› Grades 6–8 · ages 11–14 · Structured debate
Should schools allow AI for schoolwork?
“This school should allow students to use AI tools on assignments.”
The debate every middle school is having, run properly: assigned sides, evidence required, and a closing exercise that turns the argument into an actual classroom policy. Students learn how the tools fail before arguing about how they should be used.
55 minutes · one class period · free to photocopy
Students will be able to
- Describe how a language model produces text and why it can be confidently wrong.
- Argue an assigned side with at least one piece of evidence per claim.
- Draft a usable AI policy for one assignment type.
Vocabulary
- Large language model (LLM) — The kind of model behind most chatbots — a very advanced next-word guesser.
- Hallucination — When a model states something false with full confidence.
- Verification — Checking outputs against evidence — the habit that makes AI usable.
- Automation bias — Trusting the machine because it’s fast and confident — even when it’s wrong.
- Prompt — The instruction or question you give a model.
Agenda · 55 minutes
| Minutes | Segment | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–6 | Warm-up | Confident wrong answer. Establish hallucination and automation bias. |
| 6–14 | Background + vocabulary | Read the background sheet. Each student marks one fact they could use as evidence. |
| 14–22 | Team prep | Assign sides (not chosen). Teams fill the position organizer: claim, three reasons, evidence for each, likely rebuttal. |
| 22–44 | Structured debate | Opening 2 min each · huddle 3 min · rebuttal 2 min each · cross-fire 6 min · closing 1 min each. Audience scores on the rubric. |
| 44–52 | Policy draft | Mixed groups of four write an AI rule for ONE assignment type (essay, lab report, math set, presentation). Read two aloud. |
| 52–55 | Exit ticket | Complete the handout. |
Affirmative — allow it, teach it
AI is a tool students will use for life; banning it teaches nothing and hides use.
- Bans don't work — students use it at home anyway, without guidance.
- Verification is a skill. You can only teach it by using the tool in class.
- AI can explain a concept five ways at midnight when no teacher is available.
- Employers and colleges already expect fluency with these tools.
Negative — restrict it, protect the skill
Assignments exist to build skills, and a machine doing the work removes the practice.
- You can't learn to write by reading what a model wrote.
- The model hallucinates; students trust it anyway (automation bias).
- Access is unequal — some students have paid tools, some don't.
- Teachers can't grade thinking they can't see.
Discussion questions
- 1.openingWhat is an essay assignment actually for?
- 2.coreIs using AI to outline different from using it to draft? Where's the line?
- 3.coreIf a model hallucinates a source and a student cites it, who is responsible?
- 4.coreDoes a rule that can't be enforced still matter?
- 5.closingWrite one sentence of AI policy you'd actually follow.
How structured debate runs
Two teams, assigned sides. Opening statements (2 min each), rebuttal huddle (3 min), rebuttals (2 min each), open cross-fire with hands (5 min), closing statements (1 min each). The audience votes on which side argued better — not which side they agree with.
In grades 6–8
Evidence enters the room. Students can hold a position they don't believe, and that's the point.
Preview the full pack
Cover, teacher guide, and every student handout. Print teacher pages once and student pages one per learner.
On a phone, open the PDF in a new tab — in-page previews are unreliable in mobile Safari.
Standards
- CCSS ELA SL.6.1 / SL.7.1 / SL.8.1 (collaborative discussions)
- CCSS ELA SL.8.3 (evaluate argument and evidence)
- CCSS ELA W.7.1 / W.8.1 (argument writing)
- ISTE Students 3.b (evaluate accuracy and credibility)
More for grades 6–8
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