Revision Notes: unedited assignment
Literacy Narrative with AI Activities
A plan for the use of AI by students for the assignments in a first-year writing class
For English 1105, the first major assignment is the literacy narrative essay.
In my classes, students usually spend four weeks to complete this project. However, during this four week period, students engage in a series of low-stake formative assignments which build up to the summative assignment- literacy narrative essay.
The formative assignments include warm-up exercises such as reading assignments and discussions to familiarize students with foundational concepts. Additionally, students are always required to complete a reflective assignment as a final step to complete this major project. Introspecting on their learning journey, they discuss what they learned throughout the process, the challenges they faced, and what they want to do differently the next time to improve their work and enhance their learning experience. These reflection assignments will be more frequent this semester, as they will be a component of every AI-assisted assignment. In AI use reflection assignments, I will prompt students to think about their experience with AI integration by asking such questions as
- How did AI assist in the completion of the assignment?
- What were the benefits and limitations of using AI?
- How might they use AI differently in future assignments?
- What prompts did they use?
- How effectively did the prompts work?
Below are the formative assignment instructions and their objectives, in some of which students are required to use AI. It is shown why and how students should use AI and reflective assignments are also incorporated to prompt students to report on what they learn and the challenges they faced while using AI.
I designed the assignments in a way which encourage students to
- compare their original ideas with some alternate ideas suggested by AI;
- find some counterpoints for the arguments they make in the online and in-class discussions;
- engage in AI-assisted group activities with a focus on problem-solution tasks.
- learn how to get AI feedback on their multiple drafts to improve their writing, guarantee a higher quality work, and take steps for better efficiency in the future.
- engage in think-pair-share activities to gather additional feedback, both through traditional peer review sessions and AI-assisted peer review sessions.
- learn how to make a mind map by connecting different ideas generated by AI through several iterations or different tools.
- learn how to use AI to teach the concepts discussed in their reading assignment, where volunteer students design reading activities with AI assistance.
Week one
1.a. Warm-up discussion about writing
Objectives
In this assignment, we try to discuss:
- Writing in the Digital Age
- Challenges in Writing
- Accomplishments in Writing
- Learning goals in a college writing class
Activities
- Part 1: First, students will share a text message, a popular tweet, or other social media posts, and analyze how it conveys a message with limited characters. Then students answer this question: “In a world where emojis can replace sentences and tweets can influence millions, how do you define writing?”
- Part 2: First, students discuss this question: “Discuss a time when writing felt like a hurdle. Was it the blank page, the complex ideas, or the fear of making mistakes?” Then in small groups, students create a ‘trouble-shooting’ list of common writing challenges and potential solutions.
- Part 3: Students share a piece of writing they are proud of and they explain what makes it special to them.
- Part 4: First, students brainstorm on the skills and the types of knowledge they hope to gain from this class that will help them in the digital world. Then in their groups, they create a wish list of topics to cover throughout the semester, and they discuss how these skills apply to digital platforms and how they match with the defined course outcomes available in the syllabus.
1.b. Syllabus Quiz (made by AI/ Question well)
1.c. Discussion about writing technology, AI literacy, and AI’s Role in Education
Objectives
- Introducing students to writing technology and AI literacy
- Engaging them in a debate on AI’s impact on education and the future world.
Activities
- Part 1: Students are provided with AI-generated arguments on the role of AI in education. These prompts will cover topics such as personalized learning, data privacy, teacher augmentation, and ethical considerations.
- Part 2: Students will engage in a structured debate, countering the AI’s arguments. They will analyze the AI’s reasoning, identify strengths and weaknesses, and develop their own evidence-based arguments.
- Part 3: Each student will write a reflection on the process, discussing the insights gained from engaging with AI-generated ideas and how these insights influenced their perspective on the topic. They think about their takeaways about AI’s capabilities and limitations in constructing arguments.
1.d. Discussion of Rhetoric
Objectives
- Introducing students to basics of rhetoric
- Teaching students to Use AI tools as an assistant tutor
Activities
- Part 1: In a class discussion, students talk about what they already know about rhetoric. Then they add discussion highlights to a shared document.
- Part 2: Students work in small groups. They will be provided with the following AI prompt example. They use it or the same style of prompt for learning about rhetoric from AI.
Prompt Example: “You are an upbeat, encouraging tutor who helps students understand the concept of ‘rhetoric’ by explaining ideas and asking students questions. Start by introducing yourself to the student as their AI-Tutor who is happy to help them with any questions… (entire prompt continues as in original).”
- Part 3: Groups discuss what they learned from the arguments generated by AI using the example prompt. Each group will summarize their takeaways in the same shared document.
- Part 4: Students spend time on reading assigned texts about AI. Then they will add a summary of what they learned from the assigned readings to the shared document.
