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Lesson 7 of 12 · Using AI tools

Asking AI well

Groups use prompt cards to turn a lazy request into a four-part prompt (role, task, context, format), compare the results, and agree on honest ways to use AI for schoolwork.

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Lesson 7 of 12 · Using AI tools · Teacher's plan

Asking AI well

Groups use prompt cards to turn a lazy request into a four-part prompt (role, task, context, format), compare the results, and agree on honest ways to use AI for schoolwork.

Students will be able to

  • name the four parts of a good prompt: role, task, context and format
  • rewrite a vague request into a clear four-part prompt
  • explain why a clearer prompt usually gets a more useful answer
  • describe honest ways to use AI for schoolwork and follow the school's rules

Prepare

  • One set of prompt cards per group: four colours or four labels (Role, Task, Context, Format), five or six cards of each
  • Three lazy requests written on the board (see the plan)
  • A projector and one teacher device, or two or three answers prepared in advance and printed or written up
  • One worksheet per student

Words to know

Prompt:
The message you type to a chatbot to tell it what you want.
Role:
Who you ask the chatbot to act as, such as a patient maths tutor.
Context:
Background the chatbot needs: who it is for, what you already know, any limits.
Format:
The shape of the answer you want, such as a table, five bullet points or a short quiz.

Main activity · Unplugged: paper and pens

Build a better prompt with cards

Groups pick one card from each pile (role, task, context, format) to turn a lazy request like "tell me about volcanoes" into a clear prompt. The teacher runs two or three of them on one projected chatbot, or reads out prepared answers, so the class can see how much the answer improves.

ManuAI pages for this lesson

The 45-minute plan · 45 minutes

Warm-up7 min

Ask a friend, ask a machine

  • Ask: "If you text a friend 'help me with homework', what will they ask you back?" Collect answers: which subject, which question, by when.
  • Point out that a chatbot cannot ask all of that. It guesses what you meant.
  • Write a lazy request on the board: "tell me about volcanoes". Ask what is missing.
Activity18 min

Prompt-building with cards

  • Explain the four parts with one example. Role: a friendly science teacher. Task: explain how a volcano erupts. Context: for a grade 7 student who has not studied it yet. Format: five short steps and one quiz question.
  • Give each group a set of cards and one of the three lazy requests: "tell me about volcanoes", "help with English", "plan a class trip".
  • Groups choose one card from each pile, or write their own, and copy the full prompt onto paper.
  • Collect two or three prompts. Run them on your projected chatbot next to the lazy version, or read out answers you prepared.
  • Ask: "Which answer would you rather use? Which part of the prompt made the biggest difference?"
Practice15 min

Worksheet and honest use

  • Students complete the worksheet alone or in pairs.
  • Stop after 8 minutes to talk about task 5. Good uses: ask AI to explain a hard idea, give you practice questions or check your understanding.
  • Make the line clear: handing in AI writing as your own work is dishonest. Follow the school's rules and say when you used AI.
  • Students finish the remaining tasks.
Wrap-up5 min

Role, task, context, format

  • Ask one student to say the four parts from memory.
  • Remind the class that a good prompt still gives answers that can be wrong. Lesson 8 is about checking them.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

Teacher tips

  • Safety: many chatbots have a minimum age, often 13 and sometimes higher. Run the live demo yourself on one screen, or prepare answers in advance. Students do not need accounts for this lesson.
  • Misconception: "a longer prompt is always better". Clear beats long. A short prompt with a role, a task, a little context and a format works well.
  • Mixed levels: students who finish early can add a fifth card, "an example", and show the chatbot one sample of what they want. Students who find writing hard can build prompts by placing cards on the desk without copying them.

Exit ticket answers

  1. In the prompt "Answer as a five-item checklist", which part is that? C. Format
  2. Rewrite "tell me about dinosaurs" as a better prompt using at least three of the four parts. A good answer: For example: You are a museum guide (role). Explain why dinosaurs died out (task) to a grade 6 student who likes animals (context), in five short sentences (format).
  3. Which is an honest way to use AI for homework? A. Ask it to explain the idea, then write the answer yourself and follow your school's rules
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Worksheet · Lesson 7 of 12 · Using AI tools

From lazy to clear

NameClassDate

Use the four parts of a good prompt. Write clearly enough that a stranger would know exactly what you want.

  1. 1Fill in the four parts to improve the request "help with English".

    PartWhat I wrote
    Role
    Task
    Context
    Format

  2. 2Now write your whole prompt as one message, the way you would type it.

  3. 3Which prompt is most likely to get a useful answer?

    • Maths.
    • Explain fractions.
    • You are a patient maths tutor. Explain how to add fractions with different denominators to a grade 6 student, using two examples with pizza.
    • Tell me everything about maths right now.

  4. 4Pick one of the four parts. Explain how leaving it out could make the answer worse.

  5. 5Honest or not? Tick one column for each use of AI.

    Use of AI for schoolworkHonestNot honest
    Asking it to explain a lesson I did not understand
    Copying its essay and handing it in as mine
    Asking it to quiz me before a test
    Getting it to write my answers during a test
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Cut along the dotted lines: two tickets per page.

Exit ticket · Lesson 7ManuAI

Asking AI well

NameClassDate

  1. 1In the prompt "Answer as a five-item checklist", which part is that?

    • ARole
    • BTask
    • CFormat
    • DContext

  2. 2Rewrite "tell me about dinosaurs" as a better prompt using at least three of the four parts.

  3. 3Which is an honest way to use AI for homework?

    • AAsk it to explain the idea, then write the answer yourself and follow your school's rules
    • BCopy its answer and change a few words
    • CHand in its essay with your name on it
    • DUse it secretly during a test