The AI Literacy · Plate 06 · 45 min · unlocked
Using it honestly
A forty-five-minute lesson that gathers the course into one habit — knowing the rule for this task, applying one test, and writing one honest line on the work.
Outcome
Writes down how they used a tool on a piece of work, without being asked.
The last plate has no new fact in it. It asks the class to use the five they have — prediction, confident error, sources, authorship, collection — to decide what fair use looks like, and to practise the one habit that makes the decision visible: the line at the bottom of the work.
Before you start
Three short assignment briefs, prepared in advance, each with a different rule about the tool: one where it may be used for ideas only, one where it may check spelling only, one where it may not be used at all. A spelling test, a story and a maths worksheet work well because the reasons for the rules are obvious to children once asked.
One device with a model at the front, for the plenary.
Starter, five minutes
Show the three briefs. Ask why the rules might differ. The room gets there: the spelling test is testing spelling; a tool that spells for you defeats the test. Land the general form:
The rule follows what the task is for.
Then the second point, briefly: if you do not know the rule, asking is always allowed. Guessing the most convenient rule is not.
Main task, twenty-five minutes
Part one, ten minutes. Pairs take one brief each and list three ways they might use a tool on it — one clearly within the rule, one clearly outside it, and one in between. The in-between case is the point; make them write it down.
Part two, five minutes. Apply the test to each of the three: could you explain to your teacher exactly how you used it, and would you be comfortable saying it? Pairs mark each use comfortable or uncomfortable. The in-between case usually splits the pair, and the argument is the learning.
Part three, ten minutes. Each child writes the disclosure line for the comfortable use, as it would appear on the finished work. Specific: "I used an AI tool to check spelling." Not: "AI was used." The course's grade 8 text calls the vague form "a way of appearing to disclose while disclosing nothing," and that is the standard to hold.
Plenary, ten minutes
At the front, ask the model to write a disclosure line for a piece of work. It will produce something like "AI assistance was used in accordance with all guidelines." Ask the room what is wrong with it. They will say it: it names no function, and it is the machine's sentence, not the student's.
Close the course. Six plates: it predicts words; it is confidently wrong in predictable places; it is not a source; work is yours when the thinking is; it collects what you type; and you say how you used it, on the work, before anyone asks. Ask each child to write the sixth one on the front of their next piece of homework. That is the assessment, and it happens next week.
Teacher notes
The failure this lesson guards against is disclosure as confession — children experiencing the line as an admission of guilt. It is not. It is the same thing as a bibliography: an account of how the work was made. Model it yourself: tell the class how you used a tool to prepare the lesson, if you did, in one specific sentence.
The other failure is the vague line. "AI was used" will be the first thing most children write. Send it back once with the question "used for what?" and it will come back specific.
Children will ask whether they have to write the line even when no tool was used. A good answer is that "no tool" is a fine line too, and that the habit is easier to keep if it is always there.
Assessment
The next piece of assessed work carries, unprompted, one specific line stating how a tool was used or that none was. The outcome is met by the line's presence and specificity, not by the work's grade.
What comes next
Nothing in the course. What comes next is the habit, on every piece of work, for as long as the tools exist — which is why it is the last plate and not the first.
Teach it · Read It Together
The Line at the Bottom
Knowing the rule, applying one test, and writing one honest line. 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. 45 minutes, in two voices. In the app, Archie reads it aloud.
Download the deck (PowerPoint)Print it (PDF) · 9 pages · grades 3-5
A read-aloud for kids, parents and teachers
The Line at the Bottom
There is no new fact in this plate. You have five already. It guesses words. It is sure when it is wrong. It is not a source. Work is yours when the thinking is. It writes down what you type.
Today we use all five to answer one question: what is fair? And we practise the habit that shows it. One line, at the bottom of the work.
Step 1 · The starter · 5 min
Three jobs, three rules
The grown-up shows three pieces of homework. A spelling test, where no tool may be used. A story, where a tool may give ideas only. A maths sheet, where a tool may check spelling only.
Why are the rules different? You will get there. The spelling test is testing spelling. A tool that spells for you defeats the test.
Here is the general rule. The rule follows what the job is for.
And one more thing. If you do not know the rule, asking is always allowed. Guessing the most convenient rule is not.
Step 2 · In pairs · 10 min
Three ways to use a tool
Take one job. List three ways you might use a tool on it. One clearly inside the rule. One clearly outside it. One in between.
The in-between one is the point. Make sure you write it down.
Step 3 · The test · 5 min
Could you explain it?
