Chapter 3

People

Stories, cultures, values and trust. The skills that help you get on with anyone, anywhere.

8 activities inside

Before you start: Remember a story that stuck with you. What made it good? Tell a grown-up before you start this chapter.

30

People · Communication and storytelling 15 min · pencil ★☆☆

Story spine

Scan for the app

Lots of great stories share the same backbone. Fill in each line to build your own.

Pick a hero: a kid, an animal, even a robot.
Finish each line in order.
Read your story out loud to someone.

Example: Once upon a time there was a snail called Zip. Every day he was the slowest…

1.Once upon a time…
2.Every day…
3.But one day…
4.Because of that…
5.Because of that…
6.Until finally…
7.And ever since then…

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: A simple story shape helps kids organize ideas, a skill they will use in writing, talks and pitches.

What was the big change in your story?
What could make the ending more surprising?

Extend it: Take a film you both know and fit it onto the story spine.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

31

People · Communication and storytelling 20 min · pencil, colored pencils ★★☆

Six-panel storyboard

Scan for the app

Film makers plan stories with little pictures first. Tell a story in 6 panels.

Panels 1–2: who is the hero, and what goes wrong?
Panels 3–5: what do they try? Does it get worse?
Panel 6: how does it end? Draw speech bubbles where you need them.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Storyboards teach kids to tell a story clearly, one step at a time, with pictures and few words.

Which panel is the most exciting?
Could someone understand the story with no words at all?

Extend it: Act the storyboard out. Optional: film it on a phone together.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

32

People · Working across cultures 15 min · pencil ★☆☆

Two breakfasts

Scan for the app

A kid in Singapore might eat kaya toast. A kid in India might have idli. Ask a friend or grandparent about a breakfast from another place.

Write foods in each circle. Shared foods go in the middle.
On the lines: one breakfast you want to try, and why.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Comparing everyday things like breakfast shows kids that people everywhere are both different and alike.

What surprised you about the other breakfast?
What is the same for both?

Extend it: Cook a breakfast from another place together this weekend.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

33

People · Working across cultures 20 min · pencil ★★☆

Interview a grandparent

Scan for the app

Ask a grandparent, or an older neighbor with a grown-up nearby, about when they were your age.

Ask each question. Listen closely.
Write short notes, not every word.

Who I talked to, and where they grew up:

What was a school day like for you?

What games or food remind you of home?

One thing that is the same for both of us:

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Talking across generations builds curiosity about other times and places, and good listening.

What was the most surprising answer?
What would you like to ask next time?

Extend it: Make a short family “then and now” poster from the answers.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

34

People · Values and ethics 15 min · pencil ★★☆

Helped or harmed?

Scan for the app

Idea: a computer ranks every kid by math speed, and the list goes on the classroom wall.

For each person, write how the idea could help or harm them.
Add one more person in the last row.
Would you change the idea? Tell a grown-up how.

Who?	Helped how?	Harmed how?
Fast kids
Kids who take longer
The teacher
Parents
Someone else:

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Thinking about everyone a choice affects is the heart of ethics, and of building fair technology.

Who is helped most? Who is harmed most?
How could the idea be fairer?

Extend it: Do the same table for a real family decision, like a new screen rule.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

35

People · Values and ethics 20 min · pencil, scissors ★★☆

Agree, unsure, disagree

Scan for the app

Big questions often have no easy answer. Where do you stand?

Cut out the 6 cards.
Write each card’s letter above the line, where you stand.
Give one reason for each. Then argue the other side!

DisagreeUnsureAgree

AIt is OK to tell a small lie to protect a friend’s feelings.

BIf you find money on the street, you can keep it.

CRobots should do all the boring jobs.

DEveryone in a team should get the same prize.

EIt is fair to copy homework if your friend says yes.

FPets should be allowed at school.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Kids learn that people can disagree kindly, and that good reasons matter more than winning.

Which card was hardest to place?
Did arguing the other side change your mind?

Extend it: Place the cards yourself and compare. Talk about one you disagree on.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

36

People · Trustworthiness 10 min · pencil ★☆☆

Promise tracker

Scan for the app

People trust you when you do what you say. Practice with small promises.

Each morning, write one small promise.
At bedtime, tick it if you kept it.
Missed one? Say so, and fix it tomorrow.

Example: I will feed the cat before school.

Day	My promise	Kept ✓
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Day	My promise	Kept ✓
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Trust is built from many small kept promises, and from owning up when we slip.

Which promise was hardest to keep?
How do you feel when someone keeps a promise to you?

Extend it: Track your own promises to your child for the same two weeks.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

37

People · Trustworthiness 15 min · pencil ★★☆

Saying sorry well

Scan for the app

Leo knocked over Zara’s tower by mistake. A good sorry has three parts.

Finish each speech bubble for Leo.
Act it out with a grown-up.
Swap parts and try again.

Zara: Hey! My tower!

Leo: I’m sorry I…

Leo: It wasn’t OK because…

Leo: To fix it, I will…

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: A real apology names what happened, admits why it hurt and offers a fix. It repairs trust.

Why is “sorry, but…” not a good sorry?
How did it feel to hear a good sorry?

Extend it: Next time either of you says sorry, use the three parts.

My brain felt: ☐ easy ☐ just right ☐ stretchy

One thing I learned: ________________________

38