Differentiate Instruction with Claude
Generate scaffolded, extended, and adapted versions of any task, text, or activity for different learners.
The situation
You have one lesson plan but three distinct groups in the room: students who need support, students on track, and students who are ready to be extended.
After this guide you will have a system for creating differentiated versions of any activity without tripling your planning time.
What you walk away with
Three differentiated versions of any activity from one prompt
Scaffolded support materials for struggling learners
Extension tasks that actually challenge high achievers
The difference one prompt makes
Don't
differentiate this activity
Do this
Here's a Year 7 English task: analyse how the author creates tension in this extract. I need three versions: 1) A scaffolded version for students working below level, with sentence starters and a word bank of literary techniques. 2) The standard version as written. 3) An extension version that asks students to compare the technique to another text they've read and evaluate its effectiveness. Keep the same learning objective across all three versions.
Naming the specific versions and what each one should do gives Claude the structure to create genuinely useful differentiated materials, not just harder or easier versions of the same thing.
Start with your core task
The core task is the version for students working at the expected level. Write or paste it into your prompt first. Everything else is built from this.
- Write the task as you would for a student working at the expected standard
- Include the learning objective, even if students will not see it
- Note the format: written response, discussion, worksheet, practical activity
- Note any time constraint: 10-minute task or 30-minute extended response
Ask for the scaffolded version with specific support types
Scaffolding is not about making the task easier. It is about removing barriers so students can access the same learning objective. Be specific about what kind of support.
Here is my Year 7 English task: Analyse how the author creates tension in this extract using at least two literary techniques. Reference specific quotations.
Create a scaffolded version for students working below level. Include:
- 4 sentence starters that guide them through the structure
- A word bank of 8 literary techniques with a one-line definition for each
- 2 pre-selected quotations from the text they can use if they cannot find their own
Keep the learning objective the same. Do not reduce the cognitive demand; reduce the access barrier.Ask for the extension version with a clear additional demand
Extension tasks fail when they are just more of the same task. A genuine extension requires higher-order thinking, not extra quantity.
Now create an extension version of the same task for students who are ready to be challenged. The extension should move up at least one level on Bloom's taxonomy from the standard task. Options: compare to a second text, evaluate the effectiveness of the technique in context, consider how a different reader might interpret the same technique, or make a counter-argument.
The student should still produce a written response. No more than 50 words of additional instruction.Ask Claude to write brief instructions for each version
Differentiated materials only work if students know what to do with them. One more prompt produces the task instructions you put on each worksheet.
For each of the three versions above, write a brief task instruction I can put at the top of the worksheet. Maximum 3 sentences per version. Use language appropriate for Year 7 students. Do not label them "below level", "standard", and "extension" -- use neutral language like "Task A", "Task B", "Task C".What's next?
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