LIS 568 Review - Common Sense Education to Teach Digital Literacy

 

Using Common Sense Education to Teach Digital Literacy in the School Library

In today’s world, even our youngest students are engaging with technology on a daily basis. Whether they’re watching videos, playing games, or using educational apps, children as young as kindergarten are becoming digital citizens—whether they realize it or not. That’s why it’s so important to start teaching digital literacy early, helping students build safe, responsible, and healthy online habits.

A school library is the perfect setting for introducing these concepts. As a space where students come to read, research, and explore technology, the library can serve as a central hub for digital literacy instruction. One of the best tools I’ve found for this is Common Sense Education, a free, research-backed resource that provides age-appropriate digital citizenship lessons. Here’s what I’ve learned about how it works, how to set it up, and why I highly recommend it to fellow librarians.

Setting Up a Common Sense Education Account

Getting started with Common Sense Education is incredibly eas
y. Librarians (or any educators) can create a free account at www.commonsense.org/education. Once you sign up, you’ll gain access to a full library of lesson plans, videos, and activities tailored to different grade levels. The site is well-organized, making it simple to find specific materials. For example, for my library website, I will be focusing on K-2, and there is a specific curriculum designed for this age group, as well as others. You can save lesson plans, track your progress, and even earn a digital citizenship certification if you complete their professional development modules.

The platform also includes helpful lesson plans aligned with ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) standards, which is great for ensuring your library programming meets curriculum goals. Additionally, lessons are available in both English and Spanish, making it more accessible for diverse student populations.

Teaching Digital Literacy with “Meeting Digital Citizens”

One of my favorite resources for introducing digital citizenship to young learners is the “Meeting Digital Citizens” lesson. This interactive lesson is part of Common Sense Education’s K-2 digital citizenship curriculum and serves as a great starting point for conversations about online responsibility, safety, and kindness.

The lesson follows the Digital Citizens, a group of friendly characters who guide students through key digital literacy concepts. Each character represents an important digital skill, such as:





  • Arms (Balancing technology use)
  • Legs (Standing up to cyberbullying)
  • Head (Thinking critically about online content)
  • Heart (Being kind online)
  • Guts (Asking for help when needed)

This framework makes digital literacy relatable and engaging for young learners.



How to Integrate Common Sense Education into the School Library

There are several ways to use Common Sense Education’s resources in the library:

  • Library Storytimes – Use “Meeting Digital Citizens” alongside a read-aloud to introduce key digital citizenship concepts in a way that’s developmentally appropriate for K-2 students.
  • Makerspaces & Tech Centers – Incorporate lessons about healthy screen time habits and cyber safety into library makerspaces where students use tablets or computers.
  • Classroom Collaboration – Partner with teachers to integrate digital literacy into existing classroom technology lessons. Many of the activities work well as supplemental materials for broader discussions on media literacy.
  • Family Outreach – Common Sense Education also provides take-home tip sheets and family conversation guides, making it easy to support parents in reinforcing digital literacy at home. Hosting a family digital citizenship night in the library is a great way to get parents involved.

Why I Recommend Common Sense Education for Librarians

I highly recommend it to librarians. The lessons are free, well-structured, and engaging, making it easy to teach digital literacy without having to create materials from scratch. The Digital Citizens framework helps make abstract concepts understandable for young learners, and the platform’s ease of use makes planning simple.

As librarians, we play a key role in helping students navigate the digital world safely and responsibly. By incorporating Common Sense Education into our library programming, we can equip even our youngest learners with the skills they need to become thoughtful, responsible digital citizens.






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