Modify existing content in Teach

Teach supports the modification of educators' existing teaching materials. The AI-powered learning tool, Modify existing content, provides suggestions for educators to easily align content to standards, differentiate instruction, modify the reading level of texts, and enhance a text with relevant supporting examples.

These tools help educators adapt materials they already have on hand, which saves time and ensures that content meets the diverse needs of learners. Each modification tool accepts text input directly or file uploads from cloud files, which makes it simple to transform existing curriculum resources.

Align materials to standards

Aligning instructional content to educational standards helps ensure that lessons clearly support required learning goals and set the right expectations for learners. The Align to Standards tool takes an existing lesson instruction and rewrites it so that it reflects the intent of the selected standard—focusing on what learners should understand or be able to do, rather than copying the standard’s wording.

Scenario: An educator has a lesson instruction for a reading activity on ecosystems. After selecting the new state science standard, the educator uses Align to Standards to produce a revised instruction that better reflects what the standard expects—such as emphasizing system interactions or evidence-based explanations—while still keeping the original lesson’s purpose. This helps the educator quickly strengthen alignment without rewriting the lesson from scratch.

To align content to standards:

1. Enter the lesson instruction. Enter or paste the instruction you want to align. The field supports up to 50,000 characters (minimum 50).
2. Select standards to align to.
   • Choose Add standards to open the standards picker.
   • Search or scroll to find the correct standard set (national, state, or international).
   • Pick the subject, grade level, and strand.
   • Select the specific standard(s) whose intent you want the instruction to reflect.
3. Generate the aligned instruction. Select Generate. Teach rewrites your instruction so that it reflects the intent of the chosen standard(s)—focusing on what learners should understand or be able to do.
4. Review and refine. Look at the rewritten instructions. Use the description field or the suggested modifications to adjust the alignment if needed. Ensure the revised instruction stays true to your lesson’s purpose while matching the standard’s intent.

Differentiate instructions

Differentiation helps ensure that every learner—regardless of readiness, background knowledge, or support needs—can access and engage with instructional tasks. The Differentiate Instructions tool adapts existing instructions so they align with the specific supports an educator requests, such as adjusting the reading level, providing a single type of scaffold, or matching a desired length. Because it's designed for single‑shot use, the model must produce a clear, accurate adaptation that adheres directly to the selected inputs.

Scenario: A secondary biology educator has lab instructions written for general education learners but needs versions for learners who require additional scaffolding. Using Differentiate instructions, the educator can quickly generate modified instructions with built-in supports like sentence starters, graphic organizers, or step-by-step breakdowns.

To differentiate instructions:

1. Provide content. Enter or paste the instructional text directly or select a file from your cloud storage. The content field accepts 50–50,000 characters.

2. Select the grade level. Choose the target grade level from the dropdown menu. The tool adapts the output so the language and expectations match the selected level.

3. Choose one scaffolding type. Select the single scaffolding support you want added to the adapted instructions. The tool includes only the scaffold you select.

   Scaffolding types:

   • Step-by-step: Breaks the task into clear, sequential actions. Useful for learners who need explicit structure or who benefit from procedural guidance.
   • Hints: Provides prompts, clues, or reminders that support thinking without giving away the full answer. Ideal for learners who need nudges to get started or stay on track.
   • Example answer: Supplies a sample response that models what a completed answer could look like. Helpful for learners who benefit from seeing the expected structure or depth of response.

4. Set the length. Choose whether you want the output to be Concise, Original, or Expanded, depending on how much detail your learners need.

5. Generate differentiated instructions. Select Generate to create an adapted version of your original instructions based on the settings you selected.

6. Review and refine. Check the generated instructions to ensure they meet your needs. Use the description field to request additional adjustments or select from suggested refinement options.

Modify reading level

Adjusting the reading level helps ensure that content remains accessible to all learners while preserving essential vocabulary and core concepts. The Modify reading level tool rewrites text to match a specified grade level, simplifying or increasing complexity as needed while maintaining the original meaning. When requested, the tool can also generate a glossary that provides clear, age appropriate definitions of key terms to support learner comprehension.

Scenario: A secondary social studies educator wants learners to work with a primary source, but the document is written at a university reading level. Using Modify reading level, the educator produces a version that keeps the document’s key ideas and important historical terms intact while simplifying sentence structure and word choice for lower secondary readers. The educator can also request a glossary, allowing learners to access accurate, learner friendly definitions of essential terms directly alongside the adapted text.

To modify reading levels:

1. Provide content. Enter or paste the text directly or select a file from your cloud storage. The content field accepts up to 50,000 characters and requires a minimum of 50 characters.
2. Select the target grade level. Choose the desired reading level from the dropdown. Teach adjusts vocabulary, sentence structure, and overall complexity to match typical expectations for that level.
3. Add key terms to preserve. Choose important vocabulary that should remain in the rewritten text. Select from the suggested key terms automatically detected in the text or add terms manually. These terms are preserved even if they exceed the target reading level.
4. Enable glossary (optional). Turn on the Glossary option to generate clear, age appropriate definitions of the key terms at the end of the modified text. This helps learners understand essential vocabulary without raising the reading complexity of the passage.
5. Generate modified text. Select Generate to produce a new version of the content at the specified reading level.
6. Review and adjust. Review the rewritten passage. Use the description box to request refinements—such as adjusting sentence length, clarifying a concept, adding context, or modifying specific sections.

Add supporting examples

Examples strengthen understanding by connecting abstract concepts to concrete illustrations. The Add Supporting Examples tool enhances existing instructional content by appending relevant, accurate, and age appropriate examples that help learners see how ideas apply in real world contexts—without altering the original paragraph.

Scenario: An educator is teaching thermal energy transfer and has a paragraph explaining that heat moves from warmer objects to cooler ones. However, the lesson lacks concrete applications. Using Add Supporting Examples, the educator can generate real world science examples—such as a metal spoon warming in hot soup or an ice cube melting on a warm countertop—to help learners visualize how heat transfer works in everyday situations. These added examples reinforce the original explanation, increase clarity, and make the concept more accessible for secondary learners.

To add supporting examples:

1. Provide content. Enter or paste the paragraph you want to enhance, or choose a file from your cloud storage. The content field accepts up to 50,000 characters and requires at least 50 characters to generate examples.
2. Choose the number of examples. Select whether you want one, two, or three examples.
   • More examples provide a wider range of illustrations.
   • Fewer examples allow for deeper focus on a single idea.
3. Select the type of example. Choose one of the supported example types from the dropdown menu. The tool currently supports Real World, Scientific, and Historical examples. These types guide the AI in generating examples that align with your chosen instructional focus.
4. Set the depth of detail. Choose the level of detail for each example—Light, Moderate, or Deep.
   • Light: simple, one sentence examples
   • Moderate: 1–2 sentences with brief context
   • Deep: 2–3 sentences with reasoning or impact
5. Generate the examples. Select Generate to produce examples based on your content and selections. The tool appends examples beneath your paragraph without modifying the original text.
6. Review and refine. Because these examples are AI generated, always review them for accuracy, clarity, and age appropriateness before sharing with learners. You can use the description field to request changes—such as adjusting the complexity, changing the example type, or aligning to class interests.

Q: Where does Teach store created content?

A: Educators can save content by saving and sharing them across Microsoft 365 apps, including Microsoft Education Applications like Assignments and Classwork, which you can use in Microsoft class teams and supported LMS tools. Teach saves lesson plan and rubric files to OneDrive. It saves learning activities under Learning Activities and Quizzes to Forms.