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.

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]."

🎯 Goal:

To receive feedback on work you've already created. AI evaluates, critiques, and suggests, but does not do the work for you.

💡 General Technique:

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.

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 offload 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:

Offload drafting to focus on revision.

📝 Prompt Example:

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

Synthesize (Analyst)

Teacher's Goal:

Offload 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:

Offload 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:

Offload 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:

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

📝 Prompt Example:

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