Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Copyright, and supports students in recognizing the role of copyright in producing and using creative works. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Show students a product that has a copyright symbol next to the brand name. Ask:

  • Where have you seen this before?
  • What do you think it means? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read aloud the description on the Copyright topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “In Practice,” “Did You Know,” or “Real Life.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Copyright Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about copyright while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Create a commercial that advertises the benefits of copyright laws. 
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map that identifies the characteristics of copyrighted work. 
  • Creative Coding: Code a game challenging players to sort examples of creative works as copyrightable or public domain.  
  • Primary Source Activity: Analyze the documents from the copyright lawsuit and cite evidence to answer the accompanying questions. 

More to Explore

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of copyrights and plagiarism with these topics: Citing Sources and Plagiarism.

Teacher Support Resources:

 

 

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments