AI Prompt Guide

Techniques & Prompt Starters

This guide provides practical examples for teachers and students, aligned with our three-part AI framework. Use these prompt starters to engage with AI tools responsibly and effectively.

Click each section below to expand techniques and prompt starters

🎯 Goal:

To use AI as a tool to deepen thinking, understand new concepts, and plan work. The student does all the final cognitive work.

💡 General Technique:

Use prompts that force the AI to ask you questions, not give you answers. This keeps you in the driver's seat. You can also use AI to get feedback on work you have already created: paste your work and ask targeted questions. You remain responsible for deciding whether to accept or reject the feedback.

⚠️ Important:

Remember: AI can be wrong. Always verify feedback with your teacher or textbook.

Help Me Think

Brainstorming & Socratic Partner

Technique: Command the AI to only ask you questions.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "I need to write about [topic]. Ask me Socratic questions to help me narrow my focus."
  • ▸ "Do not provide answers; only ask questions to guide my thinking about [problem]."
  • ▸ "Act as a devil's advocate for my argument: [briefly state argument]. What questions should I be asking myself?"
  • ▸ "Ask me questions that make me consider alternative perspectives on [topic]."
  • ▸ "Help me think critically about [my idea] by questioning my assumptions."

Help Me Learn

Tutor & Study Guide

Technique: Ask the AI to explain, rephrase, or create practice tools. You are not asking it to do an assignment, but to help you understand the material for the assignment.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "Explain [complex concept, e.g., photosynthesis, the quadratic formula] like I'm a 9th-grader."
  • ▸ "Give me an analogy for [difficult idea, e.g., electrical resistance, a theme in Macbeth]."
  • ▸ "I'm studying for a test on [topic]. Create 10 multiple-choice quiz questions for me. Don't give me the answers until I try."
  • ▸ "Summarize the key ideas of [topic/theory]. I will use this for my study notes, not for submission."
  • ▸ "What am I confusing about the difference between [concept A] and [concept B]?"

Help Me Plan

Organizer & Strategist

Technique: Use the AI to create structure, but not content. This helps overcome the "blank page" problem without sacrificing originality.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "Help me create a step-by-step project plan for a [type of project] due on [date]."
  • ▸ "I need to write a research paper on [topic]. What are the typical sections for this kind of paper? Just give me the section headings."
  • ▸ "Give me three different ways I could outline an essay comparing [X] and [Y]."
  • ▸ "Ask me questions to help me think through the organization of my ideas without suggesting how I could organize the essay."
  • ▸ "I have these 5 main points. Ask me questions to help me decide what order they should go in."

Help Me Reflect

Metacognitive Partner

Technique: After completing a draft or a problem, ask the AI to help you review your process.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "I've finished my first draft. Ask me questions to help me check my own work against the rubric."
  • ▸ "What are some questions that could help me refine my focus or narrow my topic?"
  • ▸ "Ask me to consider potential challenges or limitations to my argument."
  • ▸ "Help me evaluate my own reasoning. What logical fallacies should I look for in my draft?"
  • ▸ "Ask me questions to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of [my argument]."

Give Me Feedback (Check)

Process Review (Not Correction)

Technique: Show your work and ask if you're on the right track.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "Here is my work so far: [paste text]. Am I on the right track? What am I missing?"
  • ▸ "I solved this problem and got [answer]. Did I make any errors in my process? Don't give me the answer."
  • ▸ "Does my thesis statement meet the criteria of being arguable and specific?"

Give Me Feedback (Improve)

Suggestions for Strengthening

Technique: Ask AI to suggest improvements, not make them for you.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "Here is my essay draft: [paste text]. What are 3 specific ways I could make my argument stronger?"
  • ▸ "I wrote this paragraph: [paste text]. Suggest ways to improve clarity, but don't rewrite it."
  • ▸ "Are there gaps in my reasoning here? [paste text]"

Give Me Feedback (Meta)

Reflecting on Learning Strategies

Technique: Ask AI to help you think about how you're learning.

📝 Prompt Starters:

  • ▸ "I'm struggling to understand [topic]. What study strategies would help me?"
  • ▸ "I keep making the same type of error. Ask me questions to help me identify why."
  • ▸ "What are effective ways to practice [skill]?"

⚠️ Warning:

These tools ask AI to do cognitive work for you. They are only permitted when your teacher explicitly allows them AND when the learning goal is shifted.

💡 When Teachers Permit These:

The goal is not to let you skip work, but to replace one skill so you can focus deeply on another. For example: AI writes a draft so you can practice revision, or AI translates so you can practice error correction.

Create (Co-creator)

Teacher's Goal:

Replace drafting to focus on revision.

📝 Prompt Example:

"Write a rough first draft on [topic]."

Synthesize (Analyst)

Teacher's Goal:

Replace summarizing to focus on synthesis.

📝 Prompt Examples:

  • ▸ "Summarize this primary source document."
  • ▸ "Here is my raw data [paste data]. Analyze it and tell me the key findings."

Correct (AI as Editor)

Teacher's Goal:

Replace error identification to focus on analysis of why it was an error.

📝 Prompt Examples:

  • ▸ "Here is my proof: [paste text]. Find and correct the logical errors."
  • ▸ "Translate this English paragraph into Spanish."

Research

Teacher's Goal:

Replace data collection to focus on data analysis.

📝 Prompt Examples:

  • ▸ "Find average global temperatures for the last 50 years."
  • ▸ "Generate a literature review on [topic]."

Ideate

Teacher's Goal:

Replace simple brainstorming to focus on evaluating and selecting the best idea.

📝 Prompt Example:

"Give me 10 specific essay topics for my assignment on [book]."