Prompts for Students  ---   Prompts for Teachers

Example Prompts for Students

The best student prompts are the ones that make ChatGPT act like a tutor, coach, or study partner—not just an answer machine. Students learn more when they ask for explanations, examples, feedback, and practice.

Reading & Comprehension

Understand a passage

Explain this passage as if I am a 5th grader. Highlight the most important ideas and define any difficult words.

Check understanding

Ask me 10 comprehension questions about this text, one at a time. Don't give me the answers until I respond.

Find the main idea

Read this article and identify the main idea, supporting details, and author's purpose.

Vocabulary

Create flashcards for the most important vocabulary words in this passage.

Writing

Improve an essay

Act as my writing coach. Review my essay and give feedback on organization, clarity, evidence, and grammar without rewriting it for me.

Brainstorm ideas

Help me brainstorm 10 ideas for an essay about [topic]. Ask questions to help me choose the strongest argument.

Improve a paragraph

Tell me what is working well in this paragraph and suggest three ways to make it stronger.

Learn from mistakes

Find grammar errors in my writing and explain why each correction is needed.

Math

Tutor mode

Act as a math tutor. Help me solve this problem step-by-step. Ask me what I think before showing the next step.

Practice problems

Create 10 practice problems on [topic] that get progressively harder.

Find misconceptions

Here's my work. Find where I made a mistake and explain what concept I misunderstood.

Test prep

Give me a mini quiz on [math topic]. Ask one question at a time and explain my mistakes.

Science

Explain concepts

Explain photosynthesis using simple language, real-world examples, and a diagram I can visualize.

Study guide

Create a study guide for my upcoming test on [topic], including key concepts, vocabulary, and practice questions.

Compare ideas

Compare and contrast mitosis and meiosis using a table and simple examples.

History & Social Studies

Cause and effect

Explain the causes, major events, and effects of [historical event] in chronological order.

Study for a test

Pretend you're my history teacher. Quiz me on the American Revolution and adapt the difficulty based on my answers.

Multiple perspectives

Explain this historical event from the perspectives of different groups involved.

Research

Start a research project

Help me research [topic]. Give me an overview, important questions to investigate, and reliable sources to explore.

Evaluate sources

Analyze this source and tell me whether it appears reliable, biased, or incomplete.

Organize information

Turn my research notes into an outline for a report.

Test Preparation

Personal tutor

I have a test on [subject] in 5 days. Create a study plan that fits into 30 minutes per day.

Practice exam

Create a realistic practice test based on this study guide.

Identify weak areas

Ask me questions to determine what I know and don't know about [topic].

Critical Thinking

Challenge my thinking

Act as a skeptical teacher. Review my argument and point out weaknesses, missing evidence, and counterarguments.

Socratic tutor

Don't give me the answer. Ask questions that help me discover the answer myself.

For Elementary Students (Especially Reading)

Since you've asked before about reading support for younger students, this prompt works particularly well:

Act as a patient reading tutor for a 2nd grader. Have the student read a passage one sentence at a time. Help with difficult words, ask comprehension questions, explain vocabulary, and provide encouragement. Adjust the difficulty based on the student's reading level.

One Prompt Every Student Should Know

Act as an expert teacher. Before answering, ask me what grade I'm in and what I already know about the topic. Then explain it at my level, give examples, check my understanding, and create practice questions.

That single prompt turns ChatGPT from an answer generator into a personalized tutor, which is usually the most effective way for students to learn.

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Example Prompts for Teachers

Teachers can save a great deal of time by using prompts that turn ChatGPT into a planning assistant, instructional coach, and content creator. The most useful prompts are specific about grade level, standards, learning goals, and desired format.

Lesson Planning

Create a lesson

Create a 45-minute lesson for 5th grade science on ecosystems. Include learning objectives, vocabulary, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and an exit ticket.

Differentiate instruction

Create three versions of this lesson for struggling learners, grade-level students, and advanced students.

Standards alignment

Align this lesson to California state standards and explain how each activity supports the standards.

Study Guides

Unit study guide

Create a student-friendly study guide for a middle school unit on the American Revolution. Include key vocabulary, important people, major events, essential questions, and a review quiz.

