The short answer
The most useful AI prompts for teachers give the AI the year group, curriculum, learning objective and class profile, then ask for a usable format: a timed lesson plan, three-level differentiated tasks, a cited quiz, a rubric or a feedback comment bank. Gemini Notebook, formerly NotebookLM, is the best free choice for quizzes from your own materials, and Claude is strongest for finished lesson documents. Never paste pupils' personal data into consumer chatbots.
How to use these teacher prompts well
These 14 prompts cover the planning, resource-making, assessment and admin work that eats a teacher's evenings. Each one is written the way good prompts work: it tells the AI who the learners are, what the lesson must achieve and what format to hand back. The more of your own context you add (curriculum, class profile, the text you are teaching), the less editing you do afterwards.
Two rules come before any prompt. First, never paste pupils' names, grades, special educational needs details or other personal data into a consumer chatbot. Describe the class instead ("six pupils read two years below age expectation") and add names back yourself. Second, follow your school's or district's AI policy. Many schools now specify which tools staff may use, and some require a school account. If yours has none yet, our guide to using AI at work safely is a sensible starting point.
You stay the teacher. AI drafts are a first version: check facts, reading levels and answers before anything reaches a class. Models still make confident mistakes, especially in maths working and subject-specific detail.
Prompts to plan lessons and units
Plan a lesson from a learning objective gives you a timed plan with a starter, teaching input, practice, a check for understanding and a plenary. Map a unit backwards from the assessment starts with what pupils must be able to do at the end and works back to a sequence of lessons. Differentiate one task three ways turns a single activity into support, core and stretch versions so the whole class works on the same idea.
Prompts to make teaching resources
Write a reading passage at a set level produces an original text on your topic with vocabulary pitched at the right age, plus questions. Generate worked examples and common errors gives you model answers and the misconceptions pupils typically bring, which is useful for planning explanations. Outline a slide deck drafts slides you can then build. Claude's free plan includes Claude Slides, which exports to PowerPoint, PDF and Google Slides, and Gemini Notebook can make a slide deck from your own sources with a Review toggle to check the outline first.
Prompts for assessment and feedback
Build a quiz from your own materials is best in Gemini Notebook (the tool Google called NotebookLM until 16 July 2026), because it answers only from the sources you add and cites the passage behind each question. Write a rubric turns a task into clear success criteria in pupil-friendly language. Create a feedback comment bank gives you reusable, specific comments for the mistakes you see most, which you then match to work yourself. Write hinge questions produces multiple-choice questions where each wrong answer reveals a specific misconception.
Do not upload pupils' work with names on it, and do not let AI decide grades. Use it to draft criteria and comments, then apply your professional judgement.
Prompts for admin and communication
Draft a message to parents handles trips, reminders and changes in a warm, clear tone at a reading level all families can follow. Turn rough notes into report comments takes your bullet points about a pupil, with the name removed, and writes a balanced comment you then personalise. Plan a department meeting builds an agenda with decisions and owners.
Prompts for your own subject knowledge
Brief me on a topic I have to teach next week is for the unit outside your specialism. Ask for the core ideas, typical pupil questions and the points where textbooks often oversimplify, then check against a trusted source.
How to adapt these prompts
- Name the curriculum and level. "Year 8, KS3 science, England" or "Grade 5, Common Core math" changes vocabulary, expectations and examples.
- Describe the class, not individuals. Prior knowledge, reading ages in ranges, and any access needs as group descriptions.
- Paste your materials. Your scheme of work, the set text or last year's assessment keeps the AI aligned with what you actually teach.
- Ask for a format you can use. A table, a numbered plan or a document you can export saves retyping.
- Iterate once. "Make the starter shorter and the practice harder" is quicker than writing a new prompt.
Which AI tool works best for teachers
Gemini Notebook is our pick for anything built from your own materials: quizzes, flashcards, study guides and Audio Overviews for revision. Its free Standard plan allows 100 notebooks with 50 sources each, and since 29 October 2026 you can add free textbooks from OpenStax, Open Textbook Library and S Chand Publishing. With a qualifying Google Workspace for Education account, Google says uploads, queries and responses are not reviewed by humans or used to train AI models. Read our Gemini Notebook guide.
Claude is the strongest for careful lesson plans, rubrics and finished documents, with Claude Docs and Claude Slides on every plan including Free. ChatGPT is the quickest all-rounder for resources and parent messages; ChatGPT Edu, like Business and Enterprise, is not used for training by default, and OpenAI offers ChatGPT for Teachers, a free plan for verified US K to 12 educators until June 2027. Perplexity helps when you need current, cited sources for a topic, and Perplexity Education Pro is available to verified educators. For personal accounts, switch off training first: in ChatGPT under Settings, Data controls, Improve the model for everyone, and in Claude under Settings, Privacy, Help Improve our AI models.
