Writing with AI Cards
This tool helps you develop your writing strategy and make informed decisions about AI use.
What are the cards? Why use them?
When AI enters the writing process, something subtle but important can get lost: intentionality. Students and teachers often jump straight into generating text without pausing to ask the most powerful questions like: what process does this task really require? What thinking do I want to do myself? And where, if anywhere, should AI fit?
I created these cards as one approach to bring that intentionality back. The cards encourage writers to slow down, name the steps in a process, and make thinking visible before any drafting begins. The Process Cards help writers map out the steps they want to follow (e.g. planning, generating, revising, reflecting) while the Expectation Cards clarify when and how AI can (or cannot) be used.
The cards are really a tool for agency. They support classrooms where writers make deliberate choices, teachers design thoughtful workflows, and AI becomes a scaffold rather than a substitute for thinking. Whether laid out by students planning their approach, used by teachers to model a process for the whole class, printed and posted on a whiteboard, or adapted into entirely new activities, the cards exist to help everyone slow down, think clearly, and use AI with purpose.
Preview of the Cards
Let’s take a look at what some of the cards look like. On the top, you can see the purple process cards, while on the bottom you can see the gradient of some of the different expectations on how much AI can be used.
Ready to get the cards? Below is the PDF, saved in an RGB, flattened PDF. The set has 4 expectation cards per level, 14 process cards, and 4 wild cards. The file is 84.5 MB
Using the Cards
Use the Process Cards to consider the best way to write for a given task. Second, use the Expectation Cards to decide when and if AI can be used in that task. There is no right or wrong way to use these cards!
Option 1 – Student Directed Approach. Older or more independent students can use these cards to layout a process timeline and consider what will happen first, second, third…
Option 2 – Teacher Directed Approach. Teachers can plan what process they would like their students to follow by laying out, debating, and considering the various steps to assign to their students.
Option 3 – Print Outs. These cards are A4 paper size and can also be printed out on a regular photocopier. Try putting them on a whiteboard for the whole class to see and use together.
Option 4 – Your Own Idea. Come up with other fun and engaging ways to use these cards. Use them as manipulatives to find the best way to work!
Setting Up
Let’s take a look at what a typical set up could look like when using the cards.
Printouts for Your Classroom Whiteboard (A3 or A4)
If the format of cards isn’t suitable for your needs, teachers have the option to print them using your school’s photocopier and display them on your whiteboard instead. Below are the downloads to assist you with this, along with an image of a possible setup. These materials are ideal for printing on a photocopier and can be attached to your board with magnets or hung in your classroom. Note that these downloads include only the fronts of the cards.
Virtual Cards on Padlet
Use this tool to save paper & money, help each student set their own goal and share their thinking with you, collaborate virtually, and save your thinking in one place! This Padlet has all the cards on the right-hand side and is ready for you to move the virtual cards around and to plan your writing process!
Click this link to make a copy in your own Padlet.com account: https://padlet.com/MrAlexEdTech/remake-link/ldENvGQ6ypxLzjo5