Privacy Pursuit! Lesson Plans
The IPC has developed four classroom-ready lesson plans to help educators teach students in Grades 2 through 8 about why privacy is important and how to protect their privacy online. Each lesson plan was developed by MediaSmarts for the IPC. They include student handouts that can be printed or completed as a fillable PDF. The lesson plans are designed to be used with the IPC’s Privacy Pursuit! activity booklet, filled with word searches, crossword puzzles, thought-provoking questions and other fun activities for learning about privacy.
What is Privacy?
(Grades 2 & 3)
Topics covered: Privacy & Security, Ethics, Empathy
In this lesson, students draw connections between their existing concepts of privacy and how it applies to the internet and networked devices. They learn essential vocabulary relating to privacy. They also consider scenarios in which children encounter privacy risks and draw on those to develop a list of “dos” and “don’ts” for using networked devices.
Protecting Your Privacy
(Grades 4 & 5)
Topics covered: Privacy & Security, Ethics, Empathy
In this lesson, students review what the word “privacy” means in an online context and learn key privacy-related vocabulary. They explore different privacy risks and then learn practical techniques and strategies to manage and protect their privacy. Students then demonstrate their understanding of these strategies by illustrating them. Finally, students revisit material from earlier in the lesson and consider how their actions might put other people’s privacy at risk.
The Value of Privacy
(Grades 6 & 7)
Topics covered: Privacy & Security, Consumer Awareness
In this lesson, students learn how their personal information is key to how most of the “free” apps and platforms they use make money. They learn practical strategies and tools for managing their privacy and plan how these can be used to limit what audiences have access to their personal information.
My Privacy, Your Privacy
(Grades 7 & 8)
Topics covered: Privacy & Security, Ethics, Empathy, Reading Media
In this lesson, students start by considering the permanence of online content. They review privacy strategies and privacy risks and analyze how likely and severe different privacy risks are. They then consider how their actions and decisions can affect others’ privacy and develop a list of “dos” and “don’ts” for managing both their own and others’ privacy.
Additional resources:
Media Literacy Week episode with Commissioner Kosseim and Matthew Johnson, Director of Education for Media Smarts.
Commissioner Kosseim discusses the privacy risks facing children and youth online today and explains how educators can help teach kids about online safety using the IPC’s new Privacy Pursuit! lesson plans
This post is also available in: French
