Library, Marblehead Village School, 1.5 hours

My observation today (2/27/13) was of two 5^th grade classes as they were introduced to the world of fair use, copyright and public domain.  This was a great lesson that focused on policies for learners in the school community, and internet as a whole, to be aware of and compliant with.  The lesson began as Mrs. Soghomonian orally presented the first scenario.  It went like this….

Scenario #1: You enter a school photo contest and win first prize!  A few months later you see your photo at the Arts Festival being used in a brochure.  No one asked you to use the photo and this is the first you are even aware of this.

The student responses were for the most part not upset with this occurrence.  Most students just wanted their name on the picture to get recognition, while one student said he would sue for plagiarism.  (Mrs. Soghomonian corrected him to properly sue for copyright infringement.)

The next scenario went like this…..

Scenario #2: You won first place in the school photo contest, but this time at the same Arts Festival you see a vendor selling a copy of your photo for $200.

Not surprisingly, once money was involved this elicited a much stronger overall response.  The student responses ranged from yelling at the vendor, making the vendor give all the money he made to the child, notifying the vendor it was their photo and asking why they are using it, to the same child, who was now joined by others, in his quest to sue the vendor. 

Mrs. Soghomonian went on to discuss how many images on Google are copyright protected and you are not supposed to use them.  She reminded them, much like themselves, some people will mind and want you to ask permission first.  To further explore this complex world of what is legally acceptable and what is not, she showed the class a Brain Pop Clip on Copyright.  This animated video was just perfect for the children to grasp these challenging concepts as was seen by the responses that they gave during the post test.

Copyright Clip on Brain Pop

To wrap up each lesson, she told the class that they would have an opportunity during the next class to review by telling a classmate about each of the three terms: fair use, copyright and public domain.  As a way to build on the lesson, she also told them that she would direct them to internet sites where the images are not copyright protected.  

Copyright Symbol

Mrs. Soghomonian did a great job of presenting a serious and complex subject in a very kid friendly way.  Starting with a personal connection with these scenarios made the concept of copyright protection much more concrete and less abstract for the children.  By scaffolding the lesson as she did, she kept the children thoroughly engaged at all times.  The most obvious sign was when library time was over and they expressed displeasure at having to leave.  Truth be told, I was sad to have the lesson end as well.