- Time40 minutes
- Preparationunder 10 minutes
- Class sizemade for 50 to 60
- Needsno screens, no devices, no logins, no photocopies
You need: a ₹10 coin or any note to hold up; one copy of this lesson plan for yourself; the blackboard and chalk. Each child needs only a notebook or school diary and a pencil. Nothing is printed or photocopied for the children. Children stay at their benches and talk only with their bench partner, the child sitting next to them.
Teacher's note read once, 3 minutes
- Children of every background are in this class. The words of this lesson are for all of them. The quiet reflection is for everyone. The short prayer after it is optional: use it or leave it out, as suits your class.
- Don't make AI sound like a monster. AI is useful. The question is always: what will I do with it?
- Technology is not evil. But it is never neutral. It carries the values of the people who make it and use it. This lesson teaches that idea at a child's level.
- Carlo (1991 to 2006) was a real boy from Milan, Italy. He loved football, his friends, his pets and computers, and he cared for poor people in his neighbourhood. In the story he is simply Carlo, a boy any child can learn from.
1 Opening 2 minutes
Hold up the coin or note. Say:
"Imagine you are walking to school and you find ₹1,000 on the road. Nobody is around. What will you do?"
Let 3 or 4 children answer. Don't judge any answer yet. Say: "Hold on to your answer. We will come back to it."
2 Story: The Boy and the Computer 10 minutes
Read aloud slowly:
There was once a boy in Italy named Carlo. Carlo loved football and played it with his friends. He had many friends. He stood up for classmates who were teased. He loved his dogs and cats. He often shared his pocket money and food. He gave them to poor people near his home. Carlo also loved computers. He read thick computer books. He taught himself to write code. Code is the secret language that tells a computer what to do.
Soon Carlo was very good at it. Grown-ups asked him to help with their computers. He could make websites. He could make little films. He could have made almost anything.
Carlo also loved video games. One day he invited friends home to play. At first everyone had fun. But after hours of playing, his friends became angry and upset. Some went home in tears. Carlo was shocked. He saw that the games had started to control his friends. So he made a rule for himself. Only one hour of games a week. Nobody forced him. He chose it himself. He did not want a game to be his boss. He wanted time for his friends and his family. He wanted time for people who needed him.
Then Carlo had an idea. "I know how to build websites. What if I use this gift to share something good?" Carlo wanted to share what he believed in. So, at about 14, he built a website. People all over the world could read it. People in many countries still visit his work today.
Carlo used to say that everyone is born an original. But many people end up as photocopies. He did not want to be a photocopy. He wanted to use his gifts for good, in his own way.
Carlo died when he was only 15, after a short illness. But the good he did with his computer is still helping people.
Then say:
"Carlo used code for good. The same code could also cheat, trick or hurt people. Think of a knife. In a doctor's hand, a knife saves a life. In a criminal's hand, the same knife hurts someone. The knife is the same. What is different?"
Let children answer: the person, the heart. Then say:
"Now think about a spear. Long ago, people made spears for hunting and fighting. They needed them to stay alive. A spear was made for that job. No doctor ever used a spear to heal someone. The maker decided its job. That was before anyone held it. Now think about the people who make things today. Some games and apps are made to keep you playing and scrolling. They are like the games that took control of Carlo's friends. The makers put that inside. So a tool carries two hearts. One is the heart of the person who makes it. The other is the heart of the person who uses it. We need good hearts in the people who make AI. We need good hearts in us when we use it."
3 The Question 6 minutes
Go back to the ₹1,000. Ask:
- "What did your answer about the ₹1,000 show about you?" Every answer shows a value: honesty, kindness, fear, wanting.
- Then, slowly: "Now imagine you have just found AI. It can write, draw, answer questions and talk to you. What will you do with it?"
- Follow-up: "Who decides if AI does good or bad? Is it the AI? Is it the people who make it? Or is it the person using it?" Help them see it is the makers and the users, never the machine.
Write on the board: A tool carries two hearts: its maker's and its user's.
4 Activity: Good Heart Choices 15 minutes
Children stay at their benches. There are no groups and no cards to hand out. Do these four steps for each of the five situations below, about 2 minutes for each:
- Read the situation aloud, slowly, twice.
- Bench partners talk quietly: "What would a careless heart do? What would a good heart do?" (1 minute)
- Ask two pairs to tell the class what they said.
- Ask for a show of hands: "Who would choose the good heart?" Say the good-heart choice in one line and move to the next situation.
The five situations the teacher reads them aloud
- You have a story to write for homework. AI can write the whole story for you in five seconds. Your teacher will never know.
- A friend wants to make a funny fake photo of a classmate. He will use an app and send it to everyone.
- You ask AI a question for your project. You notice that its answer is wrong.
- Your little cousin wants to chat with an AI all evening. She does not want to play with you.
- Your grandmother's birthday is tomorrow. You could use AI to make her a card. You could make one yourself. Or you could do both.
For the last 4 minutes, each child draws a heart in their own notebook and writes inside it one good-heart choice they will make with a phone, a computer or AI. While they draw, write the Family Corner (below) on the board. Close the activity by saying:
"Notice that in every situation, the AI was the same. Only the heart was different. When you are not sure, ask a grown-up you trust. Asking for help is strong, not weak."
5 Quiet Reflection and Optional Prayer 4 minutes
Say: "Let us be still. Close your eyes if you like. Put your hand on your heart."
Quiet reflection (for everyone): "Think of one gift you have. Maybe it is drawing, helping or making people laugh. Think of one good thing you can do with it this week. Keep it in your heart." Pause for 30 seconds.
Optional prayer (use it or leave it out): "Dear God, thank you for making each of us an original. Help us use our gifts with good and honest hearts. Help us use phones, computers and AI the same way. When we are not sure, help us to ask. Amen."
6 Closing and Family Corner 3 minutes
Children copy the Family Corner from the board into their notebook or school diary and take it home for a parent to sign. Nothing is printed or sent to parents. Say: "Tonight, ask someone at home the ₹1,000 question. Listen to their answer."
Family Corner the teacher writes this on the board; children copy it
Today in class we learned: A tool carries two hearts: its maker's and its user's. We heard about a boy named Carlo who loved computers.
Ask each other: "If you found ₹1,000 on the road, what would you do?" Then: "What should our family use AI for? What should we not use it for?"
Our family promise this week (choose one and write it down):
- One meal together with no phones
- One hour of play or talk with no screens
- We will check AI's answers before we believe them
Date: ____________ Signed by a grown-up: ____________
Family page: https://schools.remainhuman.in/f/S5-1
Written by Blaise D'Souza with the help of AI, and checked by people. That is what this module teaches.