As an edtech coach, I know technology doesn’t replace teacher magic but can certainly amplify it. Like many other educators, over the last few years, I’ve been exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can become a powerful ally in our classrooms—especially in language arts instruction.
Let’s be honest: AI can feel intimidating. But what if we viewed it as a collaborative tool that expands our teaching possibilities rather than as a threat to traditional instruction? My go-to examples are always for a 5th-grade language arts classroom, and here, AI offers an exciting way to personalize learning and explore other creative options.
What AI Can Actually Do for Us
I want to be clear: AI isn’t about replacing teachers – it’s about empowering them. In a writing lesson, AI can:
- Generate diverse, age-appropriate writing prompts that spark imagination
- Provide initial feedback on student writing
- Create scaffolding materials for students who struggle to get started
- Support differentiated learning in several ways depending on individual student needs
While AI can provide incredible tools for the classroom, it can never replace the most critical ingredient of education: the educator. Research tells us that teachers have two to three times the effect of any other factor in student achievement. Educators can influence long-term student outcomes, such as graduation, college attendance, and earnings. Our emotional intelligence, nuanced understanding of student creativity, and ability to inspire remain uniquely powerful.
A Practical Walkthrough: AI-Assisted Narrative Writing
Let me step you through how I might integrate AI into 5th-grade narrative writing practice.
Prompt Generation
Instead of relying solely on traditional prompts, I might work with an AI chatbot to brainstorm a range of creative writing starters. I typically use the PREP model for my prompts, which Sharon Hall introduced to me. So the prompt might look something like this:
Please brainstorm a list of narrative writing prompts for my class. I am a 5th-grade language arts teacher. We are getting ready for state testing, so the prompts must ask the students to explain their thoughts and provide a rationale (tell us why). Can you provide 20 prompts that cater to varied interests and then give me an additional 5 prompts that have a bit more scaffolding that I can use to work with my students who need it?
I’ll use the Perplexity chatbot (reviewed here) to get a reasonable response. Since every AI-generated prompt will not be perfect, I will review the prompts and then select and work with those that I think will be able to help me prepare my students.
Scaffolding Writing Skills
AI can provide initial writing templates that help students understand narrative structure. However, one crucial part of the process is for students to personalize these templates. We need them to see the template as a tool, not a replacement for their unique voice or their own effort. My prompt for this will be:
Please create a narrative writing template for my students that will scaffold the structure of their writing. I am a fifth-grade language arts teacher, and I want my students to address the following prompt: Write about discovering a secret room in your house. What’s inside, and why is it significant to you? They need a template that they can personalize to help structure their response to the prompt. Please create a basic template and then one with additional scaffolding for my students, who will need that.
Again, after using Perplexity, I’ll decide whether the result is useful or needs further refinement.
Feedback and Revision
As teachers, we know that providing meaningful writing feedback is both an art and a time-intensive process. This is where AI can become an incredible ally in your instructional toolkit. Imagine having an assistant who can take a first-pass review of student writing. Your AI chatbot assistant can quickly identify potential areas of structural improvement, highlight consistent grammatical issues, and even generate initial observations about writing mechanics. When attaching your student’s work, ask for observations about paragraph structure so you can quickly craft some guidance on how to improve the writing sample. I would craft a prompt similar to this:
Please help me score and prepare feedback for my student. I teach language arts in a fifth-grade class and need to help my student develop better writing skills. Please use the attached rubric to score and critique my student’s draft. I need some suggestions on how to improve the attached writing sample. Please phrase the suggestions so that a young elementary student would understand. [I would attach both documents here].
After reading the student’s work and the suggestions from my chatbot friend, I could easily use the suggestions for improvements. This would allow me to give some personalized feedback to my students in a fraction of the usual time.
Your Turn: Reflection and Action
I’m curious: How are you thinking about using AI in your classroom? What excites you? What makes you nervous? Drop a comment below to share your experiences, concerns, or innovative ideas about AI in education.
Resources to Continue Your AI Learning Journey:
Keep innovating, keep inspiring, and remember – technology is most powerful when it amplifies human potential.