The AI Literacy · Plate 04 · 40 min · unlocked
Whose words are these
A forty-minute lesson on authorship when a tool helped — two pieces of work, one question asked twice, and the line between help and substitution.
Outcome
Can distinguish, in their own piece of work, what they did from what a tool did.
This is the plate teachers most often ask for first, and it works better fourth. A child who has learned that the machine predicts words, that it is confidently wrong, and that it is not a source already has the vocabulary to say what it did to their essay. Without those plates, this one becomes a rule about cheating. With them, it becomes a question a child can answer for themselves.
Before you start
You need two short pieces of writing on the same topic, prepared in advance and printed or on the board. One written by a child (yours, with permission, or written by you in a child's voice) who then used a tool to fix spelling or flag unclear sentences. One produced by a chat model from a one-line prompt and lightly reworded. Do not label them.
Optionally, one device with a model at the front, for the plenary.
Starter, five minutes
Ask the room who wrote their last piece of homework. Everyone says "me". Then ask: if a friend fixed your spelling, is it still yours? Most say yes. If a friend told you what to write, sentence by sentence? Most hesitate. If a friend wrote it and you copied it out in your handwriting? No.
Land the point: the question was never who typed it. It is whose thinking is in it.
Main task, twenty minutes
Part one, eight minutes. Show the two prepared pieces. Pairs decide which one has an author in it and write one sentence saying how they can tell. The tell is usually specificity: the child's piece has a detail only someone who did the work would know; the model's piece is smooth and general.
Reveal which is which. Then ask what the tool did in each case — spelling and unclear sentences in one; everything in the other.
Part two, twelve minutes. Each child takes a piece of their own recent work and answers two questions in writing, honestly and specifically:
- What did I do?
- What did the tool do? (If no tool was used, write that — it is a complete answer.)
Then one more line: the sentence they would put at the bottom of the work to tell the whole truth. "I used a spelling tool." "I asked an AI tool to explain fractions before doing these problems." "No tool."
Plenary, ten minutes
Read a few disclosure lines aloud. Ask which ones would be comfortable to say to a teacher's face and which would not. The discomfort is the lesson. The course's grade 5 text says it directly: the reason a sentence is hard to say is the reason the use was not fair.
If you have a model at the front, ask it whether a piece it wrote becomes yours if you change enough words. It will usually say yes, with a percentage. Ask the room what is wrong with the answer. They know: changing words hides where it came from; it does not add thinking.
Teacher notes
The failure this lesson guards against is the percentage rule — the idea that enough editing transfers authorship. Children will propose numbers. Do not negotiate. Authorship is a claim about where the thinking came from, and no share of changed words alters that.
The second failure is treating all tool use as forbidden. The lesson's examples of fair use — spelling, flagging unclear sentences, explaining a term before writing about it — are real and should be named as fine. A child who leaves believing that any tool use is cheating has learned something false and will hide their use rather than disclose it.
Keep the tone away from accusation. The task asks children about their own work in private; nobody is asked to confess anything aloud.
Assessment
For one piece of the pupil's own work: a specific answer to "what did I do?", a specific answer to "what did the tool do?", and the one-line disclosure they would attach.
"It helped a bit" does not meet the outcome. The course's grade 6 text names why: it is a way of not answering.
What comes next
Plate 5 asks what the tool was collecting while it helped. The disclosure habit from this plate is the same habit turned the other way: what did I give it?
Teach it · Read It Together
Whose Thinking Is It?
When a tool helped, did you write it?. The lesson above, as a booklet to read together: a teacher at the front with the class, or a parent at the table with one child. 40 minutes, in two voices. In the app, Archie reads it aloud.
Download the deck (PowerPoint)Print it (PDF) · 8 pages · grades 3-5
A read-aloud for kids, parents and teachers
Whose Thinking Is It?
You know the machine guesses words. You know it can be sure and wrong. You know it is not a source.
So now a question about your own work. If a tool helped you write it, did you write it?
Forty minutes. Nobody has to confess anything. Everyone gets to think.
Step 1 · The starter · 5 min
Who wrote your homework?
Ask it. Everyone says "me!"
If a friend fixed your spelling, is it still yours? Most say yes.
If a friend told you what to write, sentence by sentence? Most go quiet.
If a friend wrote it and you copied it out in your own handwriting? No.
Here is the point. The question was never who typed it. It is whose thinking is in it.
Step 2 · Two pieces of writing · 8 min
Which one has a person in it?
The grown-up shows two short pieces on the same topic. No labels.
One was written by a child, who then used a tool to fix spelling. One was made by a chat machine from a one-line request and lightly reworded.
In pairs, decide which one has an author in it, and write one sentence saying how you can tell.
The tell is usually a detail. The child's piece has something only a person who did the work would know. The machine's piece is smooth and general.
Do this together
Reveal which is which. Then ask what the tool did in each case. Spelling in one. Everything in the other.
