1 - Start ~4 mins
You already know a small change in a prompt can swing what comes back. Today the craft is the whole point: take a vague ask and climb a short ladder until the result is something you would actually use.
You will keep every version, so you can prove which rung did the work and which words were noise.
2 - Examine and Discuss ~6 mins
Same request, five prompts, worst to best. Before each new version appears, name what it added.
Request: draft a short email asking a local business about a Transition Year work experience placement.
- V1: write email work experience
Your teacher will reveal V2 to V5 one at a time on the board. After each, take a short beat: what did this version add that the last one lacked?
Use the ladder diagram as the structure you are climbing. Do not decide yet which rung matters most; that comes after you have seen the full climb.
3 - Hands-on: Build the Prompt Ladder ~12 mins
Pick one task from the options. If you have a school AI account, run every rung yourself. If you are on your own without a live assistant, write the full V1–V5 prompts and note which two you would test first.
Task options: email a local business about TY work experience; three sharp questions for a CAO open day; a half-page summary of a Leaving Cert topic you chose this year.
Run the assistant after every rung. Keep V1 through V5 the class way so you can compare them. Keep early versions rough: do not polish V1 or V2.
Worked example (your class AI assistant): “Write three questions a TY student should ask at a CAO open day for a business course. Audience: a course coordinator. Constraints: under 40 words each, no yes/no questions, nothing I could answer from the prospectus homepage. Good looks like: one about assessment, one about work placement, one about first-year workload. Return as a numbered list only.”
If the class is running as a single board demo, agree one task together and direct the wording from your seat while the teacher runs it.
4 - Hands-on: What Earned Its Place ~4 mins
From the ladder you just ran, build a short class list of craft rules you will reuse. Only keep findings you can point to in V1–V5.
Under each heading, agree wording the whole class can stand over. Adopt a starter chip only if it matches what you actually saw.
What earned its place
5 - Your Turn ~8 mins
Apply the ladder to a task you actually have this week.
- Choose something real: CAO course research, a work-experience write-up, Leaving Cert subject notes, a message about a part-time job or club.
- Write V1 fully (one-line vague ask). Then write V5 in one go, folding in audience, constraints, one example of quality, and the output format.
- If you have a school account, run both and keep the outputs. If not, be ready to justify which two rungs you would test first on the board.
- One sentence: name the rung you would refuse to skip next time you are in a hurry.
- Done looks like: full V1 and V5 written, both run if accounts work, and that one sentence.
Optional stretch if you finish early: try the same ladder shape on one image prompt (subject, style, setting, one constraint such as no text in the image) and note whether the rungs that helped text also helped the image.
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