Session 14 — Prompt Power

Duration: 60 min · Format: live online · Ages: 8–11

Session goal: by the end, students can say what a prompt is, write a clear four-part prompt, and use AI to learn rather than to copy answers.

Before class — prep (5 min)

• Have a kid-safe generative-AI tool ready to screen-share from a grown-up account. You'll type the prompts students suggest; they watch the before-and-after.
• Have the diagram below ready to share on screen (the four parts of a prompt).
• Ask students to have paper and a pencil ready — they'll draft prompts before anything is typed.

Agenda

0:00 · Hook (5 min)

Ask the class and take a few answers (chat or unmute):

• "Imagine I ask a friend to draw an animal. What might they draw?"
• "Now I ask them to draw a happy blue elephant on a skateboard. Which picture can you already see in your head?"

Let them notice: the clearer the ask, the better the result — with friends and with AI. Tell them today they learn prompt power.

0:05 · Teach — A great prompt has 4 parts (15 min)

Explain, writing the key words on your shared screen:

• A prompt is the instructions you give the AI.
• The best prompts include four things.

Share this diagram and point to each part:

• Task — what you want: "Write a poem about my cat."
• Details — how much / what kind: "4 lines, make it funny."
• Style — the flavour: "like a silly rhyme."
• Audience — who it's for: "for an 8-year-old."

Key point to land: vague in → vague out; specific in → amazing out. The more clearly you ask, the better the answer.

⚠ Watch for the responsible-use point: a clearer prompt makes it easier to use AI to cheat (asking it to do your homework for you). Say it plainly — we use AI to learn and understand, not to copy answers. And AI can still be confidently wrong, so we fact-check what it tells us.

Ask: "In my cat-poem prompt, which words are the Task? Which are the Style?" (Take 2–3 answers to check they can spot the four parts.)

0:20 · Activity (22 min)

Level up a lazy prompt (on paper first). Put this weak prompt on screen: "tell me about space." Have students rewrite it using all 4 parts on paper. Circulate and help them label Task / Details / Style / Audience. Share this example if they're stuck:

"Explain why the sky is blue (task), in 3 short bullet points (details), like a fun science friend (style), for a 9-year-old (audience)."

Then, on the shared screen from your grown-up account, type in one or two students' before prompt and their after prompt so the class can compare.

• Ask: "Which answer is better? Which parts made the difference?"

Debrief: "You didn't make the AI smarter — you made your question clearer. That's prompt power."

0:42 · Check for understanding (10 min)

Ask these aloud or drop them in the chat. Answer key (for you):

1. What is a prompt? → The instructions/words you give the AI to tell it what you want.
2. Name two parts of a great prompt. → Any two of: Task, Details, Style, Audience.
3. What happens with a vague prompt? → You usually get a vague, meh answer — be specific.

0:52 · Wrap-up + homework (8 min)

• Ask one student to finish the sentence: "A great prompt has…"
• Homework — Study Buddy: with a grown-up, write a prompt that turns AI into your study buddy — e.g. "Quiz me on my times tables, one question at a time, and cheer me on." Try it and note whether it helped you learn (not just gave you answers).

Teaching notes

• Correct this misconception: "A better prompt = an easier way to copy answers." Reframe every time: AI is a study buddy, not a homework machine — we use it to understand.
• Responsible-AI rules to repeat all lesson: fact-check what the AI says (it can be confidently wrong); never share private stuff in a prompt (your name, school, address); be kind in what you ask for. Students suggest prompts; you type them on a grown-up account.
• Fast finishers (extension): introduce few-shot prompting — show the AI an example of what you want ("Write it like this: 'Roses are red…'"). Add "explain step by step" so the AI shows its thinking and does better. Challenge them to write their best 4-part prompt to help them understand a topic they find tricky.
• Low-tech fallback: if no tool is available live, run the whole activity on paper — students draft and swap 4-part prompts, and read out what answer they'd expect. Mention that "prompt engineer" is a real paid job — writing great instructions for AI is a genuine skill.

Vocabulary

Resources

• Machine Learning for Kids — build AI projects with text.
• AutoDraw — practise "creating with AI."
• For grown-ups: try prompt makeovers together — vague vs specific — and compare the answers.

Next session

This is the final bonus session of the course. Students can now create with AI and stay smart, safe, and honest builders — from "what is AI?" all the way to writing pro-level prompts.