Use MagicSchool's Differentiation Suggester to Adapt Lesson Activities

What This Does

MagicSchool's Differentiation Suggester takes a lesson plan or activity and generates specific modifications for students at different readiness levels, with different learning profiles, or with specific disabilities — giving you actionable adaptations instead of generic advice.

Before You Start

• Sign in to MagicSchool.ai
• Have a lesson plan, activity description, or assignment ready
• Know the disability categories or learning profiles in your class (no need for specific student names)

Steps

1. Open the Differentiation Suggester

From the MagicSchool dashboard, search "Differentiation" or find it under the Instruction tools section. Click "Differentiation Suggester" to open.

What you should see: Input fields for the original lesson content and student learning profiles.

2. Describe the Original Lesson

In the lesson description field, paste or type a brief description of your planned activity. Include: the learning objective, what students will do, and what materials are used. A few sentences is enough.

Example: "Students will read a 2-page biography of Rosa Parks and answer 5 comprehension questions. The goal is to identify main idea and supporting details."

3. Add Student Learning Profiles

In the student profile or differentiation focus field, describe the range of needs you're differentiating for. You can add multiple profiles. Examples:

• "Student with intellectual disability, reading at 1st grade level"
• "Student with autism who needs visual supports and clear step-by-step instructions"
• "Student with ADHD who needs shorter tasks and movement breaks"
• "Student with dyslexia who needs audio support"

4. Generate Differentiations

Click "Generate." MagicSchool produces specific modifications for each profile you described.

What you should see: A list of concrete adaptations, such as: "Provide a 3-sentence simplified summary of the biography" or "Replace written questions with picture-choice responses" or "Break the 5 questions into 2 sessions with a 5-minute break."

Troubleshooting: If suggestions are too vague, add more detail about what specific skills or challenges the student has.

5. Select and Apply

Review the suggestions and pick the ones that fit your students. Copy into your lesson plan or adapt your materials accordingly.

Real Example

Scenario: Your co-taught 4th grade class is doing a weather science unit. You have 4 students on your caseload: one with an intellectual disability (reads at K level), one with autism (strong at visual patterns, needs explicit directions), one with a learning disability in reading (reads at 2nd grade level), and one with ADHD (easily distracted, needs structure).

What you enter: Original lesson: "Students identify cloud types using a picture card sort and write a sentence describing each cloud." Student profiles as listed above.

What you get:

• Intellectual disability: Use photo match cards (real photo to picture card) instead of writing; reduce to 3 cloud types
• Autism: Provide numbered step-by-step instruction card; use the same picture cards in a visual schedule
• Reading disability: Pre-read cloud type labels aloud; allow label-only responses instead of full sentences
• ADHD: Sort 3 cards, check in with teacher, sort next 3; use a visual timer

Time saved: 45-60 minutes of manual differentiation planning → 10-minute review and copy.

Tips

• Use suggestions as a starting menu — you know your students best; pick what actually fits
• Generate differentiations for your most commonly used lesson types at the start of each unit; store them in a Google Doc for reference
• The tool works for assessments too — paste a test or quiz to get modified versions for different disability profiles

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