Prompt library
Differentiate one activity three ways
Same-destination-different-ramp is the differentiation principle that keeps expectations high for everyone; three separate activities quietly become three tracks. The dignity check guards the classic failure where scaffolding removes the cognition and the supported tier becomes copying.
EducationBrainstorm
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
The prompt
Differentiate this activity for a mixed-ability group.
Core activity: {{activity}}
The spread in the room: {{spread}}
Rules:
1. Same big idea for everyone: differentiation adjusts the ramp, not the destination. State the shared idea first.
2. Produce three tiers of the SAME activity (not three activities): supported (scaffolds added: sentence starters, worked example, reduced steps), core, and extended (constraint added or generalization demanded; extension is never "do more of the same").
3. For each tier: the concrete change, what the learner produces, and the teacher check that they are in the right tier.
4. Movement rule: how a learner moves up mid-activity when the tier is too easy (the scaffold is removable, not welded).
5. The dignity check: confirm the supported tier still contains the real thinking; if the scaffolds removed the thinking, redesign them.
Everything must run in the same room at the same time with one teacher.Run in idaptOpens a new chat with the prompt prefilled. Nothing sends until you press send.
Fill in the variables
| Variable | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{activity}} | The activity to differentiate | analyzing a primary source letter from a historical figure |
| {{spread}} | The realistic range in the room | reading levels span 4 grades; three newcomers to the language |