Stretch and Scaffold - Differentiated Tasks with AI
A practical guide to using AI to create accessible, challenging tasks that support all learners in your classroom.
Welcome to AI for Teachers, a 12-part series designed to help you plan smarter, teach better, and make your workload more manageable. Whether you’re new to AI or already exploring what it can do, this series will guide you step by step with real examples, practical tools, and research that matters.
🧭 This is not the only way to use AI in education; the possibilities are endless. This post is simply designed to show you one approach that might work for you, your learners, and your setting.
In this post, we’re focusing on differentiated task design, making sure every pupil can access the learning objective while still being challenged to think and grow. Traditionally, this takes hours of planning, but with AI, you can generate scaffolded and extended versions of the same task in just a few minutes. This frees up your time to focus on feedback, questioning, and classroom interactions.
🧪 This approach supports any subject and age range, from KS1 writing to KS4 science investigations. Whether you’re stretching confident learners or supporting those who need it, AI can help you pitch tasks just right.
Why This Matters: From Research to Practice
💡 Carol Ann Tomlinson – The Differentiated Classroom
Tomlinson emphasises that effective differentiation means varying the approach to learning without changing the learning goal. It’s about access, not dilution.
How AI helps:
AI enables you to create versions of a task that vary in scaffolding, complexity or structure, allowing every learner to work toward the same goal in a way that meets their needs.
💡 John Hattie – Visible Learning (2009)
Differentiation, when targeted and aligned to learning outcomes, has a high effect size (0.57). But when it leads to lowered expectations, its impact diminishes.
How AI helps:
AI makes it easier to differentiate by design, not by default, ensuring challenge remains high for all while support is thoughtfully embedded.
🔍 A quick note on purpose: True differentiation does not mean simplifying the learning. It means adapting the route so all learners can meaningfully engage and succeed.
Step-by-Step: Use AI to Generate Differentiated Tasks
Let’s walk through how a secondary teacher used AI to create a set of adaptive tasks for a lesson on persuasive writing. Each version maintained the same learning goal but varied in support and complexity. You can do the same across any subject or phase.
Step 1 - Start with a Strong Learning Objective
Begin by locking in what you want all students to learn. This is your anchor. Whether you're teaching a new concept or practising a familiar skill, the objective needs to be crystal clear. State the year group, subject, and any curriculum standards you’re aligning to. You should also include key vocabulary, skills or knowledge that need to be used or demonstrated.
Why this matters:
AI can generate high-quality tasks, but only if the purpose is clear. The more specific you are with your learning goal, the better the output – and the more consistent your differentiated versions will be.
Here are some powerful ways to define your objective with AI:
Use curriculum language – Feed in a national curriculum statement or age-related descriptor.
Include context – Mention subject, phase, and focus skill or concept.
Clarify misconceptions – Tell AI what pupils often get wrong so it can pre-empt issues.
Add vocabulary – Give key terms learners must understand or use.
Specify learning verbs – Use Bloom’s or SOLO verbs to direct task pitch.
What to watch for:
✅ Clear, specific learning goal – Make sure the AI knows exactly what the students are meant to learn or demonstrate.
✅ Curriculum-linked language - Use terminology from your national curriculum or standards to maintain rigour.
✅ Include key concepts or vocabulary – Mention any terms, skills or knowledge pupils need to use in their tasks.
Example prompt:
“Design differentiated versions of a KS3 English task where students must write a persuasive paragraph on school uniform. The learning objective is: ‘To use persuasive devices to argue a viewpoint effectively.’ Include scaffolds for those who need support and challenge for those who are ready for extension.”
Step 2 - Generate Three Levels of Task Complexity
Ask AI to generate differentiated versions of the same task that vary in complexity, scaffolding or structure. You can do this in several ways – by adjusting the vocabulary, changing the length or depth of response expected, or adding/removing supports. Each task should still link to the same core learning objective, but you’re modifying how students access and respond to it.
Why this matters:
Differentiation works best when it’s purposeful and designed with clarity. AI makes it easy to create three tailored versions of a task – one with more guidance and structure, one at the standard level of challenge, and one that encourages more independent thinking or deeper analysis.
Here are some powerful ways to differentiate task complexity using AI:
Lexile-level adjustments – Ask AI to rewrite a text or set of instructions at different reading levels.
Sentence starters and writing frames – Add scaffolds to support learners in structuring their ideas clearly.
Visual aids or diagrams – Include labelled images, graphic organisers or step-by-step examples.
Cognitive demand – Vary from identifying to explaining to justifying.
Amount of choice – Let learners select format, focus, or example set in extended versions.
Support and stretch features – Add misconceptions, tiered questions, or model responses.
What to watch for:
✅ Same learning intention across all versions – All three versions must aim toward the same outcome so that your planning stays focused and inclusive.
✅ Differences in thinking demand, not topic – Avoid the trap of making one task “easy” and one “hard” by changing the subject matter; instead, vary how learners engage with the same concept.
✅ No ceiling or floor effects – Ensure all tasks are meaningful and sufficiently challenging – even the support task should promote success, and the stretch task should extend beyond rehearsal.
Prompt tip:
“Generate three versions of a KS2 Geography task about the water cycle. The first should include visuals and sentence stems; the second should be a standard sequencing and explanation task; the third should include an open-ended question asking learners to evaluate how water use impacts communities.”
