Smart Speakers, Smart Choices

Overview

Many children talk to smart speakers, talking toys, and voice assistants on phones or tablets at home, and they often treat them like a friend who knows everything. In this role-play, a classmate wearing a paper "speaker" becomes Pip, a pretend voice helper. The class discovers three true things: Pip waits for its wake word and then listens closely, Pip may save what it hears on a far-away computer, and Pip answers by guessing from patterns, so it can be wrong. Children practice sorting what is OK to say to a device, what to keep private, and when to ask a grown-up instead.

Objectives

• Students will explain in their own words that a voice helper listens for a wake word and may save what it hears after that.
• Students will sort things people say to a voice helper into OK to ask, keep private, and ask a grown-up instead, and give a reason for one choice.
• Students will catch a wrong or silly answer from a pretend voice helper and name a way to check it.
• Students will role-play saying "Pip, stop" and turning to a trusted grown-up when a question is about safety, feelings, or buying something.

Step by step

1. 10–4 min

   Hook

   Who is listening?

   Hold up the Pip prop with the red side showing. Say: "This is Pip. Pip is a pretend talking helper, like a smart speaker or a talking toy. Some of you might have a helper at home that plays songs or tells the weather." Ask for thumbs up if anyone has talked to a helper like this. Then ask: "Is Pip listening right now?" Take guesses. Explain: "Pip's light is red. Pip is waiting for its special word, its wake word. When Pip hears its wake word, the light turns green and Pip listens closely."

   Facilitator noteStay accurate and calm. Helpers wait for a wake word, then listen closely to what comes next; many can save that part. Avoid telling children devices are spying on them all the time.

2. 24–11 min

   Model

   Meet Pip: three true things

   Use Script Cards 1–4. You are Pip. A volunteer says the wake word, "Hey Pip," and you flip to green. Read Pip's answers from the cards. After each card, name one true thing on the board with a picture: 1. Pip wakes up to a special word. 2. Pip may SAVE what it hears on a computer far away, and grown-ups can look at it or delete it. 3. Pip answers by GUESSING from lots of examples, so it can be wrong. On Card 4, Pip gives a wrong answer with a confident voice ("Spiders have six legs!"). Ask: "Was Pip right? How could we check?"

   Facilitator noteFor Grades 3–5, add: "Pip doesn't understand like a person does. It matches your words to patterns and picks an answer that sounds likely." That is the AI1.1 idea at their level.

3. 311–19 min

   Explore

   Talk-to-Pip Sort

   Groups of 3 get Handout B. Read each strip aloud (or have readers read). Groups decide where it goes: OK to ask Pip, Keep private, or Ask a grown-up instead. Circulate and ask: "Why did you put it there?" Bring the class back and go over the tricky ones: telling Pip your address, asking Pip to buy something, and telling Pip you feel sad.

   Facilitator noteKindergarten: do this as a whole class with three corners of the rug instead of mats. Children walk to the corner that fits.

4. 419–27 min

   Practice

   Student Pips

   Volunteers take turns holding Pip. Hand each new Pip one of Script Cards 5–10 to read as Pip's answer. A classmate asks the question on the card. The class decides together: Was that a good thing to ask? Was Pip's answer right? Do we need a grown-up? On the cards where Pip asks a child for private information or wants to buy something, the class practices the power words together: "Pip, stop." Then the child turns to you and says, "Can you help me?"

   Facilitator noteLook for children who notice that Pip sounds sure even when it is wrong. Praise that catch: "You checked instead of just believing!"

5. 527–31 min

   Debrief

   What did Pip teach us?

   Point to the three true things on the board and read them together. Ask: "When is Pip a good helper?" (songs, timers, simple facts we can check). "When do we go to a person?" (private information, feelings, safety, buying things, when Pip's answer seems wrong). Add a fourth line with the class: 4. I can say "stop" and ask a grown-up.

   Facilitator noteIf a child shares that a device at home heard something private, respond warmly and without alarm: "Thanks for telling me. A grown-up at home can check the settings."

6. 631–35 min

   Reflect

   My Smart Speaker Promise

   Children complete Handout C: draw something OK to ask a helper, draw a grown-up they can go to, and finish the sentences. Grades 3–5 also write one question they would ask a grown-up about the helper at home. Ask two or three children to share: "What will you do if a helper asks for your address?"

   Facilitator noteEvidence to collect: children who can say "it might save what I say" and "it can be wrong" in their own words.

Adaptations

Kindergarten

Use Script Cards 1–4 and three of the student cards (5, 7, and 9). Sort as a whole class using the three corners. Replace the writing on Handout C with drawing and dictation.

Grades 3–5

Add a "Pip Settings" talk: which settings a family could check (saved recordings, buying by voice, microphone off button). Students write one question to ask a grown-up at home about their device.

Emergent bilinguals

Teach gestures for the three categories (thumbs up for OK, finger to lips for private, pointing to a grown-up for ask a grown-up). Accept answers in any language and pair children with a language buddy for the sort.

Students who use speech devices or AAC

Program or print the phrases "Pip, stop" and "Can you help me?" so every child can take a speaking turn in the role-play.

Pairs well with

• Family App Privacy AuditShare with families who want to check settings on the devices and apps at home.
• Gen AI Literacy Breakouts (K–8)Teacher-driven follow-up on how AI makes guesses.