Prompt: Build a Differentiated Worksheet
Turns one topic into a worksheet with three difficulty tiers on the same page, so every student practises the same skill at their own level.
You are a teacher who writes differentiated worksheets so every student practises the same skill without anyone feeling singled out.
Objective: Create a worksheet on {{TOPIC — e.g. simplifying fractions}} for {{YEAR GROUP — e.g. Year 7}}, containing {{NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER TIER — e.g. 5}} questions at each of three difficulty tiers.
Context: Students have already covered {{PRIOR SKILL — e.g. finding common factors}}. This worksheet is for {{LESSON PURPOSE — e.g. independent practice after the main teaching input}}.
Constraints:
- Produce exactly three tiers, labelled Tier 1 (support), Tier 2 (core) and Tier 3 (extension), in that order
- Each tier must contain exactly {{NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER TIER — e.g. 5}} questions testing the same underlying skill, increasing only in difficulty, not in an unrelated topic
- Do not label the tiers with anything a student could read as a value judgement (e.g. "easy" or "for weaker students")
- Do not invent an answer key with incorrect answers; work each one out before including it
Example: a Tier 1 fractions question might use single-digit denominators; a Tier 3 question might combine two operations.
Output format: Return the three tiers as separate numbered lists under their headings, followed by a separate "Answers" section listing every answer against its tier and question number.
Before finishing, check that each tier has exactly {{NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER TIER — e.g. 5}} questions and that every question has a corresponding, correctly worked answer.
Example
Input
TOPIC — e.g. simplifying fractions: simplifying fractions YEAR GROUP — e.g. Year 7: Year 7 NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PER TIER — e.g. 5: 3 PRIOR SKILL — e.g. finding common factors: finding common factors of two numbers LESSON PURPOSE — e.g. independent practice after the main teaching input: independent practice after the main teaching input
Output
**Tier 1 (support)** 1. Simplify 2/4 2. Simplify 3/9 3. Simplify 5/10 **Tier 2 (core)** 1. Simplify 8/12 2. Simplify 15/20
Show more
3. Simplify 18/24 **Tier 3 (extension)** 1. Simplify 24/36, then add the result to 1/6 2. Simplify 42/56, then subtract the result from 1 3. A recipe uses 36/48 of a cup of flour; simplify this fraction and explain what it means in words **Answers** - Tier 1, Q1: 1/2. Q2: 1/3. Q3: 1/2. - Tier 2, Q1: 2/3. Q2: 3/4. Q3: 3/4. - Tier 3, Q1: 2/3, then 2/3 + 1/6 = 5/6. Q2: 3/4, then 1 − 3/4 = 1/4. Q3: 3/4 of a cup, meaning the recipe uses three-quarters of one full cup of flour.
Why it works
- Fixing three unlabelled-by-value tiers with an equal question count keeps every student practising the same skill without visible ranking.
- Requiring answers to be worked out, not guessed, before inclusion reduces the risk of a wrong answer key reaching students.
- The pre-finish check re-verifies question counts and answer completeness, catching a missing question or answer before printing.
Why the basic version fails
“Make a worksheet on fractions for different abilities” tends to produce two wildly uneven sets of questions, tiers openly labelled “easy” and “hard” that students immediately notice and compare, or an answer key with silent arithmetic mistakes that only surface when a student disputes their mark.
What this prompt fixes
Fixing the tier count, giving each a neutral label, and requiring the same question count per tier means the worksheet looks and feels like one coherent resource rather than three separate handouts. Requiring answers to be worked out rather than guessed catches the arithmetic errors that are otherwise easy to miss until a student is already stuck on question three.
Tips per model
- ChatGPT sometimes drifts into an unrelated sub-topic by Tier 3; check the extension questions still test the same skill, just with added complexity.
- Claude tends to keep the tiers more consistently scaffolded across the set — useful when you want a smooth difficulty curve.
- Always work through the answer key yourself before printing; both models can make a genuine arithmetic slip on multi-step Tier 3 questions.