- Part 5: Students will wrap up the discussion with a comparison of their learning from AI and traditional sources and share their opinions about how AI could help them in learning about a concept.
1.e. Reading Assignment with AI assistance
Objectives
- Enhancing students’ reading comprehension using AI.
- Making reading experience interactive and enjoyable using AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Students will read an assigned text individually.
- Part 2: Students will use the following AI prompts or some similar ones for generating comprehension questions that ensure students have understood the text’s main points.
Example of prompt: “You are my reading tutor helping me identify the central argument or message in the text I attach… (prompt continues as in original).”
- Part 3: Students will use the AI tool to assist them in taking structured notes on the text. They will use the following prompt example or similar ones:
Example of prompt: “You are my reading tutor helping me take structured notes on the attached text… (prompt continues as in original).”
- Part 4: In small groups, students will discuss the insights gained from the AI tool and compare them with their own understanding. They will reflect on the effectiveness of AI in aiding their comprehension and analysis of rhetorical strategies.
Week Two
2.a. Understanding Literacy Narrative Assignment Instructions
Objectives
Helping students to understand the assignment, its rationale, requirements, and specifications.
Activities
- Part 1: First, students will answer the quiz questions about the major assignment (literacy narrative essay)
- Part 2: Then, students interact with an AI tool of their choice to correct their wrong answers. They upload or copy the assignment instructions to the AI tool and then use the following prompt to have AI explain the unclear and confusing parts in simple language:
Example of Prompt: “I recently took a quiz about the literacy narrative essay assignment and I got some answers wrong… (prompt continues as in original).”
2.b. Discussion of digital literacy
Objectives
- Introducing students to the concept of literacy, its nuances, and evolution in the digital age.
- Helping students explore the notion of digital literacy and its significance in contemporary society.
- Recognizing common misconceptions about digital literacy
- Explaining the principles guiding communication across five modes: linguistic, visual, aural, gestural, and spatial
- Showing students how to create digital and multimodal content using technology and Gen AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Students discuss the traditional definition of literacy and its emphasis on reading and writing skills…
- Part 2: Students watch a short video about the common myths about digital literacy…
- Part 3: Then students get help from an AI tool to create a meme…
- Part 4: Students will watch a video about 5 major modes for composition…
- Part 5: Students will use a combination of images (memes, drawings, GIFs, personal photos, etc.) and sound (music clips, your own narration, etc.) to tell the story of their digital literacy journey in just five frames…
- How has your relationship to digital tools changed over time?
- What is the relationship between who you are online and who you are in person? Share a time that you felt a tension in that relationship.
- Show a time that you felt a strong sense of connection or belonging online.
- Tell us about a time that you felt disconnected or isolated online.
- Part 6: Then in small groups, students discuss the process of their digital story making, answering the following questions:
- Which communication modes they made use of
- How their approach changed when faced with different constraints and modes
- What kinds of challenges they experienced
- What prompts they used when they interacted with AI to help them with communicating in different modes
2.c. Reading Assignment with AI assistance
Objectives
- Enhancing students’ reading comprehension using AI.
- Making reading experience interactive and enjoyable using AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Students divide the assigned reading text into different sections. They ask AI to help them with summarizing the key arguments in different sections of the text. They can use the following prompt or similar ones:
Prompt Example: “You are a reading tutor tasked with helping me uncover the key arguments, and evidence used in this section of the text. Summarize the main points, identify persuasive techniques, and pose thought-provoking questions for discussion.”
- Part 2: In small groups, students share their AI-generated summaries, analyses, and questions with their teammates. They share their personal experiences and try to connect AI-generated summaries of different sections to grasp the overarching argument of the whole text.
- Part 3: Students will share their experiences with AI as a reading assistant with the class. They discuss how AI enhanced their reading comprehension, analysis, and overall engagement with the text and if they find more joy in reading with AI assistance.
2.d. Reading Literacy Narrative examples
Objectives
- Helping students understand the structure and rhetorical techniques used in literacy narrative essays.
Activities
- Part 1: Share a literacy narrative example with students. They read the text quickly.
- Part 2: Students will use the following AI prompts or some similar ones for analyzing the structure and components of a literacy narrative and discover the rhetorical strategies used by the author.
Example of prompt: “You are my reading tutor helping me understand the main components of the literacy narrative that I attached… (full prompt as originally given).”
- Part 3: Then students highlight different sections of the text in different colors (e.g., green for descriptive language, blue for anecdotes, yellow for reflections).
- Part 4: Finally students share their experience of AI-assisted close reading of literacy narrative example with the class. They summarize their findings about the main components of literacy narratives. They also reflect on how AI facilitated or hindered their reading abilities.