See our best AI for teachers, AI for teachers and keeping your data private pages, and try the short lessons on Claude and ChatGPT.
Prompts to copy
Plan a lesson from a learning objective
Plan a [length, e.g. 50-minute] lesson for [year group and subject, curriculum]. Learning objective: [objective]. The class has [prior knowledge] and [describe range of needs, no names]. Give a timed plan with a starter, teaching input, guided practice, independent practice, a check for understanding and a plenary. For each part, say what I do and what pupils do, and list the resources I need.
You get: A timed lesson plan you can teach from
Map a unit backwards from the assessment
At the end of this [number]-lesson unit on [topic], pupils must be able to [final assessment task]. Work backwards: list the knowledge and skills they need, put them in a logical teaching order, and give a one-line focus and a quick check for each lesson. Flag any prerequisite I should test in lesson one.
You get: A lesson-by-lesson unit sequence built from the end goal
Differentiate one task three ways
Here is a task for [year group]: [paste task]. Rewrite it in three versions on the same learning objective: support (with scaffolds such as sentence starters or a worked example), core, and stretch (with a harder application). Keep the instructions short and in pupil-friendly language.
You get: Support, core and stretch versions of one activity
Write a reading passage at a set level
Write an original [length]-word passage about [topic] for pupils aged [age] with a reading age of about [age]. Use short paragraphs and define up to five key words in context. Then write six questions: two retrieval, two inference and two vocabulary, with model answers.
You get: A levelled text with questions and answers
Generate worked examples and common errors
For [topic] at [level], give me three worked examples of increasing difficulty with every step shown. Then list the five most common misconceptions or errors pupils make on this topic, with an example of each wrong answer and a one-sentence way to address it in class.
You get: Model answers plus the misconceptions to plan for
Outline a slide deck
Outline a slide deck for a lesson on [topic] for [year group]. Ten slides at most: title, learning objective, a hook question, three teaching slides with one idea each, a worked example, a practice slide, a check for understanding and a summary. For each slide, give the heading, up to 30 words of text and a suggestion for an image or diagram.
You get: A slide-by-slide outline ready to build
Build a quiz from your own materials
Using only these sources, write a [number]-question quiz on [topic] for [year group]. Mix multiple-choice, short-answer and fill-in-the-blank questions, order them from easiest to hardest, and base every question on a cited passage. Give an answer key at the end.
You get: A cited quiz aligned with what you taught
Write a rubric
Create a rubric for this task: [paste task] for [year group]. Use four bands (working towards, secure, strong, excellent) and these criteria: [list up to four, or write "suggest four that fit the task"]. Write each descriptor in language a pupil can understand, starting with "I can". Add one example of what a strong answer includes, and present the rubric as a table I can paste into a document.
You get: Clear, pupil-friendly success criteria
Create a feedback comment bank
I am marking [task] for [year group]. The most common issues are [list issues]. For each issue, write two feedback comments: one that names what to improve and one next step the pupil can act on in ten minutes. Keep each comment under 30 words, specific and encouraging.
You get: Reusable, specific comments you match to work yourself
Write hinge questions
Write four multiple-choice hinge questions on [concept] for [year group]. Each question should have four options, one correct, and each wrong option should match a specific misconception. Under each question, explain what each wrong answer tells me about the pupil's thinking.
You get: Diagnostic questions that show who needs reteaching
Draft a message to parents
Write a short message to parents of [year group] about [event or change] on [date]. Include what is happening, what they need to do, by when, and who to contact. Keep it warm and clear, under 150 words, at a reading level all families can follow. Give a plain-text version I can also paste into the school app.
You get: A clear parent message ready to send after checking
Turn rough notes into report comments
Write a balanced end-of-term report comment for a pupil in [subject, year group], using [Pupil] instead of a name. My notes: [strengths, areas to develop, effort, one target]. Use about [word count] words, start with a strength, include one specific next step, and avoid jargon. Give me two versions in slightly different tones.
You get: Draft comments you personalise and check
Plan a department meeting
Plan a [length] department meeting on [topics]. Give a timed agenda that puts decisions first, says what decision is needed for each item, who should lead it and what to prepare. End with a section for actions with owners and dates.
You get: A focused agenda with decisions and owners
Brief me on a topic I have to teach next week
I am a [your subject] teacher and next week I teach [topic] to [year group], which is outside my specialism. Brief me: the five core ideas in plain English, the questions pupils most often ask, two places textbooks often oversimplify, and one good real-world example. Say clearly where you are unsure so I can check it.
You get: A quick subject-knowledge refresher with weak spots flagged