Digital Citizenship in Texas Technology Applications (K–3): What Each Grade Is Expected to Teach
Digital citizenship is one of five strands in the Texas Technology Applications TEKS (Chapter 126). It is also the strand where the expectations change the most between kindergarten and third grade: a kindergartner is asked to not share a login, and a third grader is asked to explain how to respond to cyberbullying and identify the required elements of a citation for digital media. If you teach more than one grade, or plan a K–5 scope and sequence, it helps to see that progression in one place.
This post lays it out grade by grade, using the text of the standards themselves. It is based on the August 2024 update of Chapter 126, Subchapter A (Elementary). Check the Texas Education Agency site for the current implementation status in your district.
Where digital citizenship fits in the TEKS
The TEKS describe five strands: computational thinking; creativity and innovation; data literacy, management, and representation; digital citizenship; and practical technology concepts. The digital citizenship strand is defined as students practicing "the ethical and effective application of technology" and developing "an understanding of cybersecurity and the impact of a digital footprint" so they can become "safe, productive, and respectful digital citizens."
In every elementary grade the strand is split into the same three parts:
- Social interactions: how students communicate in digital spaces
- Ethics and laws: acceptable use, ownership, copyright
- Privacy, safety, and security: accounts, personal information, cyberbullying
The K–3 progression at a glance
| Kindergarten (§126.1) | Grade 1 (§126.2) | Grade 2 (§126.3) | Grade 3 (§126.8) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social interactions | Identify and demonstrate responsible behavior in a digital environment | Describe and demonstrate respectful behavior | Participate in digital environments to develop responsible, respectful interactions | Define digital footprint, digital etiquette, and digital collaboration |
| Acceptable use | Demonstrate acceptable use per local policy (AUP) | Explain and demonstrate why AUP matters | Same as Grade 1 | Demonstrate adherence to local AUP |
| Ownership and copyright | Understand that all digital content has owners | Explain why respecting others' digital content matters | Same as Grade 1 | Communicate the purpose of copyright law; identify appropriate and inappropriate uses; identify required elements of a digital citation |
| Accounts | Identify ways to keep an account safe: don't share login information, log off | Same as K | Demonstrate account safety, including creating a strong password and logging off | Same as Grade 2 |
| Personal information | Identify what is safe to share (hobbies, likes, dislikes) and unsafe (identifying information) | Same as K | Compare and contrast private and public information; discuss what is safe to share and with whom | Describe ways to protect digital identity and avoid online dangers such as unsafe websites or suspicious links |
| Cyberbullying | Not listed | Discuss and define it, with teacher support | Discuss and identify examples | Discuss and explain how to respond |
Section references are to Chapter 126, Subchapter A: kindergarten §126.1(c)(5)–(7), Grade 1 §126.2(c)(6)–(8), Grade 2 §126.3(c)(7)–(9), Grade 3 §126.8(c)(8)–(10).
Three things the progression tells you
1. Verbs do the work. The same topic climbs a ladder: identify in kindergarten, describe and explain in Grade 1, demonstrate and compare in Grade 2, define, explain, and apply in Grade 3. A lesson that only asks students to recognize a safe password is a kindergarten-level lesson. In Grade 2, the standard expects students to create one.
2. Cyberbullying starts in Grade 1, not kindergarten. The kindergarten standards do not mention it. It enters in Grade 1 as "discuss and define… with teacher support and guidance," moves to identifying examples in Grade 2, and reaches responding in Grade 3. Teaching response strategies earlier than the standards ask is a local decision, but be clear about what is required and what is optional.
3. Copyright and citation first appear in Grade 3. Kindergarten through Grade 2 stop at "digital content has owners." Grade 3 is the first place the standards name copyright law and the required elements of a citation for digital media. If your Grade 3 plan has no source-citing task, that is a gap against the standard.
A five-minute self-audit
Take your current plan for one grade and answer these. If any answer is "no," you have found your next lesson.
- Does every digital citizenship lesson use the verb the standard uses (identify, explain, demonstrate, compare)?
- Is acceptable use tied to your district's own AUP rather than a generic poster? Every grade's standard points to the local policy.
- In Grade 2 and up, do students actually create a strong password in a practice setting, not just hear about it?
- In Grade 3, do students practice at least one digital citation?
- Can you point to where, in the year, students practice logging off shared devices?
Classroom ideas that stay inside the standard
- Kindergarten, safe to share or not: sort picture cards of information (favorite color, pet's name, home address, school name) into "safe to share" and "keep private." This matches §126.1(c)(7)(B).
- Grade 1, device-rules role play: students act out one respectful and one unacceptable use of a shared tablet, then explain the difference. This addresses acceptable use in §126.2(c)(7)(A).
- Grade 2, password workshop: each student builds a password from a short phrase on paper (never a real account), then trades with a partner to say why it is or is not strong.
- Grade 3, digital footprint map: students list places a person might leave a trace online (games, messages, searches) and discuss which traces are permanent. This addresses the footprint definition in §126.8(c)(8)(A).
Get the progression chart, and tell me what to build next
I turned the table above into a one-page K–3 progression chart that you can print and keep beside your planning notebook. Join the Sooner Standards list (free) and the chart is in your welcome email.
You will also get something free each week, such as a standards-at-a-glance sheet. And I read every reply: tell me your grade level and the standard you find hardest to teach, and I will use the replies to choose what I build next.
If you want ready-to-teach lessons for these standards, the Texas grade bundles in the Sooner Standards store include standalone digital citizenship lessons: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3.
By Matt Cole, M.S. Information Technology and former school board member. This is an independent analysis of the published standards and is not endorsed by the Texas Education Agency.
