Using Generative AI for Reading and Writing Instruction

During the next few weeks, we will explore how to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT for reading and writing instruction. I will share some things I have learned and invite the community to contribute too.

I understand generative AI like having a conversation with someone who wants to help you. The clearer I am about my needs, the better generative AI will be about meeting them. Experts suggest using a prompt framework like RACEF (Role, Action, Context, Examples, and Format) for best results. It is not necessary to use all five parts of RACEF for each prompt we create.

A table showing how to use RACEF for better prompts. Role Action Context Example Format

Last summer, Rachel Riggs from World Education lead a team that created the Open Prompt Book. This is a great place to start to see how to craft more effective generative AI prompt frameworks.

Improving Prompt Results

“Pro tip: Remember that ChatGPT works best when prompts build upon each other. This means you can ask follow-up questions or add more details in the same conversation thread, helping the AI to provide more specific answers and responses to your prompts” (Stivers and Lehrman). We train AI tools every time we use them!

Also, the bad response and regenerate tools can be helpful too:

This explains the use of two tools to help improve generative AI responses: Bad Response – This tells ChatGPT it did not give us the results we wanted. Let ChatGPT know how it can improve the result. Regenerate – This asks ChatGPT to run the prompt again, and it will give different results

What has helped you create better generative AI prompts?

Thanks for being part of our community,

Steve Schmidt, Moderator

LINCS Reading and Writing Group

Comments

We know adults learn best when instruction is immediately applicable to their family, workplace, and community lives. A huge benefit to using generative AI is its ability to quickly create reading and writing assignments related to our adult learners’ areas of interest. Here are a few examples:

Many years of research show that teaching grammar in context is the most effective way to teach grammar. In the Open Prompt Book, there is an example prompt for teaching the past perfect tense:

“Write a three-paragraph story, at a reading level appropriate for an 8th grader, about two skilled immigrants who have moved to the U.S. The story should use the past perfect tense to describe what each immigrant had studied and what jobs they had held prior to moving to the U.S. Each should have studied something different. And the story should end with a sentence about how they are now trying to find out how they can work in their respective fields in the U.S.” (Open Prompt Book from CampGPT).

Let’s say we are teaching a class of students who are interested in pursing careers in health care. To create a reading assignment, we could write a prompt like:

You are an adult education teacher. Create a three-paragraph reading appropriate for students reading at a 4th grade level about three careers in health care.

What prompts have you used to generate contextualized reading and writing activities for your students?

Steve Schmidt, Moderator

LINCS Reading and Writing Group