Show of hands… how many people feel that the need to differentiate in your classroom has become more intense?
Here at my public high school in New York City, in the Bronx, working with students who are over-aged, under-credited, working with students who’ve had some disruption to their education…the differentiation needs have become overwhelming. What do I do with the student who recently immigrated and doesn’t speak English? What do I do when they are sitting next to a student who grew up in the city, but at 16 years old reads at a 3rd grade level? And then the student across from them who is at a 9th grade level?
My primary focus has been finding appropriate texts for everyone. I’ve stacked my shelves with graphic novels for second graders and third graders. I’ve found readers designed for students who are new to learning English. These now live in my classroom alongside the young adult novels that I love. Yet, I think it is important for us, as a whole class, to have an experience with a text, together. Teaching a whole class text is an opportunity for me to pull back the mystery of reading and thinking about reading. But… with so many different levels and abilities, how can I create entry points for all of my learners?
But… with so many different levels and abilities, how can I create entry points for all of my learners?
Recently, I’ve tackled this with some A.I. tools. Today, I’m sharing one called Diffit. It’s free (so far). This web-based A.I. tool allows me to upload the full text of a short story, level it for different readers, and create different level questions and activities. It even can translate a text into different languages and produce summaries. Every student still gets a copy of the original text, which I use for my read aloud and my modeling of my thinking. Plus, they get these different resources. Let me show you how I used this with my freshman English class for the story “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes.
How to Use Diffit As an AI Tool for Differentiation
Stage One: Entering information in A.I.
They say A.I. is limited in what it creates by what the user inputs. In Diffit, I entered the entire text of the story. The full text is readily available online. There is an 8000 word limit for copying and pasting in a text, but you can also enter a website or a Youtube link.
After this, you select the language and grade level that you would like the resources (questions, activities) created in.
Stage Two: Reviewing Resources
Diffit will then create resources, such as:
- A leveled text and summary. I selected 6th grade, English. The story was reduced to a few paragraphs of summary as well as a bulleted list of 4 points about events in the story. I read over these to ensure that the tool did not create inaccuracies in its summary. Then, I selected from the drop-down menu: Spanish, French and Bengali. It translated the lower level text into these languages. Of course, this is not perfect. I don’t even know all of these languages to fully understand how imperfect it is. But, for me. This is not a resource to replace the main story, but a resource that supplements it. As we engage in a read-aloud of the full-text, English story, I believe it will help these students to have a general idea of what occurs in the story.
- Questions: Diffit creates multiple choice, short answer and open-ended prompts. This is the area that I spend the most time editing. The multiple choice and short answer sometimes focus on details that are not important. The open-ended prompts ask students to largely make personal connections when I would prefer a different kind of analysis. After I make my edits, Diffit will create print-outs from this information called activities.
Screenshot of Resources from Diffit:
Step Three: Choosing Activities
Now that you’ve reviewed the resources and checked their accuracy and relevancy, the fun begins. Drifft will create print-outs of all kinds of activities using these inputs. (Some of these free and then others are available only with a subscription. They are constantly adding to the library of different activities.)
Some of my favorite resources that Diffit generates are:
- The Basics: This set of print-outs includes all of the information that you reviewed in an easy to read format: the leveled reading, the summary, the vocabulary, and the questions. Here’s an example of the The Basics from “Thank You, Ma’am.”
- Comic Book Recap: This takes the summary and questions and makes them much bigger, asking students to take notes on smaller chunks of the story. Also, there are small breaks from the text where students recap the story with a few comic book-style panels with speech bubbles. Here’s an example of the Comic Book Recap from “Thank You, Ma’am.”
- Characterization: This set of print-outs includes the basics from above, but adds in some reflection activities with the question. In addition, the packet includes an exercise that encourages students to use evidence from the story to more fully imagine the character. Then, partner activities ask students to use the questions to talk to each other and record their partner’s responses. Here’s an example of Characterization from “Thank You, Ma’am.”
How do I use it?
I think of these activities as largely supplemental. I tend not to use them unless a student has been absent or seems to really be struggling with the annotations, discussion and deeper reading responses that I’m asking for in their notebook. However, many times, having these activities printed has saved me. I’ve given them most often to students who need a win. I always strive for students engaging with the original text, and I provide scaffolds for them to access it in the form of videos and vocabulary. (There’s a great dramatization of “Thank You, Ma’am” on Youtube.) But sometimes, especially with my new language learners, they are overwhelmed. Somedays they are ready for the challenge of the whole class text, and other days they aren’t. When I pull out a piece of one of the Diffit activities, I can usually re-engage them.
My take-aways: Can Diffit Replace Me?
After using these resources to try to meet my students’s varying needs, I found that Diffit was a great tech assistant to generate interventions in my classroom. However, this AI tool is a long way from replacing me. Not only do I need to determine its accuracy, but my teacher judgment drives which of these resources might be helpful to which students and at what time. But since I’ve started using Diffit to generate a variety of different resources for different levels and different languages, I’ve found myself less overwhelmed by the large variety of levels and needs in my classroom. I now have so many resources I can turn to when that student puts their head down or disconnects from the more difficult task that feels so far outside of their reach.
Have you tried to use A.I. in your classroom? I’d love to connect with you at K. A. Keener, English Teacher, New Directions Secondary School or on Bluesky @kakeener.bsky.social.
At Moving Writers, we love sharing our materials with you, and we work hard to ensure we are posting high-quality work that is both innovative and practical. Please help us continue to make this possible by refraining from selling our intellectual property or presenting it as your own. Thanks!
moving writers 