For each of your three, ask: could I explain to my teacher exactly how I used it, and would I be comfortable saying it?
Mark each one comfortable or uncomfortable.
The in-between one usually splits the pair. The argument is the learning.
Step 4 · The line · 10 min
Write it as it would appear
For the comfortable use, write the line that would go at the bottom of the finished work.
Exact. "I used an AI tool to check my spelling." Not "AI was used."
"No tool" is a fine line too. The habit is easier to keep if the line is always there.
Watch your words
The vague line and the true one
The first thing most people write is the vague one. Send it back once with "used for what?" and it comes back true.
- Someone might say: AI was used.
- Say instead: I asked an AI tool for three story ideas and chose one. The story is mine.
- Someone might say: I followed all the rules.
- Say instead: The rule for this sheet was spelling only. I used a spelling checker and nothing else.
- Someone might say: I did it myself.
- Say instead: No tool.
The plenary · 10 min
Six plates, one habit
At the front, ask the machine to write a line saying how it was used. It will say something like "AI assistance was used in accordance with all guidelines." What is wrong with it? It names no job, and it is the machine's sentence, not yours.
Now the whole course. It predicts words. It is confidently wrong in predictable places. It is not a source. Work is yours when the thinking is. It collects what you type. And you say how you used it, on the work, before anyone asks.
Write the sixth one on the front of your next piece of homework. That is the test, and it happens next week.
What comes next
The habit
Nothing more in the course. What comes next is the line, on every piece of work, for as long as the tools exist.
That is why this is the last plate and not the first.
For the grown-up
Why this plate matters
The failure to guard against is disclosure as confession: children experiencing the line as an admission of guilt. It is a bibliography. An account of how the work was made.
Model it yourself. Tell them, in one exact sentence, how you used a tool to prepare this lesson, if you did.
The other failure is the vague line. "AI was used" will be the first thing most children write. Send it back once with "used for what?"
They will ask whether they must write the line even when no tool was used. "No tool" is a fine line, and the habit is easier to keep if it is always there.
Download the deck (PowerPoint)Print it (PDF) · 9 pages · grades 6-8
Read it together · for students, parents and teachers
The Line at the Bottom
The last plate has no new fact in it. It asks you to use the five you have to decide what fair use looks like, and to practise the one habit that makes the decision visible.
Step 1 · The starter · 5 min
Three briefs, three rules
Three assignments, each with a different rule about the tool: ideas only, spelling only, not at all. Why might the rules differ?
The spelling test is testing spelling. A tool that spells for you defeats the test. The rule follows what the task is for.
If you do not know the rule, asking is always allowed. Guessing the most convenient rule is not.
Step 2 · Pairs · 10 min
Three uses
Take one brief. List three ways you might use a tool on it: one clearly within the rule, one clearly outside it, one in between. The in-between case is the point. Write it down.
Step 3 · The test · 5 min
Could you explain it, and would you be comfortable?
Apply that to each of the three. Mark each comfortable or uncomfortable. The in-between case usually splits the pair, and the argument is the learning.
Step 4 · The line · 10 min
As it would appear on the work
Write the disclosure line for the comfortable use. Specific: "I used an AI tool to check spelling." Not "AI was used."
The vague form is a way of appearing to disclose while disclosing nothing. That is the standard to hold.
Specific or nothing
Vague lines and their true versions
The first draft is nearly always vague. One question, "used for what?", fixes it.
- Someone might say: AI was used.
- Say instead: I used an AI tool to outline the argument. The paragraphs and examples are mine.
- Someone might say: AI assistance was used in accordance with all guidelines.
- Say instead: That is the machine's sentence. It names no function and no person.
- Someone might say: I did it myself.
- Say instead: No tool.
Plenary · 10 min
Close the course
Ask the model to write a disclosure line. It will produce something like "AI assistance was used in accordance with all guidelines." The room can say what is wrong with it.
Six plates: it predicts words; it is confidently wrong in predictable places; it is not a source; work is yours when the thinking is; it collects what you type; and you say how you used it, on the work, before anyone asks.
Write the sixth on the front of your next piece of assessed work. That is the assessment, next week.
What comes next
Nothing in the course
The habit, on every piece of work, for as long as the tools exist.
For the adult in the room
Notes
The failure to guard against is disclosure as confession. It is the same thing as a bibliography. Model it: say in one specific sentence how you used a tool to prepare the lesson, if you did.
The other failure is the vague line. Send "AI was used" back once with "used for what?"
"No tool" is a fine line. The habit is easier to keep if the line is always there.