Spotlight on Seal of Biliteracy Test Practice

Megan Brady, OFLA President Elect
Spanish Teacher, Northwest High School

I hope you found my previous article about AI in the classroom helpful!  I would like to share another tool, called DIFFIT.ME, that I use often. It allows you to either look up a site, copy/paste text, or create text based on your needs. Once you have a text, you can use DIFFIT to manipulate the grade level of the text.  You can also create several types of questions such as multiple choice, short answer, extended response, etc. DIFFIT will also pull vocabulary words, definitions, and summarize the information. Then it can share the information in different styles such as Google Forms, several styles of slides, worksheets, etc. It is AMAZING. I am currently using it to help me create different level readings for my classes. I am also using it to come up with good reading comprehension questions to help differentiate within my courses. This is also a really helpful tool for our ELL kids, as we can bring science textbook explanations to a 3rd grade level, for example, to help them better understand what is happening.

I found DIFFIT especially helpful in creating practice activities for my upper level students who are preparing for the Seal of Biliteracy. I am able to type in a prompt based on whatever theme we are talking about for the week, and ask it to create a reading at a certain level. I usually choose somewhere between 9-11th grade, depending on the topic. Then, I can tweak the readings, but also add more questions (I usually ask for 5 more Strategic Thinking and 5 more Extended Thinking) to give me a variety of questions to choose from. I like to use the vocabulary words it pulls out, and have students match a word with its correct definition for one, and then use some of the others it gives me. However, make sure you read the article and review the questions. Every once in a while I come across a question which isn’t accurate according to the text. We will use this as reading comprehension practice, or I’ll send that recording to https://freetools.textmagic.com/text-to-speech to select a voice that turns it into a listening comprehension practice. 

Unfortunately, DIFFIT, like everything else, is trying to turn into a paid service.  I currently have an extended free trial through June, but after that there are different versions, some paid, so some of those features may go away with the free version. Regardless, this has been a really handy tool to use across all of my Spanish courses, and for helping the ELL kiddos in my district.

Do you use DIFFIT? Or any other AI? Please submit a proposal for our Fall Mini Conference, or annual Spring Conference, and share how you use these tools to help your students or make your life easier! We would love to hear from you! I love learning from colleagues across the state to bring new, innovative tools and resources to my students!