AI Savvy Students, Part 4: Activities That Build AI Awareness

 

AI Savvy Students, 

Part 4: Activities That Build AI Awareness

Students learn AI best by experiencing its strengths and limits. These classroom-ready activities help them see why prompting, verification, and judgment matter.

Activity 1: The Four-Bot Walkabout (ELA, SS, Grades 8–12)

Setup: Take a real prompt your students just completed (e.g., “Analyze Scout’s internal and external conflicts in To Kill a Mockingbird*.”*). Paste it into four different chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot). Print the outputs and place them at four stations.

Student task: In groups, rotate through stations. Annotate each output:

  • Where does it meet the rubric?

  • Where is it vague, generic, or flat-out wrong?

  • What would you add or change?

Debrief: Students quickly see: different bots do not generate the same answer, generic prompts create generic output, and AI rarely matches the rubric without their expertise. Close by drafting a “better prompt” that names criteria, evidence, and constraints.

Activity 2: First Prompt → Better Prompt (All subjects)

Setup: Live-demo a weak prompt; show the meh result.
Revise together: add audience, length, success criteria, constraints (class vocabulary, required sources), and tone.
Try again: Compare versions. Ask, “Which parts improved? What did the model still miss?”
Follow-up: Students do the same with their own assignment (two screenshots + three sentence reflection).

Activity 3: Math Check, Don’t Just Get the Answer (Math, Grades 6–12)

Students upload a photo of their own worked problem and ask for feedback:

  • “Where’s my error?”

  • “Which step violates the rule?”

  • “Give a hint, not the solution.”
     They revise, then summarize the fix in one sentence. This reinforces conceptual understanding and timely feedback.

Activity 4: Persona Interviews (ELA/SS, Grades 4–12)

Students role-play with a historical or literary figure (e.g., “You’re Vincent van Gogh talking to 5th graders”). They script 5–7 questions, then cross-check two AI claims with credible sources. The deliverable is a short Q&A plus a “Fact Check” box.

Activity 5: Low-Stakes Research Sprint (All subjects)

Prompt: “Give me five starter facts about [topic] I can verify.” Students pick two facts, confirm with sources, and add one new detail AI didn’t include. Emphasize verification over volume.

Activity 6: Visualize the Text (ELA/Art/SS, Grades 3–10)

Students extract character or setting details from a text, then generate an image that matches those constraints (e.g., clothing, era, mood). They caption the image with quotes that justify choices and note one inaccuracy to fix the next draft.

Lightweight grading approach

Score these on process and reflection (4–6 points total):

  • Evidence of iteration (prompt revision, draft changes)

  • Verification steps and sources

  • Reflection on accuracy/limitations

Why these work

Each activity forces students to:

  • Compare outputs against clear criteria

  • Move past a first, generic response

  • Practice verification

  • Own the final choices

That’s AI literacy in action, kids see how the tool can help, where it can’t, and why their judgment still matters.

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