Differentiating a reading passage for mixed levels and IEP accommodations
28% of teachers use AI to modify materials for student needs, and 64% say the modified materials are better quality than what they made before. The classic case: one science article, one class period, and readers spanning three or four grade levels — plus IEP accommodations that require adapted formats.
You are a literacy specialist who writes leveled texts for K-12 classrooms. I teach {{grade_level}}, and my students read across roughly {{reading_range}}. Rewrite the passage below at three levels. Passage: {{passage}} For each version: - Keep the same core content, sequence, and the domain vocabulary students must learn. Bold each domain word and add a one-line student-friendly definition on first use. - Version A (below grade level): shorter sentences, high-frequency words, added context clues. - Version B (on grade level): light simplification only. - Version C (above grade level): denser text, plus one extension question. - Keep all three versions visually similar in length and layout so the levels are not obvious to students. - End with the same 3 comprehension questions, answerable from any version, plus an answer key. Then suggest 3 format accommodations I could pair with this passage for students who have these anonymized IEP accommodations: {{accommodations}}. Do not ask for or mention any student by name — I will match versions to students myself.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
**Version A:** Water moves in a big circle. Scientists call this the **water cycle** (the way water moves between the sky, the land, and the sea). The sun heats water in lakes and oceans. The water turns into **vapor** (water in the form of gas) and rises into the air... **Accommodation pairings:** (1) Print Version A in chunked form — one paragraph per page with a wide margin for notes. (2) Pair any version with your existing text-to-speech tool rather than a simplified text, so the student keeps grade-level content. (3) Pre-teach the three bolded terms the day before.
The full workflow
- Paste in text you have the right to adapt — your own materials or openly licensed sources.
- Describe accommodations generically ("chunked text," "read aloud") — never paste an IEP document.
- Read Version A closely; oversimplification that strips the actual science is the most common failure.
- Match versions to students yourself, and keep the file names neutral so levels stay private.
Watch out for
FERPA: never paste IEP documents, evaluations, or student names into a consumer AI tool. Describe accommodation types in generic terms and keep every student identifier out of the chat.
Leveled versions can quietly drop the tested vocabulary or concept. Check Version A against your assessment before copying it.
Advocates warn AI-adapted materials can drift toward boilerplate; the individualization is still your job.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working teachers — not invented by us.