Creating In-Class Activities with AI

Below is a lesson plan for Editing and Revising Your Writing’s Structure and Organization that ChatGPT generated after a back and forth about what kind of activity I wanted my students to perform. Click here to view the conversation that led to this lesson plan. Note that a productive final product required me to treat the AI like a partner, bouncing ideas off of them, honing in on the right idea, and refining it.

Lesson Title: Mastering Structure and Organization in Writing

Objective: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to understand and apply concepts of effective organization and structure in written content, including identifying and eliminating irrelevant information.

Materials Needed:

  1. Narrative text divided into sections.
  2. Storyboard cards (including a couple of “distraction” cards).
  3. Pens or markers.
  4. A whiteboard or blackboard.
  5. Copies of the narrative text for each student (for the last part of the lesson).

Lesson Plan:

  1. Introduction (5 minutes): Start the class by outlining the objectives of the lesson, emphasizing the importance of structure and organization in writing, and the role of relevant content in maintaining reader engagement and comprehension.
  2. Lecture (20 minutes): Deliver a lecture on various strategies for effective structure and organization in writing. Include concepts such as chronological order, order of importance, cause and effect, and the role of transition sentences. Also, discuss the necessity of deleting irrelevant or off-topic content to maintain the focus and coherence of a piece of writing.
  3. Group Discussion (5 minutes): Facilitate a group discussion, asking students to reflect on instances where authors could have improved their writing by eliminating irrelevant or off-topic content.
  4. Group Formation (5 minutes): Divide the class into four groups, each responsible for different parts of a narrative (beginning, two middle sections, and end).
  5. Storyboard Shuffle (20 minutes): Distribute shuffled storyboard cards to each group. The groups should arrange these cards to create a coherent narrative, infer where their section fits within the larger narrative, and identify any irrelevant “distraction” cards that should be removed from their section.
  6. Inter-Group Collaboration (10 minutes): Pair up the groups (beginning with one middle, the other middle with the end). Each pair should work together to form a larger narrative sequence and discuss why they have chosen to exclude certain “distraction” cards.
  7. Group Presentations (10 minutes): Have each pair of groups present their combined narrative sequence, discuss the rationale behind their organization, and explain why they chose to exclude certain cards.
  8. Reveal and Reflection (5 minutes): Distribute copies of the original narrative text. Students should compare it with their group’s sequence, discuss differences, the author’s organizational choices, and the reasons behind the exclusion of certain content.
  9. Wrap-up (5 minutes): Summarize the main points about structure, organization, and the importance of maintaining relevance in written content.

Homework Assignment: Provide students with a short text and additional “distraction” content. Their task is to edit the text for structure and organization, deleting any irrelevant or distracting information. Students should also include a brief explanation of their decisions, justifying why certain sections were moved or deleted.

Evaluation: The homework assignment will serve as a practical test of the students’ understanding of the lesson’s concepts. Feedback can be provided in the subsequent class, discussing common themes or noteworthy responses.

Work Cited

“I have twenty minutes in class to conduct an activity for first year college students about how to revise and edit their writing” prompt. ChatGPT 4, 24 May version, OpenAI, 27 June 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/6520143c-c386-42d4-9a75-e46b17188676.