Step 3 - Refine Language and Support Using Chained Prompts
Now fine-tune each version to suit your learners more closely. This is where AI really becomes your co-planner. You can zoom in on one version and prompt AI to simplify instructions, rewrite using EAL-friendly phrasing, embed common misconceptions, or add extension elements.
Why this matters:
Initial AI outputs are often rough drafts. Using follow-up prompts helps you refine tone, pitch, clarity and inclusivity. You’re turning a good idea into a great fit for your learners.
Here are some powerful ways to refine differentiated tasks using AI:
Simplify vocabulary – Ask AI to rewrite using age-appropriate or EAL-friendly language.
Add sentence scaffolds or frames – Help learners begin and structure their ideas.
Embed worked examples – Show a completed model to clarify success.
Create error-check versions – Include misconceptions to discuss and correct.
Enhance stretch – Add multi-step challenges or reflective prompts to deepen thinking.
What to watch for:
✅ Language accessibility – Ensure your support version uses clear, learner-appropriate vocabulary without oversimplifying the concept.
✅ Stretch that deepens thinking – The challenge version should promote reasoning, synthesis or evaluation – not just “extra questions”.
✅ Consistency in structure – Keep the general task structure similar so learners can see how each version connects.
Follow-up prompt:
“Simplify the support version using short sentences and include a model paragraph. Add a vocabulary box for tricky words like ‘justify’ and ‘emotive language’.”
Step 4 - Align to Assessment Expectations
Ensure that every task version connects clearly to how learning will be judged. This is where you bring in your assessment framework, whether that’s GCSE band descriptors, national curriculum age-related standards, or school-based rubrics.
Why this matters:
Differentiation must not compromise rigour. By tagging each version to expected outcomes, you can keep challenge high and track progress meaningfully.
Here are some powerful ways to align differentiated tasks with assessment:
Tag tasks to curriculum standards – e.g. “Working Towards”, “Expected Standard”, “Greater Depth”.
Embed success criteria – Include checklists or self-assessment tools tailored to each version.
Prompt AI to compare tasks to rubric bands – Ask it to explain how each version links to your chosen framework.
Map to progression models – Use Bloom’s, SOLO, or DOK to frame thinking level.
Crosswalk where needed – Align to other systems like MAP RIT or IB rubrics if teaching internationally.
What to watch for:
✅ Links to British curriculum frameworks – Use terms like “working towards,” “expected standard,” or “greater depth” to label task versions.
✅ Consistency with assessment rubrics – Check that each version allows you to assess progress against the same core outcomes.
✅ Crosswalk potential for other systems – Where useful, tag tasks to MAP RIT ranges, IB criteria, or cognitive level indicators.
Prompt idea:
“Label each task version as either working towards, expected standard, or greater depth based on KS3 English writing criteria. Add a success checklist for each.”
Step 5 - Format and Save for Reuse
Package the tasks into a practical format you can deliver, share or adapt. A slide, a Google Doc, a printable worksheet, the format depends on your classroom routines. The key is clarity, usability and future-proofing.
Why this matters:
You’re not just making a lesson, you’re building a library. Storing high-quality differentiated tasks helps streamline future planning and supports department collaboration.
Here are some powerful ways to format and save differentiated tasks using AI:
Ask AI to create a printable table or worksheet – Include headings, instructions and versions.
Use slide-ready formats – Turn tasks into lesson visuals with student-friendly design.
Create a reusable task bank – Use shared drives or Notion-style databases to store by subject and skill.
Add metadata to each file – Label with year, topic, objective and task type for quick retrieval.
Prompt AI to generate a version history – Keep track of when and how you used it.
What to watch for:
✅ Clean layout with clear labels – Use headings like “Supported Access”, “Core Task”, and “Extended Challenge” to keep it transparent.
✅ Editable format – Keep it flexible so you can update quickly for different topics or groups.
✅ Tagged for future use – Include subject, year group, objective and task type in the file name or folder structure.
🧩 Advanced tip: Store differentiated tasks in platforms like Notion, OneNote or Google Drive, tagged by subject and skill.
Teacher Voice
A Year 9 teacher shared this insight after trying AI-assisted differentiation:
“I always knew I should differentiate more thoroughly, but time was the barrier. Now I can create three tailored versions of a task in one go and they’re more thought-out than when I used to tweak them at the photocopier five minutes before class.”
Challenge: Step It Up
📝 Create a 3-tier task set - Pick a task you’re teaching this week. Ask AI to generate three versions: one with scaffolds, one standard, and one extended. Check that all link to the same LO.
🧠 Refine with purpose - Use follow-up prompts to adjust language, add vocabulary supports, and embed stretch into your high-challenge task.
📂 Build your differentiation bank - Ask AI to format the tasks into a printable document or slide. Save it with tags and start building your go-to library of adaptive tasks.
Reflect and Share
💬 How often do you differentiate by design, not just in the moment? Could AI help you make your support and challenge more purposeful, consistent and efficient?
Try creating a 3-level task this week. Tag a colleague to do the same and share your best result with us. We’d love to feature it in a future post.
Resources to Support You
🆓 Free Resource
Differentiation prompt guide + tiered task set example (KS3 English)
🔐 Paid Subscriber Exclusive
Adaptive Task Library – Editable templates and success criteria checklists
Includes versions for “Working Towards”, “Expected Standard”, and “Greater Depth”
🎓 Available in your subscriber dashboard
AI for Teachers – Blog Series
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