Simple study guide

Turn these notes into a one-page study guide written at a 6th-grade reading level.

Visual study guide

Organize this information into sections with headings, bullet points, tables, and memory tricks.

Exam review packet

Create a comprehensive review packet with definitions, examples, practice questions, and answer keys.

Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards

Create 30 flashcards for this unit. Put the term on one side and a student-friendly definition and example on the other.

Quizlet format

Convert these vocabulary words into Quizlet-style flashcards separated by tabs.

Spiral review flashcards

Create flashcards that include vocabulary from previous units to help with long-term retention.

Picture ideas

For each flashcard, suggest a simple image or drawing students could use to help remember the concept.

Assessments

Create quizzes

Generate a 20-question quiz on fractions containing multiple-choice, short-answer, and word problems. Include an answer key.

Depth of Knowledge

Create questions at Webb's DOK levels 1 through 4.

Exit tickets

Create five exit-ticket questions to quickly assess student understanding.

Error analysis

Create examples of common student mistakes and explain why students make them.

Reading Instruction

Reading passages

Write a 500-word passage about volcanoes for 4th graders with comprehension questions and vocabulary words.

Close reading

Create text-dependent questions that move from basic understanding to deeper analysis.

Small-group intervention

Design a 20-minute intervention lesson for students reading one grade level below expectations.

Decodable passages

Write a decodable story emphasizing long-vowel words and include comprehension questions.

Writing Instruction

Writing prompts

Create 20 narrative writing prompts appropriate for 3rd grade.

Essay scaffolds

Provide sentence starters and graphic organizers for argumentative writing.

Rubrics

Create a four-level rubric for a persuasive essay.

Feedback

Review this student writing and provide strengths, areas for growth, and next steps.

Science and Social Studies

Hands-on activities

Suggest inexpensive experiments for teaching matter to 5th graders.

Primary sources

Create discussion questions that encourage historical thinking and evidence-based reasoning.

Project-based learning

Design a two-week project on renewable energy that includes collaboration and presentations.

Intervention and Differentiation

Below-grade-level support

Rewrite this text two grade levels lower while preserving the key ideas.

English learners

Adapt this lesson for English learners and provide vocabulary supports.

Enrichment

Create extension activities for advanced students.

IEP accommodations

Suggest accommodations and alternative assignments for students with attention or reading difficulties.

Parent Communication

Weekly newsletter

Write a friendly weekly classroom newsletter summarizing what students learned and upcoming events.

Positive messages

Write a brief email to parents celebrating a student's improvement and effort.

Difficult conversations

Draft a professional email regarding missing assignments while maintaining a supportive tone.

Classroom Management

Morning meetings

Create a 15-minute morning meeting agenda for elementary students.

SEL lessons

Develop a short lesson on empathy and conflict resolution.

Behavior plans

Suggest positive reinforcement strategies for students who struggle with staying on task.

AI Tutor for Students

Many teachers are beginning to use prompts like this:

Act as a patient tutor for students in grade [X]. Teach concepts step-by-step without immediately giving answers. Ask questions that help students think, provide examples, check understanding, and adapt explanations to the student's level.

Five "Power Prompts" Teachers Use Repeatedly

1. Study Guide Generator

Create a student-friendly study guide for [topic] and [grade level]. Include vocabulary, key concepts, examples, diagrams students could draw, memory tricks, and a 10-question review quiz with answers.

2. Flashcard Generator

Create flashcards for this unit. Include the term, a simple definition, an example, and a memory cue. Format them in a table that can be copied into Quizlet.

3. Lesson Planner

Create a complete lesson plan for [topic] and [grade level] with objectives, direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, differentiation, and an exit ticket.

4. Assessment Creator

Create a standards-aligned quiz with questions ranging from easy to challenging. Include an answer key and explanations.

5. Reading Tutor

Act as an expert reading teacher. Teach this text one paragraph at a time, define unfamiliar words, ask comprehension questions, and adjust the difficulty based on student responses.

These prompts are among the most commonly used by teachers because they reduce preparation time while still allowing teachers to customize materials for their own students