Thinking, Writing, and Creating in German with AI

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Age Group: Teenagers (13–17)
Level: A2+
Gender: Boys / Girls
Class Size: 1–5 participants
Duration: 8 sessions (4 - 16 weeks, based on teaching schedule)
Session Length: 60 minutes
Format: Live online via Zoom
Tools: Zoom, Google Classroom, ChatGPT, AI tools

Teacher: Nicolas Jacobi

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Price: $240 per student

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Goals:

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• Learn how ChatGPT actually works and how to write powerful prompts in German

• Use AI for writing, revising, researching, and expressing opinions

• Practice digital responsibility: What does AI get wrong? When should we say no to AI?

• Engage in real discussions, not just with AI, but with classmates

• Explore new tools and use AI to plan real tasks (school, creative projects, presentations)

Week 1: What Is Artificial Intelligence – Really?
We begin by unpacking how ChatGPT actually works.  We will use simple but accurate explanations to help students understand the basic logic behind the tool. The group discusses how AI compares to human thinking, and we begin writing our first small prompts.

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Week 2: Prompt Engineering – How to Get Better Results
This week teaches students how to write better instructions. We explore tone, length, and precision: “Gib mir ein Beispiel für…” vs. “Schreibe einen überzeugenden Text mit drei Argumenten für…”. Students rewrite each other’s prompts to make them stronger and test which ones lead to better results.

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Week 3: Using ChatGPT for Schoolwork
Students apply AI to common school tasks. We use ChatGPT to build essay outlines, summarize texts, or find mistakes in a German paragraph. This helps students understand where AI can be helpful, and where it must be used carefully and honestly. We also discuss ethical boundaries in schools.

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Week 4: Giving Feedback – Can You Improve the AI?
Students learn to critique AI-generated texts in German. What makes a sentence awkward? How would you rephrase something more clearly? They give structured feedback like “Der Text ist zu allgemein” or “Ich möchte mehr Details zu …”. This builds both linguistic and critical thinking skills.

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Week 5: Exploring Personal Interests with AI
Each student picks a topic they care about,  from freedom, ethics, entertainment, music to climate change to sports or politics, and uses ChatGPT to explore it in German. They might ask the AI to explain concepts, create a dialogue, compare opinions, or help write a short article. Students summarize their findings to the group.

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Week 6: Debate – AI in School and Society
This week focuses on structured discussion. Students explore questions like: Should students be allowed to use ChatGPT during homework? What about on tests? Can AI be creative? We practice forming arguments in German using phrases like einerseits, andererseits, ich bin der Meinung, dass, and meiner Ansicht nach.

Week 7: Student-Led Tool Discovery – App Lab
Students bring one AI tool they’ve discovered or are curious about. They explain its use (in German), test it in class, and reflect on what works well. We look at things like Canva’s “Magic Write”, AI voice tools, and beginner avatar makers. If students want, they can team up to create something fun using their chosen tools.

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Week 8: Final Projects and AI Prompt Kit
Each student presents a short final project: it might be a creative piece they wrote, a short argument they prepared, or a reflection about how AI helps them learn. We review favorite prompts and build a “Prompt Kit” they can use on their own after the course. The course ends with a look into the future: how can AI help you stay bilingual?