Hector’s World

Synopsis:

Hector’s World (HW) is an educational programme for children aged 2-9 years old which offers children a fun and magical world in which to learn and play. Through the adventures of Hectorand his friends, HW promotes the skills and values they need to grow into confident, knowledgeable and caring members of the online community - the ‘building blocks’ of digital citizenship.

Lesson Overview / Objectives / Learning Experiences
Episode 1: Details, Details:
Children may be quick to volunteer information about themselves both on & offline & to people who appear to be an authority figure. This lesson aims to teach children that some information is ‘precious’ or ‘special’ because it applies just to them. This personal information is as valuable online as it is offline & should therefore not be shared without a parent or teacher’s permission. / Students:
-understand that some information about themselves is special because it makes them unique.
-know that they should never give out their personal details online without a parent or teacher’s permission. / *Ask the students to get into a group with everyone else who has the same following characteristics as themselves:
-Number of eyes
-Number of legs
-Boy or girl
-In the same reading group
-The same colour hair
-The same method of fastening shoes (lace-up, Velcro, buckle, etc.)
-The same first name
-Lives in the same house
-The same first and last name
By the end of this process, each child should be standing alone. Ask the children to put up their hand if they are the only person in their group (everyone should have their hand up). Ask them to explain why they are standing along (e.g. no-one else has the same name).
*Explainthat although they do have a lot of things in common, each of them is special & not exactly like anybody else. Some of the things that make us different are our names, what we look like, what we like doing, or our personality (shy, talkative etc.).
*Explainthat they are now going to watch a cartoon about how important it is to keep their special ‘personal’ information safe.
*ViewHector’s World episode 1 “Details, Details...”
At the conclusion of the first viewing, spend no more than three or four minutes checking that the children have at least a basic understanding of the story.
*Viewa second time. Before doing so, ask the children to try to remember:
-What information Ranjeet was going to send.
-Why Kui said not to share the information.
-What Hector’s suggestion was.
*Reviewthe lesson, including these points:
-What is special about personal information?
It makes us unique, and is the important information that can be used to identify us (for example if children get lost, giving their personal information to a police officer will help find the children’s parents).
-Because this information is so special, we should be careful who we share it withwhen we meet people (offline and online)
-Children should never share their personal information online without asking a parent or teacher first. Online includes the computer, mobile phone, or gamingdevices like Xbox® or PlayStation® Portable.
Episode 2: Welcome to the Carnival:
The focus of this lesson is on ‘trust’, a concept which may not be easily understood by all students. The lesson uses examples of how we might assess trustworthiness in order to help students understand the terminology. / Students:
-understand that not everyone they meet is automatically trustworthy.
- identify the characteristics of people that are worthy of their trust
who can help them make positive choices to keep them safe. / *Explainto the class that when we are in trouble or have a problem, it is good to turn to people in our lives that we know will help us and give us support. These are people we
trust. Students suggest who they trust in their lives.
Introduce the episode to the class by saying that they are going to be watching a video which will help them make smart decisions about who they can trust.
*View Hector’s World™ Episode 2: “Welcome to the Carnival”.
*Review the storyline, then watch the episode again, asking the students to pay attention to which characters the friends share their personal information with (personal information includes their name,
address, telephone number).
Episode 3: It’s a Serious Game:
The focus of this lesson is to consolidate student knowledge about how to determine which people are ‘trustworthy’. / Students:
-begin to understand some of the qualities that can be used to assess if a person is trustworthy.
-identify situations in which it is wise to turn to a trusted adult for help. / *Review the key teaching point from Episode 2: there are some people in our lives that we can trust & others we can’t. Tell the class that today they will begin to learn how to tell the difference between the two.
*View Hector’s World™ Episode 3: ‘It’s a Serious Game’ twice. Between viewings, review the story and ask the students to try to remember:
-How the Squid knew Sprat’s personal information.
-Why Hector gives the Squid Tama’s personal information.
-What Constable Solosolave warns Hector and his friends about.
*Discuss the answers to the questions, emphasising the fact that our personal details are precious and we need to be very careful about who we share them with, particularly people we know very little about.
Episode 4: The ‘Info’ Gang:
In this lesson, students will begin to learn how to listen to their feelings to help them tell the difference between people they can and can’t trust. / Students:
-understand that their emotions can be a powerful tool to help them assess unsafe situations.
- identify some of the physical sensations that alert us to unsafe
situations. / *Explainto the students that our feelings can sometimes tell us when a situation is unsafe, or a person is not to be trusted. Our feelings can affect the way our body feels by sending it clues that we don’t feel right about something. It’s important to always listen to what these feelings are telling you.
*View Hector’s World™ Episode 4: ‘The Info Gang’ twice. Between viewings, review the story & ask the students to pay particular attention to what happens to Tama. In this episode, Tama senses that a situation is not safe and acts on that feeling; this is important role modelling for the class.
*Discuss with the students the different feelings that Tama experiences in the episode & what caused each of those feelings. As each feeling is identified, ask the students to describe the different effects that that feeling can have on our bodies by standing & demonstrating how their bodies might act if they were feeling that way.
For example, one emotion that Tama experiences is fear. Your discussion with the students could focus on how being scared often makes our legs shake, our hands tremble, our breath shortens. With the help of the students, write on the board a list of feeling words (such as happy, sad, angry, nervous, scared, confused, excited). Students would thenstand and demonstrate how each of these feelings affects them.
*Reviewthe lesson, emphasising the importance of always listening to what our feelingsare telling us. Link this lesson to the previous two, emphasising this important point –‘When our feelings send us a message that something is wrong, it is a good idea to seekhelp from the people we trust. This could be while we are at school, out shopping, oreven at home’.Reiterate that if the first person they tell does not help, that it is good to keep on tellinguntil someone helps.
Episode 5: Heroes:
This lesson will review the storyline so far & have the students make a
special promise that will help keep them safe online. / Students:
-understand the importance of
checking with an adult before participating in the online environment.
-feel encouraged to be open about their online experiences with a
trusted adult. / *ViewHector’s World™ Episode 5: ‘Heroes’ twice. Between viewings, review the story & ask the students to remember:
-What was Hector worried about, that he discussed with Kui?
-What was Kui’s advice?
-What can Hector do to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake in the future?
*Discussthe answers to each of these questions at the end of the second viewing.