Prompt details

Tested on

Claude Opus 5.5

Length

494 words · 2 fill-ins

Example input

[Lesson objective and text]: Objective: Students can explain how energy from the sun moves water through the water cycle, using the words evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. Lesson length: 50 minutes. Text (our Grade 6 science reader): The Water Cycle: Earth's Never-Ending Journey The water you drank this morning may once have fallen as rain on a rainforest, frozen in a glacier, or floated through the sky as part of a cloud. Earth has about the same amount of water today as it did millions of years ago. That water keeps moving in a path called the water cycle, and the sun powers the whole journey. When the sun heats oceans, lakes and rivers, some of the water at the surface turns from a liquid into an invisible gas called water vapor. This change is called evaporation. Plants add water vapor to the air, too, releasing it through tiny openings in their leaves. Warm air carries the water vapor upward. As it rises, the air cools. Cool air cannot hold as much water vapor, so the vapor turns back into tiny droplets of liquid water. This change is called condensation. Billions of these droplets gathered together form clouds. Inside a cloud, droplets bump into one another and join together. When they become too heavy to stay up in the air, they fall to Earth as precipitation. Precipitation can be rain, snow, sleet or hail, depending on how cold the air is. When precipitation reaches the ground, it collects in oceans, lakes and rivers. Some of it soaks into the soil and becomes groundwater, which can stay underground for thousands of years. This stage is called collection. Then the sun heats the water again, and the cycle continues. Because of the water cycle, the water on Earth is used again and again. Every glass of water is part of a journey that has no beginning and no end.

[Grade and student needs]: Grade 6, 27 students. About 6 read two or more years below grade level: they decode slowly and lose the meaning in long sentences. 13 read at grade level. 3 read well above grade level and finish early. 5 newcomer English learners, all in their first year in the country: 3 Spanish speakers at WIDA level 1 to 2 (know some everyday words, read short labeled sentences), 1 Arabic speaker at WIDA level 1 (new to English and to the Latin alphabet), 1 Ukrainian speaker at WIDA level 2 (reads well in Ukrainian, can read simple English sentences). A co-teacher is in the room for the first 20 minutes only. Chromebooks and a projector.

Example output

1. Grouping plan

*Assumptions: the 5 newcomers are separate from the 6 below-level readers (6 + 13 + 3 + 5 = 27), every student has a Chromebook, and the co-teacher leaves at minute 20.*

Group	Who	What they do	Where I am	Minutes
Whole class	All 27	Hook: project a glass of water and ask, "Where was this water 1,000 years ago?" Teach the 4 key words with picture cards and gestures: hands rise for evaporation, fists squeeze together for condensation, fingers fall for precipitation, cupped hands for collection.	Front, at the projector	0–5 (5)
A: Newcomer ELs	5 newcomers (3 Spanish WIDA 1–2, 1 Arabic WIDA 1, 1 Ukrainian WIDA 2)	With the co-teacher. Vocabulary picture cards and home-language glossary. They hear the Support text read aloud, section by section, act out each stage and label the organizer from a word bank. The Arabic speaker uses the picture cards, the Arabic glossary column and Chromebook text-to-speech. The Ukrainian speaker reads the Support text with the glossary. The Spanish speakers may discuss in Spanish.	Co-teacher leads	5–20 (15)
B: Support readers	6 students reading 2+ years below level	Guided reading with me. Read the Support text one section at a time and stop after each step. Fill one organizer box per step, using the WIDA 2 frames as needed.	With Group B	5–20 (15)
C: On level	13 students, in pairs or triads	Read the On-level text with a partner and fill in the organizer.	Independent (I scan the room between Group B sections)	5–20 (15)
D: Advanced	3 students	Read the Advanced text and fill in the organizer, including the energy row.	Independent	5–20 (15)
A: Newcomer ELs	Same 5	With me (co-teacher has left). Put the picture cards in order, say the frames aloud, then write or copy 2 frames.	With Group A, minutes 20–28	20–32 (12)
B: Support readers	Same 6	Partner retell using the organizer and frames, then write 3 sentences about the cycle.	Check-in, minutes 28–32	20–32 (12)

Claude Opus 5.5

Differentiated Instruction – Differentiated instruction prompt for ChatGPT and Claude

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Claude Opus 5.5

This prompt differentiates one lesson for a mixed class. Paste the objective, the text and your students' needs; you get a grouping plan, the text at three levels, English learner scaffolds, an extension and quick checks.

What you get

A grouping plan with timings, so you know who works where and when you join each group
The text at three levels, each with an approximate grade band, ready to print
Key words with a home-language glossary, sentence frames by proficiency level and a graphic organizer
An extension for advanced readers and a quick check for each group

How to use it

1
Paste the whole text
Give the objective, the lesson length and the full text, then your readers: how many below, at and above level, and each English learner's home language and level.
2
Check facts and words
Read each version against the original, check every [added] fact, and have a fluent speaker or a trusted dictionary check the glossary.
3
Print and group
Print the three texts and the scaffolds, set up the groups from the plan, and use the quick checks to decide who moves up next time.

Better results

Paste the real text, not a summary, so every version keeps the same facts and the groups can discuss the same content.
Follow up with: "Make a picture-led version of the support text for the level 1 learner" if your newest English learners need more than frames.
Run the support text through a readability checker before printing; the grade bands in the answer are estimates.

Questions

How can AI help with differentiated instruction?

AI helps with differentiated instruction by rewriting one text at several reading levels, adding scaffolds such as sentence frames and glossaries, and drafting extension tasks and quick checks. You still choose the groups, check the facts and adjust for the students you know.

What are good ChatGPT prompts for ESL teachers?

Good ChatGPT prompts for ESL teachers give the text, each learner's home language and English proficiency level, and ask for scaffolds matched to those levels: key words with pictures, sentence frames and a home-language glossary. This prompt does that inside a full lesson.

Can AI rewrite a text at a lower reading level?

Yes, AI can rewrite a text at a lower reading level by shortening sentences, swapping hard words and splitting ideas while keeping the facts. Treat the grade level it gives as an estimate and confirm it with a readability tool.

Are AI translations good enough for a student glossary?

AI translations of single science words are usually a good start, but they can miss the term schools use in that language. Have a fluent speaker or a trusted bilingual dictionary check each word before you print the glossary.

Updated 8 Nov 2026