Intro to Digital Drawing Sonia Speaks Up STEM Digital Citizenship Lesson

Elementary STEM teachers—bring digital citizenship to life with this ISTE-aligned digital drawing lesson for grades 1–5.

In this elementary STEM digital citizenship activity, students learn how words and actions online have impact, then create and share artwork using Canva, Google Drawings, or Draw & Tell.

Perfect for STEM labs, media centers, makerspaces, and tech classes, it blends creativity, technology skills, and positive online behavior.

How it Works:

• Launch with a class discussion (optional read-aloud: Sonia Speaks Up) about kind, safe, and respectful online behavior and why our words matter.
• Use the THINK strategy (True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind) to decide what to post or comment online.
• Plan a “proud of” artwork on paper, then recreate it digitally using your chosen app.
• Upload to a class gallery (Padlet/Seesaw/Slides) and practice positive peer feedback with the TAG strategy (Tell, Ask, Give a suggestion).
• Reflect on why it’s important to be a good digital citizen and how to support others online.

What’s included:

• Step-by-step teacher instructions with discussion prompts, gallery-walk workflow, and reflection questions
• Ready-to-use Canva lesson slides link for quick projection
• Posters & visuals: THINK before you post; TAG feedback sentence starters; Engineering Design Process (ask-imagine-plan-create-test-improve-share)
• Vocabulary cards: digital footprint, digital etiquette, gallery, tablet
• Student pages: planning sheet (Ask/Imagine/Plan), digital citizenship writing prompts, lined pages for extended responses
• Suggested tools & setup for Draw & Tell, Canva, Google Drawings, plus Padlet/Seesaw sharing options

Materials & tech:

• Drawing paper/pencils
• Devices with Canva, Google Drawings, or Draw & Tell
• Class sharing space: Padlet, Seesaw, or Google Slides
• Optional read-aloud: Sonia Speaks Up by Shannon McClintock Miller

Perfect for Digital Citizenship Week, STEM/tech specials, beginning-of-year norms, makerspace rotations, sub-ready plans, and art-tech integrations. Students create meaningful art, practice real-world online kindness, and learn to give feedback that lifts others up.

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