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Check a group chat message about a school closure against the email

Practice: Catching mistakes and made-up facts. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

A parent posted about tomorrow's school closure in the class group chat, and you want to check it against the district's email before replying. You want exactly 4 numbered lines, one per claim in the post, labeled Confirmed, Wrong, or Not in email, with the email's version after any Wrong label. Use only the district email, plain text, nothing else.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Drafting a reply. The AI writes a polite correction for the group chat instead of checking each claim. Try: Say: "Label each claim only."
  • No fixed labels. The AI writes a long comparison, which is hard to scan quickly. Try: Give them: "Confirmed, Wrong, or Not in email."
  • Not naming the source. The AI may treat Kendra's post as just as reliable as the district email. Try: Add: "The district email is the only source of truth."
  • Not saying how many. The AI decides the length itself and usually returns more lines, one per claim than you can use. Try: Be exact: "exactly 4 numbered lines, one per claim."
  • Getting markdown back. AI defaults to bold labels and headings, which show up as stray symbols in a group chat. Try: Ask for "plain text, no bold, no headings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Gives exact labels
  • Names the source
  • Asks for the email's version
  • Says exactly how many
  • Asks for plain text

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