Other Assignments in this Series
This assignment is the second of a four-week series that focuses on the literacy narrative essay.
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 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 have you made use of?
- How has your approach changed when faced with different constraints and modes?
- What kinds of challenges have you experienced?
- What prompts did you use when you interacted with AI to help communicate 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 previous 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 and then with the whole class, 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?
2.f. Literacy Map Assignment
Objectives
- Enhancing outlining techniques of students using AI.
Activities
- Part 1: Students explore the concept of a 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 previous 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.
Last Updated on July 8, 2025