Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

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Who's Doing the Thinking? Writing with AI

Ethical Use of AI

Paige Littlefield, Kelsey Willems | Published: June 22nd, 2026 by K20 Center

  • Grade Level Grade Level 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
  • Subject Subject English/Language Arts
  • Course Course
  • Time Frame Time Frame 200
  • Duration More 3–4 class periods

Summary

This lesson introduces students to ethical AI use in the writing process. Students begin by reflecting on their current understanding of a writing community and AI, then explore different perspectives. They deepen their understanding through close reading and annotation strategies before applying their learning in an original argumentative essay using an AI Writing Partner approach. Finally, students evaluate their experiences by reflecting on how they used AI and considering its ethical implications.

Essential Question(s)

How can AI be used ethically to support, rather than replace, thinking during the writing process?

Learning Objectives

  • Students critically evaluate AI feedback.

  • Students practice using AI as an ethical writing partner by composing an argumentative essay. 

  • Students identify unclear ideas, gaps in evidence, or opportunities for improvement in their writing using AI.

Snapshot

Engage

Students craft a Quick Write about the writing process and AI, then share with a partner.

Explore

Students justify their different beliefs about AI across multiple scenarios using evidence. 

Explain

Students analyze and evaluate an assigned article by using the CUS and Discuss method.

Extend

Students compose an original argumentative essay and use the AI Writing Partner strategy to practice using AI ethically during the writing process. 

Evaluate

Students reflect on their experiences using the Critique the Bot strategy. 

Materials

  • Lesson Slides (attached) 

  • Friction by Design handout (attached; one per student) 

  • Writing Partner Guide handout (attached; one per student) 

  • Access to an AI chatbot

  • Pen/pencil

Engage

20 Minute(s)

Use the provided Lesson Slides to help facilitate this lesson. Move through slides 2-4 to review the Title, Essential Question, and Learning Objectives in as much detail as needed. 

Display slide 5 and inform students they will be using the Quick Write strategy to reflect on how they feel about getting help with their writing.

Prompt: Think about a time someone helped you with your writing. When does “help” start to replace your own work? How might this relate to AI? Give students time to write their response. 

Move to slide 6 and invite students to Think-Pair-Share their writing with a partner. Review the prompt and helpful sentence stems before students get started. After you feel students have had enough deep conversations, ask for volunteers to share one belief with the larger group. Ask students to remember their beliefs about AI for this next activity.

Explore

45 Minute(s)

Display slide 7 and pass out the Friction by Design handout. Ask students to read through the article. Afterwards, have students find a small group and flip over their handout to the “Justification Table.” 

Display slide 8. Use the modified Justified True or False strategy by explaining to students that they will read through some scenarios about the use of AI and decide whether they think the statements are ethical or unethical. Once students have made a decision, they will use the article to find evidence to support their reasoning. As a group, they should talk about their different stances on the issue. Use your classroom norms for grouping students. If needed, consider modeling the first scenario as a large group before letting students have more freedom with the remaining scenarios. Give students time to work in their groups. Afterwards, come back together as a class and have students share their stances and reasoning for each scenario. Use slides 9-11 as needed until all the scenarios have been discussed.

Explain

30 Minute(s)

Move to slide 14 and introduce the CUS and Discuss strategy to students. Explain that after exploring this strategy students will do a deeper reading of the article by using the prompts on the slide. Allow students time to work. Ask for volunteers to share their annotations. As students are sharing, be sure to ask them to look back at the previous scenarios and identify which ones removed friction and which ones supported it.

Extend

90 Minute(s)

Display slide 15 and invite students to take out their first Quick Write paper. Tell students that now that they have learned more about AI and the writing process, they have the opportunity to add more to their initial drafts. Move to slide 16. Using their Quick Write, justified true or false list, and annotations, have students refine their stances on how AI should be used in writing. Instruct students to develop an original argument responding to the prompt:  What role should AI play in the writing process?

In student responses, they should address the following:

  • Make a clear claim about how AI should be used;

  • Acknowledge at least one counterargument or concern;

  • Use ideas from the lesson’s scenarios, article, or discussion as evidence;

  • Explain their reasoning.

Give students time to work. 

Display slide 17 and introduce students to the instructional strategy AI Writing Partner. Explain that students will learn how to use an AI chatbot ethically when it comes to the writing process. Move to slide 18 and have students take their draft and share it first in a small group where their peers will give written feedback. Remind students that after they have written comments on their partner’s paper, they should take time and talk to the writer about their feedback. Give students time to work.

Once students have received enough written feedback, transition to slide 19 and invite students to access an AI chatbot. We suggest Claude as it is less susceptible to rewriting drafts, but you want to be aware that AI bots are always evolving.

Pass out the Writing Partner Guide handout to all students (or each group to share). After reviewing the handout and/or any additional prompt expectations, you may invite students to input their original draft in the chatbot along with the relevant prompt(s).

Give students time to review and revise their drafts based on the AI suggestions about what they decide to keep, adapt, or discard. The goal is for students to use AI to better combine their original ideas with their peers’ feedback. 

Move to slide 20 and have students share their revised piece with the class or group, reflecting on how collaboration with both peers and AI shaped their writing.

Evaluate

15 Minute(s)

Display slide 21. Have students gather all the work they have done for this lesson: first drafts, peer feedback, AI chat transcripts, and their final drafts. The goal is to document their process, revisions, and decision-making throughout the lesson. To get a transcript of their chat, have students simply copy/paste the relevant project conversation(s) into a clean document or (depending on the chatbot) have them use the "share" feature to generate a link to submit with their work. Students should include only conversations directly related to the project. Next, move to slide 22 and explain the instructional strategy Critique the Bot to students by asking them to read the prompt and then reflect and critique the AI generated feedback they had received for their draft. Ask students to identify any mistakes, concerns, or thoughts and whether they agree or disagree with the feedback. Allow students time to read and analyze, then ask them to share their thoughts.

Resources

Publisher

K20 Center

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Downloads

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Standards

ACT College and Career Readiness Standards - English (6-12)
KLA 501: Revise vague, clumsy, and confusing writing
ACT College and Career Readiness Standards - Reading (6-12)
CLR705: Draw complex or subtle logical conclusions, often by synthesizing information from different portions of the passage
WME703: Interpret words and phrases in a passage that makes extensive use of figurative, general academic, domain-specific, or otherwise difficult language
ARG701: Analyze how one or more sentences in passages offer reasons for or support a claim when the relationship is subtle or complex
Oklahoma Academic Standards English Language Arts Vertical Progressions, Grades 6–12 (6th-12th)
9-12.2.W.3: Students will routinely and recursively revise drafts for organization, transitions, sentence variety, and consistent tone and point of view in order to improve coherence and meaning.
9-12.3.W.3: Students will compose argumentative essays, reviews, or op-eds that: 1) introduce precise, informed claims; 2) include a defensible thesis; 3) acknowledge counterclaims or alternate perspectives; 4) organize claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a logical sequence; 5) provide the most relevant evidence to develop balanced arguments, using credible sources; 6) use sentence variety and word choice to create clarity and concision; 7) use style and tone that suits the audience and purpose
9-12.6.R.3: Students will evaluate the relevance, reliability, and validity of the information gathered.

Facilitator Resources

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  • Lesson Slides—Who's Doing the Thinking

Learner Handouts

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  • Friction by Design—Who's Doing the Thinking
  • Writing Partner Guide—Who's Doing the Thinking

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