Provide an example of "empathy traps" by having student volunteers read three different responses "What are you doing?" " I can't believe you said that!" and "Wow, that's amazing!" Using a friendly, sarcastic and upset tone. Have a discussion on how these sound different and how online, its hard to judge how the person means it because of the lack of tone and body language - introduce the concept of "Empathy Traps."

As the action activity, you can have the young class imagine a "Kindness Filter" - a step students can take to ensure that their message is respectful and clear. Teach them that it's important to think: "How might this person feel when they read this?" and "Would I say this in person?" Then, have them create a few examples of potentially hurtful or confusing text messages (ie., "You're so slow!" And have them change this message using a Kindness Filter (ie., "Do you need help with that?") and you can have your students share these with the class.

As a consolidation, you could have them reflect on what they have learned about treating people online and what would they do if they read a message that made them feel upset.

As a minds-on activity, you could start with a discussion question like "When you leave footprints in the sand, what happens to them?" Then, you could brainstorm the different stuff people share online (photos, videos, comments etc.) and ask "What do you think happens to these things after they're posted?"

As an action activity, you teach students about their "digital footprint" and what this means. As an activity, you could play a game called "Share or No Share" where you read out some examples like (posting a picture of your pet, sharing your address with a new online friend, sharing your favourite hobby in a public comment etc.) and have students vote (by raising their hands) if they think these are things they can share or should not share. Then, you could have students become "Privacy Superheroes) and create a checklist in their table groups of steps to protect themselves and their friends online. (ex. Use a strong password, ask permission before sharing photos of others etc.).

As a consolidation piece, you can have students reflect on what they will do differently when posting or sharing things online.

• Brainstorm as a class “What does it mean to be a citizen in your community?”

• Show video of Greta Thunberg’s use of social media on how to promote knowledge about climate change, have class discussion on “Why do you think people use social media or videos to raise awareness about something important?” 

• Break class into groups - have them think of a cause or issue they care about. Have them decide how they want to promote their message in a digital media campaign (video, a twitter post, advertisement)

Students will be introduced to:

• Persuasive Techniques (e.g., emotional appeal, celebrity endorsement, humor).

• Media Representation (e.g., diversity in ads, stereotypes).

• Consumer Awareness (e.g., recognizing manipulation and questioning what’s being sold).

The students could be shown a mix of TV ads, online ads, and products ads in films to show variety.

Students could be given a graphic organizer to jot down their observations of the reading media, media representation and consumer awareness and have a discussion as a class after words with their group and with the whole class.

This could be a guided discussion where the teacher asks prompts such as “Why did they choose this angle”, “How does it make you feel”, or “What is featured the most”. Students will learn about filmmakers' decisions and discuss the important role that these creative decisions have in the story. For further discussion, we could talk about how the scene might change if it was a wide angle as opposed to a close-up. Does the camera angle make it more dramatic? Would a serious scene change if it was a close-up or a wide shot? 

If time allows, end the activity with a discussion on why it’s important to ensure photos and resources are real and to always examine and verify online resources and information.