Respecting Creative Works: Classroom Unit

Instructional Plan: 11th and 12th Grade Language Arts Students

OBJECTIVES: Students will learn the basics of copyright and Fair Use guidelines; they will engage in an activity that will pre-test their knowledge regarding copyright and fair use; they will receive instruction regarding copyright and fair use; they will practice with online tools that will assist them in avoiding the pitfalls of violating copyright and fair use; they will understand the basics of evaluating .

CONTENT TO BE TAUGHT:

• Begin with the Fair Use: Beg, Borrow or Steal? online quiz.
• Discuss questions and responses with students; discussion should center on what was perceived as the correct answers as opposed to the true correct answers;
• Discuss as a class the requirements of projects that demand media usage:
• What do you need for media projects?
• What can you create on your own for media projects?
• When are copyright laws or fair use guidelines broken or abused?
• How do you avoid breaking copyright and fair use guidelines?
• What repercussions can you expect if you break copyright and fair use guidelines?
• Explore online resources:
• Creative Commons
• Flickr
• EBSCO MAS Ultra High School Collection
• Wikipedia
• Power to Learn
• Unit over Copyright and Evaluation:
• Unit: Respecting Creative Work:
• Lesson 1: “Rights, Remixes and Respect”
• Lesson 2: “Copyrights and Wrongs”
• Unit: Research and Evaluation:
• Lesson 1: “Retouching Reality”
• Lesson 2: “Collective Intelligence”
• Present students with handout/poster materials that they can keep in their notebooks, personal computing devices and home computers. Review all material at the end of the unit.

SCHEDULE

• The most appropriate time to teach this unit would be during the first two week of school when we review citing sources and plagiarism. This could quite conceivably be used to replace the second week of the current unit as it has many more specifics and addresses all of the same issues.
• The daily schedule for these lessons would be:
• Monday: Discussion, lecture and videos over the aspects of copyright, fair use and plagiarism

• Tuesday: Lesson and activities for “Rights, Remixes and Respect”
• Wednesday: Lesson and activities for “Copyrights and Wrongs”
• Thursday: Lesson and activities for “Retouching Reality”
• Friday: Lesson and activities for“Collective Intelligence”; concluding notes and review.

VISIBLE OUTCOMES

• Students will have access to documents for use in their classrooms
• Students will have a record of their knowledge regarding copyright and fair use based on the results of the online quiz and face-to-face discussions
• Students will have a collection of online resources at their disposal for using intellectual property in media projects and activities