2.e. Making and refining an outline for literacy narrative essay
Objectives
- Helping students create an outline for their literacy narrative essay using sample writings.
- Showing students how to improve their outline with AI assistance.
Activities
- Part 1: Students review the sample literacy narratives provided in the last class. Identifying different elements and sections in these samples they create an initial outline in the sample narrative.
- Part 2: Students use AI to improve their outline using the following example prompt or similar ones:
Example Prompt: “I am a college student in a first-year writing class. I have created an outline for a literacy narrative assignment. Please review and suggest improvements for organization, depth, and coherence. Also, suggest transitions between sections and subpoints to improve the overall flow. Here’s my outline: [Paste your outline here/ OR upload your outline]”
- Part 3: In small groups, students discuss the following questions about their experience with AI in improving their outlines:
- How did the AI’s suggestions differ from your original outline?
- Which AI suggestions did you find most helpful and why?
- Were there any AI suggestions you disagreed with or chose not to use? Explain why.
- How did using AI in this process affect your thinking about your literacy narrative?
- What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in the writing process?
Then they share their group discussion with the whole class.
2.f. Literacy map assignment
Objectives
- Enhancing outlining techniques of students using AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Instructor talks about the concept of literacy map as a visual representation of their literacy journey including key experiences, and influences shaping their literacy journey.
- Part 2: Students review the outlines they created in the last class and try to identify the key events, experiences, influences, and their order in their outline.
- Part 3: Students prompt an AI tool of their choice to help them draw a literacy map using their bullet point outline. They can use the following prompt or similar ones:
Prompt Example: “You are a college student working on a literacy narrative essay and need to create a visual literacy map… (prompt continues).”
- Part 4: Students will discuss their experience with AI in class. They compare AI responses from different tools reflecting on the efficiency of AI in drawing the map and helping them organize their paper.
Week 3
3.a. Reading assignments
Objectives
- Enhancing students’ reading comprehension using AI.
- Making reading experience interactive and enjoyable using AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Students read the assigned text carefully.
- Part 2: Students work in small groups to answer the comprehension questions that they ask AI to generate using the following prompt or similar ones:
Prompt Example: “Generate a series of comprehension questions based on the attached text… (prompt continues).”
- Part 3: Each group presents their takeaways from the text with the rest of the class.
3.b. In-class half draft
Objectives
- Practice drafting a text using an outline
Activities
Students use their bullet point outline and literacy map to draft their literacy narrative in class. They are not allowed to use AI for the half draft.
Week 4
4.a. Introduction to peer review
Objectives
- Introducing students to the importance of peer review and the process of peer review in class
Activities
- Part 1: Students think of a time when they provided or received feedback on their writing… (as described in original).
- Part 2: They watch a video called “Three Myths about Peer Review”… (continues).
- Part 3: Students watch another video titled “What It Means to Be a Peer Reviewer”… (continues).
- Part 4: Students watch a video titled “How to Write Effective Peer Review Comments”… (continues).
4.b. Higher-order peer review workshop
Objectives
- Enhancing the traditional peer review process by integrating AI tools to provide additional insights and support, while keeping students as the main contributors.
Activities
- Part 1: Students share their draft with their peer. Then they read the questions in the higher-order peer review worksheet available to them on Canvas.
- Part 2: Students complete the peer review worksheet and return it to their peer.
- Part 3 (homework): Students attach their drafts to an AI tool and then use the following prompt or similar ones to get the feedback of AI on their own draft:
Prompt Example: “You are a Peer Reviewer giving feedback on the literacy narrative that I attach/copy… (continues).”
- Part 4: Students carefully read both sets of comments made by their peer and AI. Using these comments, they revise their text which will be the draft of the next peer review workshop.
4.c. Lower-order peer review workshop
Objectives
- Combining AI-generated feedback with student input to enhance the mechanics of writing, including grammar, punctuation, style, and sentence structure.
Activities
- Part 1: Students share their revised draft with their peer. Then they read the questions in the lower-order peer review worksheet available to them on Canvas.
- Part 2: Students complete the peer review worksheet and submit the complete worksheet to AI… (as described).
- Part 3: Students download the AI response, add it to the peer review worksheet completed by them and then they return them in one single document to their peer.
- Part 4 (homework): Students carefully read the lower-order and higher-order comments made by both AI and peer. They write a revision plan outlining specific changes they want to make in their draft.
- Part 5: They respond to a survey asking students to reflect on their experience of working with AI to assist them in revising their texts.
Week 5
5.a. Individual Conferences
5.b. Reflective Essay
Asking students to think about the whole process (NO AI IS ALLOWED)
5.c. Final Draft of Literacy Narrative
Last Updated on July 5, 2025