Step 3 · Your own work · 12 min
Two honest questions
Take a piece of your own recent work. Answer two questions, in writing, honestly and exactly.
One: what did I do?
Two: what did the tool do? If no tool was used, write that. It is a complete answer.
Then one more line. The sentence you would put at the bottom of the work to tell the whole truth. "I used a spelling tool." "I asked an AI tool to explain fractions before I did these." "No tool."
Watch your words
Saying exactly what the tool did
"It helped a bit" is a way of not answering. Try the exact version.
- Someone might say: It helped a bit.
- Say instead: It fixed six spellings and flagged one sentence that was unclear.
- Someone might say: I changed enough words so it is mine now.
- Say instead: Changing words hides where it came from. It does not add my thinking.
- Someone might say: I did not use anything.
- Say instead: No tool. That is a full answer, and a good one.
The plenary · 10 min
Could you say it to a teacher's face?
Read a few of the bottom lines aloud. Which ones would be comfortable to say out loud to a teacher? Which would not?
The uncomfortable feeling is the lesson. The reason a sentence is hard to say is the reason the use was not fair.
If there is a machine at the front, ask it whether a piece it wrote becomes yours if you change enough words. It will usually say yes, with a percentage. Ask the room what is wrong with that.
Next time · Plate 5
What was it collecting?
While the tool helped, it was also writing things down. Next time: what, and why.
The same habit, turned the other way. Not what did it do for me, but what did I give it?
For the grown-up
Why this plate matters
This is the plate teachers ask for first, and it works better fourth. With the first three plates, a child can say what the machine did to their essay. Without them, it becomes a rule about cheating.
The failure to guard against is the percentage rule: the idea that enough editing transfers authorship. Children will propose numbers. Do not negotiate.
The second failure is treating all tool use as forbidden. Spelling, flagging unclear sentences, explaining a term before writing about it are fair, and should be named as fair. A child who believes any use is cheating will hide their use rather than disclose it.
Keep the tone away from accusation. The task is about their own work, in private. Nobody is asked to confess anything aloud.
Download the deck (PowerPoint)Print it (PDF) · 8 pages · grades 6-8
Read it together · for students, parents and teachers
Whose Thinking Is It?
You can say what the machine does, when it is wrong, and why it is not a source. That is the vocabulary this plate needs.
Forty minutes on one question, asked twice: what did I do, and what did the tool do?
Step 1 · The starter · 5 min
Whose work is it?
Who wrote your last piece of homework? Everyone says "me".
If a friend fixed your spelling, is it still yours? If a friend dictated it, sentence by sentence? If a friend wrote it and you copied it out?
The question was never who typed it. It is whose thinking is in it.
Step 2 · Two pieces · 8 min
Which one has an author in it?
Two short pieces on the same topic, unlabeled. One written by a student who then used a tool for spelling and unclear sentences. One produced by a model from a one-line prompt and lightly reworded.
In pairs, decide which has an author in it, and write one sentence on how you can tell.
The tell is specificity. The student's piece has a detail only someone who did the work would know. The model's piece is smooth and general.
Do this together
Reveal which is which, then ask what the tool did in each case. Spelling and clarity in one. Everything in the other.
Step 3 · Your own work · 12 min
Two questions and a line
Take a recent piece of your own work. In writing, honestly and specifically: what did I do? What did the tool do? "No tool" is a complete answer.
Then the line you would put at the bottom of the work to tell the whole truth. "I used a spelling checker." "I asked an AI tool to explain photosynthesis before writing this." "No tool."
Precision
"It helped a bit" is not an answer
Vagueness here is not modesty. It is a way of not answering.
- Someone might say: It helped a bit.
- Say instead: It corrected six spellings and flagged one unclear sentence.
- Someone might say: I changed enough of it to make it mine.
- Say instead: Changing words conceals the origin. It does not add thinking. Authorship is a claim about where the thinking came from.
- Someone might say: AI was used.
- Say instead: I used an AI tool to outline the argument; the paragraphs and the examples are mine.
Plenary · 10 min
Comfortable or not
Read some disclosure lines aloud. Which would be comfortable to say to a teacher's face? The discomfort is the lesson. The reason a sentence is hard to say is the reason the use was not fair.
If a model is at the front, ask it whether its piece becomes yours after enough edits. It will usually say yes, with a percentage. The room knows what is wrong with that.
Next · Plate 5
What was it collecting?
The disclosure habit, turned the other way: not what did the tool do for me, but what did I give it?
For the adult in the room
Notes
The failure to guard against is the percentage rule. Authorship is a claim about where the thinking came from, and no share of changed words alters that. Do not negotiate a number.
The second failure is treating all tool use as forbidden. Spelling, flagging unclear sentences, and explaining a term before writing are fair, and should be named as fair. Otherwise students hide their use rather than disclose it.
Keep the tone away from accusation. The work is their own, in private. Nobody confesses anything aloud.