Students used Pixton to create their image to display on our website. Their final writing pieces using Book Creator are linked to their comic.

Students used Book Creator to publish their final research papers. This app offers a wide range of engaging features that go beyond traditional writing. Students can add their own voice recordings, insert images, and even include videos, making their projects more interactive and personalized. Book Creator supports creativity while helping students develop digital literacy skills. Its user-friendly interface also makes it easy for learners of all levels to design polished, multimedia-rich presentations of their work.

Artificial intelligence (AI) played a key role in supporting this writing project by helping streamline planning, create student-friendly materials, and strengthen the overall instructional process. Specifically, I used AI to generate clear and accessible explanations of the writing task, including models, anchor charts, and kid-friendly definitions of concepts such as courage, problem-solving, and positive community impact. This allowed students to have consistent, developmentally appropriate guidance throughout the project.

I also leveraged AI to create structured thinking maps tailored to a 4th-grade level, such as revised Circle Maps for brainstorming and Multi-Flow Maps for analyzing the problem, courageous actions, and results. By providing detailed prompts, I ensured that the AI-produced organizers aligned directly with the writing focus and supported students’ comprehension of the task.

In addition to student-facing resources, I used AI to develop teacher-facing tools such as a 4-point rubric, lesson summaries, and examples for modeling. AI helped refine my lesson sequence by suggesting ways to break down each writing component into manageable steps. This made it easier to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of diverse learners.

Beyond materials and planning, AI also supported me in drafting the project narrative and website content for our digital showcase. I found that the more precise and specific my prompts were, the more tailored and high-quality the AI’s output became—ultimately saving time and enhancing the clarity and effectiveness of the final instructional materials.