Let's start with setting some clear goals: AI literacy, creativity, and collaboration. With the tools you’re already familiar with, like Google Workspace, we will make those goals practical in day-to-day learning.
Goal 1: Building AI Literacy
AI literacy is the knowledge and habits needed to understand how AI systems work, use them effectively and ethically, question and verify their outputs, and manage data, privacy, and bias responsibly.
This one may seem basic, but AI literacy really is the foundation. Kids today are growing up in a different world and, unlike us who remember life before AI, they’ll always have it in their lives. That’s why it’s important they learn to use it the right way. It’s up to us to help them build habits that keep AI use responsible and useful so they can create together, cite sources, and make thoughtful choices. Start by making sure your students understand:
- What AI is good at vs. people: AI is good at spotting patterns (like pictures or speech). People are better at feelings, choices, and what’s fair.
- How “smart” tools know stuff: It can look like magic, but it isn’t. AI tools use cameras, microphones, and GPS to get info. They aren’t reading minds.
- Where AI learns from: People give AI examples and set the rules. AI learns from what we feed it.
- AI is not a person: It has no feelings and can be wrong. That’s why we check.
- Always verify. If AI gives a “fact,” look it up in a reliable source and cite it.
As Holly Clark, seasoned educator and author puts it, “AI should not be seen as a tool to get quick answers, but as a thought partner that helps students refine their ideas.” That’s the mindset we’re aiming for and trying to teach. Here are a few Google tools that help students learn and build AI literacy:
- Be Internet Awesome AI Literacy: Google’s existing digital citizenship program now includes an AI Literacy Guide with ready-to-teach lessons and activities that introduce core AI concepts and responsible use.
- Experience AI (Raspberry Pi Foundation + Google DeepMind): A free set of classroom resources and projects that explain how AI and machine learning work in practice, with teacher materials and student activities to explore real examples.
- AI Quests (Google Research + Stanford Accelerator for Learning): A code-free, game-based learning experience where learners step through the AI lifecycle, framing a problem, gathering data, building and testing, using scenarios inspired by real research. It’s also being integrated with related curricula to simplify classroom use.
- Teaching Responsible Use of AI Lessons and Activities for Students: A ready-to-teach package that helps students learn what AI is, how generative AI works, and how to use tools like Gemini responsibly
Tools For Parents and Educators (Because AI Doesn’t End with Students)
Families and staff need quick, trustworthy on-ramps too. Here are a few great resources you can share:
For Parents & Caregivers
- “Raising kids in the age of AI” podcast: A parent-focused show from aiEDU made in collaboration with Google.
- How-to videos for home: Short videos showing practical ways to use Google’s latest AI learning features (like Guided Learning).
- PTA & safety partners: Materials produced with National PTA and ConnectSafely that families can use for AI/digital safety at home.
For Educators & Coaches
- Training at scale: Google highlights large-scale educator training and grant-supported programs that advance AI literacy in schools.
- AI Literacy Public Notebook (NotebookLM): A shared NotebookLM collection that aggregates Google’s AI literacy resources in one place.
- Experience AI & AI Quests: Free classroom resources and a game-based AI learning experience developed with partners (Raspberry Pi Foundation, Google DeepMind; Google Research, Stanford Accelerator for Learning).
Goal Two: Supporting Creativity Using AI
Planning creative work for every learner sounds great, but time can get in the way, especially when you want it tailored to your students. These creative AI activities make the lift lighter and teaches students to use AI as a helpful part of the process, not the author of their work.
Us AI to Start a Story (Google Docs + Gemini)
Have students open a Doc and ask Gemini for two to three opening lines for a story. They continue in their own voice, and you keep version history on so authorship is visible. If Gemini slips in a “fact,” (it happens) use it as an opportunity to have students pause for a quick fact check and find a reliable source to add in at the end, or cut the line if they cannot verify it. The end product is a finished short scene or first paragraph they can keep building tomorrow.
If your district prefers you set it up first, try this instead:
- In Gemini copy in this prompt: “Give me 8 opening lines for a short story about [topic]. Keep each to 1–2 sentences, no plot beyond the opener, plain language.”
- Use those openers as an assignment or activity for your students: Paste 4–6 favorites into a Doc template, make a copy for each student in Google Classroom, and add: “Pick one opener, continue the story in your voice, add a source if you include a fact.”
Vocabulary Slides (Read Along warm-up + Google Slides/Docs)
Warm up with a short Read Along passage tied to your unit vocabulary. Right after, have students create a slide or card in Slides or Docs that uses two target words correctly. Ask them to add a visual—an image, layout choice, or simple diagram—that shows what each word means, plus a quick source line if they pulled any text. This turns vocabulary into a visual, creative task and checks that they understand the words in context. The end product is one slide or card you can review at a glance.
Optional ways to share: Add students’ slides to a class deck, then either have each student present briefly and explain how their visual aligns with the vocabulary words, or ask students to leave one constructive comment on two classmates’ slides.
Describe to Design (Gemini + Google Docs/Slides)
This activity teaches students that clearer, more descriptive language creates better results. If the prompt is brief, the image will be generic. If the prompt is specific, the image improves. Students will iterate until the picture matches their intent, then explain what changed in their wording.
- Have students start with a very short prompt to generate an image in Gemini, then paste the result into Slides or Docs as “Version 1.”
- Next, have them revise the prompt by adding descriptive details like subject, setting, key objects, relationships, style, color palette, composition, labels, and purpose. Have them generate again with the new, descriptive prompt and paste that image as “Version 2” next to their first version.
- To finish, have your students write a short caption in their own words explaining what they changed in the prompt and how it improved the image. The final piece is a single page with Version 1 and Version 2 side by side, plus the caption.
Goal Three: Supporting Collaboration Using AI
AI is giving students more ways to collaborate than they’ve had in the past. They can bounce ideas back and forth, pressure-test with counterarguments, and pull together as a team more easily. If your goal is to use AI to boost collaboration, these activities are a great place to start.
The Great debate (Gemini + Google Docs)
Partners or trios pick a stance. They use Gemini to practice against an opposing view, then capture the strongest counterpoints and their responses. They finish with a Google Doc that states the claim, arguments, one cited source, and a short note on what they verified. You can then save the Docs and use them to stage a short, in-class debate later.
Debate Prompts to Plug into Gemini
Sometimes the hardest part is picking something worth arguing. Have Gemini spin up a few options, then let students choose their favorites. Here are some prompts to get you started:
“Generate 8 debate questions for grades 9–12 that connect to our [unit/topic] (e.g., U.S. Reconstruction, climate policy, Shakespearean tragedy). Make them two-sided, specific, and school-appropriate.”
Create [number] debate questions tied to [resource: textbook chapter/primary source/lab data]. After each question, point to [page/line/figure] we should cite.
Generate [number] debate questions that start with “Should…?” or “Is it fair…?” about [issue]. Make them answerable with evidence we already have in [source list].
Make [number] debate questions about [topic] for [grade/course]. Keep them two-sided, specific, and school-appropriate.
Keep exploring with Trafera + Google Workspace
Check out the webinar we did with Holly Clark and Google Workspace - now available on-demand.