AI Text Scaffolder for Teachers

How it works

From complex text to differentiated scaffolded document in four steps.

Paste the original text and set the target reader profile

The teacher pastes any complex text (a textbook excerpt, a primary source document, a scientific article, or a poem) and chooses the subject, the level (including Special education), and the supports to add. The AI reads the entire text before generating any scaffolds, so supports are tied to the specific language and concepts in that passage.

AI identifies scaffold points throughout the text

The AI can scan for domain vocabulary, complex sentence structures, implicit references, and conceptual density, the places where struggling readers typically lose the thread. It points each support you choose to a place in the text: a vocabulary gloss, an annotation explaining context, a comprehension prompt, or a sentence starter.

Each scaffold points to a place in the text

The template lists supports first, with the text after; with Improve with AI on, you can ask your AI key to place vocabulary definitions at the first use of each term. Ask for sentence starter prompts directly below dense paragraphs. Ask for comprehension check questions between sections. Ms. Rivera used to spend her Sunday afternoons marking up photocopies with handwritten annotations. Now she pastes the text, checks the scaffolds, and copies the result.

Keep scaffolded and unscaffolded versions together

Keep your original alongside the scaffolded draft: give the scaffolded version to students who need support and the clean original to students who are ready for the full text. Teachers can print both versions and hand them out. Both versions cover the same content, no student is excluded from grade-level material.

The differentiation workload problem

Research consistently shows that differentiated instruction improves outcomes for diverse learners, but survey after survey finds that teachers cite time as the primary barrier to implementing it. Creating a scaffolded version of a single reading passage takes time when done manually.

The AI Text Scaffolder can reduce that preparation time, helping teachers make differentiation a routine rather than an exception.

What the scaffolder adds

Every support is ready to go with your text.

Margin vocabulary glosses

Domain vocabulary definitions come in a word list, each pointed to a place in the text. Each gloss includes a plain-language definition.

Sentence starters and frames

For dense or complex paragraphs, the AI can add sentence starter prompts that help students begin to articulate their comprehension, "The author argues that... because..." or "One thing that surprised me was... because..." Sentence frames are calibrated to the grade level: simpler frames for lower grades, more academically demanding frames for upper secondary and college.

Between-paragraph comprehension probes

The AI writes stop-and-check comprehension questions and points each one to a place in the text. These questions require the student to process what they just read before continuing. Question types can include main idea identification, inference prompts, vocabulary-in-context, and author purpose questions.

Annotation layer for complex references

Historical references, cultural allusions, scientific concepts assumed as prior knowledge, and figurative language can be annotated in the margin notes. If a passage references "the Reconstruction era" in a math problem context, the AI adds a one-sentence annotation explaining the reference. Students from different backgrounds or with knowledge gaps can access the text without feeling lost.

Teachers can distribute both versions in the same class without labeling students, each student receives the version appropriate to their reading level.

Who uses the text scaffolder

Content-area teachers in mixed-ability classrooms use the scaffolder to ensure all students can access grade-level texts regardless of reading level.

ESL and ELL teachers can use Improve with AI to add cognate notes, cultural context annotations, and simplified sentence frames alongside complex academic texts. Students build English academic language skills while engaging with grade-appropriate content.

Special education and resource room teachers use the scaffolder to prepare accessible versions of inclusion classroom materials. Rather than sourcing separate easier texts, they scaffold the same texts their co-teaching partners are using, maintaining content rigor while reducing decoding and comprehension barriers.

Curriculum coordinators and instructional coaches use the scaffolder to build a shared bank of scaffolded versions of core curriculum texts, reducing the time any individual teacher needs to spend on differentiation prep.