on four levels for mixed groups of students.
- The phishing unit shows how social engineering tricks people, with a hands-on deep-dive task.
- Recommendation Algorithms and Filter Bubbles links online habits to computer science ideas students meet in high school.
Getting started
One way to spread the units across a year
Schools place these lessons in different slots. This plan is a suggestion for an advisory or rotation setting; adapt it to yours.
- Check your school's expectationsRead the 2024 Nebraska Computer Science & Technology Standards and ask your district where digital citizenship belongs in middle school. Note which units fit advisory, CS or another class.
- Start the year with cyberbullyingTeach Cyberbullying and Hate Speech in the first weeks, when class norms are being set. It gives you shared language for any problems that come up later.
- Add social media and influencersIn late fall, teach Influencers and Social Media, then Recommendation Algorithms and Filter Bubbles, so students see both the people and the systems behind their feeds.
- Teach privacy and phishing togetherIn winter, pair Data Protection and Cyber Safety with Phishing & Social Engineering. Both are practical, and students can apply them to their own accounts at home.
- Finish with AI and responsibilityEnd the year with AI and Responsibility. It works well as a discussion unit and prepares students for the computer science and technology courses ahead of them.
What to buy
Which digital citizenship set to choose
For a broad digital citizenship strand across Grades 6–9, choose the Digital Life Units Bundle at $89.99, against $149.94 for its six units separately. If your focus is technology itself, the AI & Cybersecurity Units Bundle ($89.99, parts $149.94) covers how AI works, prompting, encryption, data protection, phishing and algorithms. The Digital Citizenship Activities set ($69.99, Grades 7–10) has four units and 12 lessons, including consumer ethics. If digital topics are one part of a wider ethics or advisory course, the Middle School Ethics Curriculum ($119.99, ten units, parts $249.90) adds justice, conscience and climate ethics.
Honest limits
What to check before buying
The units were not written for Nebraska and contain no Nebraska standards codes. They are not a high school computer science course and make no claim about the 2027–28 credit-hour rule. Compare them with the 2024 Nebraska Computer Science & Technology Standards and your district's plan yourself. No software, accounts or devices are included. Any examples from your own school community are yours to add. The licence covers your own teaching; for a team or school, send a short message to Teach Lessons first. If the bundle is not a fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is this aligned to the Nebraska Computer Science & Technology Standards?
No. The bundle is not aligned to, approved by or endorsed by the Nebraska Department of Education. It covers common digital citizenship and online safety topics for Grades 6–9. Read the 2024 standards your district uses, compare them with the six units, and decide where they fit in your school.
Does it prepare students for Nebraska's high school CS requirement?
It can build background, but it makes no claim about the high school requirement that starts in 2027–28. That requirement concerns high school credit hours, which your district plans. These middle school units give students early experience with privacy, algorithms, phishing and AI before high school.
Can a counselor or advisory teacher use it?
Yes. The bundle is meant for advisory, digital citizenship, ethics and computer science teachers alike. The cyberbullying and influencers units in particular work in advisory or small-group sessions. A counselor using it in their own sessions is fine under the licence; wider school use needs a short message first.
Do students need computers for the lessons?
No device is required by the units themselves, and none is included. The lessons rely on worksheets, reading texts, discussions and tasks on paper or on screen. If your school has devices, students can apply what they learn, for example by checking privacy settings, but that is your choice.
How sensitive are the cyberbullying and hate speech lessons?
They deal with real behavior students may have seen or experienced, so read the unit before teaching it and let your counselor know when you plan to run it. The unit is built for structured discussion. Use your school's own reporting process for anything students raise.
How quickly can I use it?
Right after checkout. The download link comes by email, and the files are also kept in your customer account under Orders. All six units arrive at once, so you can teach them in any order that suits your school calendar and print or project the materials as you go.
Give your students a clear guide to life online
See the six units on the product page and decide where they fit your Nebraska middle school schedule.
View the Digital Life units