Internet Safety Lesson Plan: Create a Game

Lesson Procedure:

1. Pose an open-ended question to get students thinking about the topic: What does it mean to stay safe when you're on the Internet? Do you think most students in your grade level understand how to stay safe online? Have volunteers share their opinions and experiences in pairs or in a whole-class discussion. Talk about how some students may think they understand online safety, but put themselves at risk because they don't know all the facts.
2. Tell the class they'll be creating a game to see how well they make smart Internet choices, and to keep this information in mind as they learn about the topic.
3. Show the Internet Safety movie. Consider turning closed captioning on to help students process the information. Pause throughout the movie for asking questions, discussing key points, etc.
4. Use the Easy Quiz or Hard Quiz to prepare students for creating the game. Click on 'Online Quiz' which will confirm the correct answers as you go. Show one question at a time and facilitate discussion. You may choose to have students indicate their answer choices with a hand signal, and in instances of disagreement, ask volunteers to share their thinking.
5. Have students work alone or in partners to create an Internet safety game question. The question should address specific scenarios that students often encounter that are related to the rules presented in the movie. Students should write the question (and multiple choice answer responses, if desired) on the front of an index card and the correct answer on the back.
6. Collect the game cards and make sure the questions are appropriate and relevant. If the answers are incorrect or debatable, you may wish to discuss with the author of the card prior to game play, or open up the topic up for class discussion during game play.
7. Divide the class in half or into teams to compete against one another in the game. Read each question aloud and take turns calling on teams to respond, awarding one point for each correct answer and a bonus point if they can explain the reason. Alternatively, you could have the entire class compete against themselves as a whole to see how many questions they can get right. Have a student volunteer keep track on the board.
8. When the game is over, discuss the experience as a class. Which game questions made you think the hardest? Which were the most difficult to agree on?
9. Revisit the initial question (Do you think most students in your grade level understand how to stay safe online?) and have students share whether their opinions changed after viewing the movie and playing the game. Will they make any changes to their own Internet usage? What new steps will they take to stay safe?