Together in One Document: Roles and Rules

1. What your child learns and why

Your child practises agreeing on roles and rules for a shared document: asking before changing text, suggesting in a comment and waiting for a check. The aim is for everyone to have a say about their own text. The fictional simulation uses ready choices; nothing is typed or saved.

2. Three questions for dinner

• What does the checker do if they disagree with a sentence?
• Which rule did you choose, and why?
• How would you swap roles so everyone takes part?

3. 10 minutes together, no screen — “Paper relay”

1. Take paper and a pencil. Agree on three rules and who writes, checks and passes the paper.
2. Make up a story. Each person adds a sentence on their turn and says “ready”. Suggest changes in the margin without deleting anyone’s text without agreement.
3. Swap tasks. Read the story and say which rule helped and what you would change next time.

4. What success looks like

Your child names the tasks, suggests a change in a comment and waits for the author’s reply. They choose three rules and explain their choice.

5. Common difficulties

Everyone wants to write → agree on turns and swap roles. A comment sounds like an order → try “I suggest… What do you think?” If you disagree, leave the text and talk.

6. Safety

Use made-up characters without personal information. No account or real online document is needed for this activity. Say: “If something scares you, tell a grown-up you trust.”

7. Where to go next

Before: DB-IB-13 “My Data: Whose Is It and Who Sees It?” · Next: DB-IB-15 “Before I Share a Picture of Someone Else”

You do not need to know the answers. Say: “Let’s try it and talk about it together.”