IGNITE A shared vocabulary for AI use in English class
The IGNITE Framework
The IGNITE Framework is a six-level model for AI use in secondary English classrooms, Grades 7 to 12, developed by George O'Toole, a retired Ontario Head of Department with over 35 years teaching the subject. The six levels describe the relationship between a student and an AI tool, from copying an answer to producing something neither could have made alone. It is aligned to Bloom's Taxonomy and the SAMR model created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura.
What is AI-Resistant assessment?
AI-Resistant assessment is designed so that a chatbot can't produce a passing submission on its own. It doesn't rely on detection software and it doesn't depend on banning anything. It works structurally, by asking for evidence a machine cannot supply: process collected over time, thinking done in the room in front of you, and specificity that only a student who was present could produce.
The test is simple. Paste your assignment instructions into a chatbot, read what comes back, and ask whether you would give it a passing grade. If the answer is yes, the assignment is not yet AI-Resistant.
What is AI-Intelligent assessment?
AI-Intelligent assessment is the next question after resistance. Where AI-Resistant design asks what a machine cannot do, AI-intelligent design asks what a student can now do because the machine exists, and how you would assess it. It permits AI openly, requires students to declare and interrogate their use of it, and marks the quality of that judgement as part of the work.
The two are not opposites and a department doesn't choose between them. Resistance protects the assessment of independent thinking. Intelligence develops the newer skill of working with a tool honestly and effectively. Most English courses need both, and The IGNITE Framework is the vocabulary that lets a department say which one a given task is doing.
AI can write a polished essay on any text. It can't reference a class discussion from last Tuesday, explain why a thesis changed between Draft 1 and Draft 2, or sit in your room and write for fifteen minutes while you watch.
The Six Levels
| Level | Bloom's Taxonomy | SAMR | Student role |
|---|---|---|---|
| I: Imitation | Remember, Understand | Substitution | Passive Receiver |
| G: Guidance | Understand, Apply | Augmentation | Driver, Editor |
| N: Negotiation | Apply, Analyse | Augmentation + | Skeptic, Questioner |
| I: Integration | Analyse, Evaluate | Modification | Collaborator |
| T: Transformation | Evaluate, Create | Modification + | Strategist, Critic |
| E: Emergent | Create, highest order | Redefinition | Author, Visionary |
What each level looks like:
- IImitationThe student copies AI output with little or no change. Gr. 7-8 floor, and the most common default at every level.
- GGuidanceAI use is teacher-controlled or modelled. The student directs and edits. Gr. 7-8 core, Gr. 9-10 entry.
- NNegotiationAI use is declared and interrogated. The student pushes back on what it produced. Gr. 9-10 core, Gr. 11-12 floor.
- IIntegrationAI is a regular tool within stated limits, used to develop the student's own ideas. Gr. 9-10 and Gr. 11-12 core.
- TTransformationCritical questioning produces work in a form that would not have existed otherwise. Gr. 11-12 core target.
- EEmergentThe student creates something original and meaningful that neither they nor the AI could have produced alone.
A note on Imitation. Imitation is the most common default at every grade level when AI is available and oversight is low. It's not a phase to pass through once. It's a permanent risk at every level, which is why every IGNITE resource is built to create conditions where Imitation can't survive contact with a follow-up question.
Which levels fit which grades
| Band | IGNITE range | Bloom's range | SAMR range | Key question |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 7 to 8 | Imitation through Transformation | Remember through Analyse | Substitution through Augmentation | Did you produce this, or did you receive it? |
| Grades 9 to 10 | Guidance through Transformation | Apply through Evaluate | Augmentation through Modification | Should I trust what AI produced here, and why? |
| Grades 11 to 12 | Negotiation through Emergent | Analyse through Create | Modification through Redefinition | What does it mean to author something with AI's help? |
Emergent at Grades 9 to 10 is realistic for AP and gifted classes rather than for a general course.
The Four Pillars
Every level of the framework rests on the same four commitments. If an assignment is failing, it's almost always failing on one of these, and usually on the first two.
- 1Process Over ProductAssessment of how students think and work, not only what they hand in.
- 2In-Class CognitionThe thinking that matters happens in the room, in front of you, where AI cannot do the work.
- 3AI as a Tool, not a GhostwriterStudents are permitted to use AI honestly, name how they used it, and own what they produced.
- 4Meta-LiteracyStudents build awareness of their own thinking and of how AI shapes the text they read and write.
The 40-40-20 Weighting
The framework changes what you ask for. The weighting changes what a student can afford to skip. Distributing marks across three components means no single take-home product, the one thing AI is most able to produce, dominates the grade.
| Component | Weight | Why it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Process work: brainstorming, drafts, checkpoints | 40 percent | Retrieval practice across several sessions, and a visible trail |
| In-class cognition: oral, timed writing, cold read | 40 percent | Live thinking. AI cannot be in the room |
| Final product: essay, presentation, submission | 20 percent | Still valued, no longer the sole measure |
This does not penalise a student who uses AI responsibly. It rewards the student who did the thinking at all three stages, which is what deep learning looks like anyway.
Questions teachers ask
Is the IGNITE Framework a ladder students climb once?
No. Imitation isn't a stage students pass through and leave behind. It's the most common default at every grade level whenever AI is available and oversight is low, so it stays a live risk in Grade 12 as much as in Grade 7. The framework describes where a particular task sits, not where a student permanently lives.
How is this different from SAMR or Bloom's Taxonomy?
It's not a replacement for either. SAMR describes what the technology is doing to the task and Bloom's describes the thinking demanded. Neither was written with a machine that can produce the finished product in mind. IGNITE names the relationship between the student and the AI, and maps onto both so a department can hold one conversation instead of three.
Do I have to allow AI use to teach with this?
No. The framework describes what's happening whether or not you permit it, and Imitation describes a classroom where AI is blocked as accurately as one where it's open. Where it helps most is in naming, out loud and in the same words as your colleagues, what level a given assignment is asking for.
What grade range is it for?
Intermediate and Senior. Grades 7 to 12. The band targets differ, and Emergent at Grades 9 to 10 is realistic for AP and gifted classes rather than for a general course.
Can I use it outside English?
Teachers have reported using it in other subjects for assignment design and for conversations about ethical AI use. The IGNITE Framework was built for secondary English and the examples are literary, so expect to modify the task-level details.
Start with one assignment
Take the task that worries you most and put it through the audit. Five minutes, no charge, and it names the one thing worth changing first.
Audit an assignmentWhy detectors are the wrong tool
About the author
George O'Toole is a retired Head of Department with over 35 years experience in secondary English classrooms, a former Educational Technology Coach, and a former instructor with the Queen's University Faculty of Education. He holds a Master of Education in Language and Literacy from the University of Toronto and writes from Whitby, Ontario.