Use MagicSchool's Text Leveler to Differentiate Reading Passages

What This Does

MagicSchool's Text Leveler rewrites any reading passage at a different grade level while keeping the same content and facts — letting you create 2-3 versions of the same article for students reading at different levels without manually rewriting a single word.

Before You Start

• Create a free account at magicschool.ai (or sign in with your school Google account)
• Have a reading passage ready to paste (article, textbook excerpt, social studies text, etc.)
• Know the approximate reading levels you need (grade 1-2, grade 3-4, grade 5-6, etc.)

Steps

1. Open the Text Leveler Tool

Go to app.magicschool.ai and sign in. On the main tools dashboard, look for the "Text Leveler" card — it's in the first row of tools or searchable by name. Click it to open.

What you should see: A two-panel layout: a text input area on the left and a grade level selector.

2. Paste Your Text

Click in the text input box and paste your original passage. MagicSchool also accepts PDF uploads — click the paperclip icon if you want to upload a file instead. Keep passages under 1,000 words for best results.

What you should see: Your text appearing in the input field. A word count may display below.

3. Select the Target Grade Level

Use the grade level dropdown to select your target level (options typically range from K through 12). Select the lower reading level first (e.g., Grade 2 for your lowest readers).

4. Generate and Save

Click the blue "Generate" or "Runa" button. In 10-20 seconds, the leveled version appears on the right. Click "Copy" to copy to clipboard, then paste into Google Docs. Repeat: change the grade level selector and generate again for your next version.

What you should see: A rewritten version of the passage using simpler vocabulary and shorter sentences, but covering the same topic and key facts.

Troubleshooting: If the output seems too similar to the original, try dropping 2 grade levels instead of 1. If the content meaning changes significantly, try a shorter passage.

5. Review Before Using

Always read the leveled version before giving it to students. Check: Are the key facts still accurate? Is the vocabulary actually simpler? Did any important vocabulary words get removed that you wanted students to learn?

Real Example

Scenario: Your inclusion class is reading a science article about ecosystems for a unit test. Three of your students read at a 2nd grade level, most of the class reads at 4th grade, and two students read above grade level at 6th grade.

What you do: Paste the original 5th grade article. Generate a 2nd grade version. Copy it to Doc 1. Change selector to 4th grade, generate, save as Doc 2. Keep the original for your 6th grade readers.

What you get: Three versions of the same article, covering the same vocabulary and concepts, differentiated by sentence length and word complexity. Print, staple, distribute — 10 minutes total instead of 90.

Tips

• Run the leveled version through a readability checker (paste into a free tool like readabilityformulas.com) to verify the actual grade level
• Create versions once and save them in a Google Drive folder organized by unit — you'll use them again next year
• Use MagicSchool's "Text Compactor" tool to shorten passages before leveling if your original is very long

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.