ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can all help teachers draft and revise ESL materials. Choosing between them is less about finding a permanent winner and more about finding a workflow that fits your teaching.
Do you want to improve an activity through conversation? Keep reference materials together for a unit? Edit a worksheet in a document-style workspace?
Those are practical differences worth exploring.
This guide compares documented features and suggested teaching workflows. It does not present classroom test results or claim that one tool consistently produces more accurate CEFR-level material.
A Practical Comparison
| Planning situation | Feature to explore | Suggested use |
|---|---|---|
| You want to revise an activity through short follow-up requests | ChatGPT text conversation | Draft, review, and adjust one lesson component |
| You repeatedly use the same unit documents and teaching requirements | Claude Projects | Keep reference materials and project instructions together |
| You want to edit a teaching document directly while discussing changes | Gemini Canvas | Develop and revise a worksheet or lesson document |
These are starting points, not exclusive capabilities. The tools overlap, and their features change.
Check what is available in your account before choosing a workflow.
1. ChatGPT: Develop a Lesson Through Conversation
ChatGPT is worth trying when you want to build a lesson in stages rather than request everything at once.
Use text chat to describe your learners, request a draft, and revise specific parts. Give the relevant context up front, then treat the first response as a draft you refine with follow-up messages — the approach set out in OpenAI’s prompting guide.
Example: Plan a Restaurant Role-Play
Start with:
Review the sequence before continuing:
Then add a communicative purpose:
This approach lets you check the goal, language, and interaction separately.
What to Watch For
Later revisions can change details you wanted to preserve. After several turns, request a consolidated version:
Check the result yourself. A request to preserve constraints is not a guarantee that every constraint was followed.
For a step-by-step introduction, see our ChatGPT beginner’s guide for ESL teachers.
2. Claude: Organise Planning Around Shared References
Claude’s Projects feature is worth exploring when several lessons depend on the same documents.
A project can hold reference material and instructions that provide context for conversations within it. Anthropic explains the feature in its Projects guide.
Example: Build a Short Unit
Create a project for a unit such as “Everyday Shopping.” Add material you are permitted to use:
- Your vocabulary list
- A brief description of what learners already know
- The unit’s language objectives
- Your preferred lesson-plan format
Set project instructions such as:
Then request one component:
Refer to Anthropic’s project setup instructions for the current interface.
What to Watch For
Putting a file in a project does not prove that every detail was used correctly.
Check the generated material against the source. Keep important requirements in the project instructions or reference documents rather than assuming that every conversation shares every earlier decision.
Project organisation is a workflow advantage to evaluate — not evidence that Claude always writes better lessons or follows CEFR levels more accurately.
3. Gemini: Edit Teaching Documents With Canvas
Gemini’s Canvas provides a workspace for creating and editing documents. You can revise text directly or select a section and ask Gemini to change it. Google documents these options in its Canvas guide.
Example: Create a Student Worksheet
Select Canvas from the available tools and request:
After reviewing it, select an instruction that is too complicated and ask:
You can also make direct text edits when you already know the wording you want.
What to Watch For
A neatly organised document can still contain unsuitable language or incorrect answers. Review content before spending time on presentation.
If you want to work from existing material, Gemini also supports file uploads. First ask it to identify the relevant content before generating activities.
Do not assume that a personal Gemini account automatically includes every feature inside Google Docs, Slides, or Classroom. Check your school’s account and administrator settings separately.
Compare Them With the Same Teaching Task
If you are deciding which tool to adopt, test a task you actually repeat. Give each tool the same source material and prompt:
Then assess the drafts using the same questions:
| Criterion | What to check |
|---|---|
| Language fit | Are the words and structures appropriate for these learners? |
| Task quality | Do students need to exchange information? |
| Instructions | Could students understand what to do? |
| Accuracy | Are examples, explanations, and answers correct? |
| Practicality | Can the lesson work with your equipment and class size? |
| Revision effort | How much work remains before you can teach it? |
Give each tool a comparable opportunity to revise its draft.
Record the date and, where visible, the model or mode used. Results may change with updates, settings, and the task itself.
This small comparison can guide your own choice. It should not be presented as proof that one product is universally best.
Which Tool Is Best for CEFR-Level Materials?
Do not treat any of the three as a CEFR certification system.
“Write a B1 passage” leaves many classroom questions unanswered. Add information about:
- Grammar already taught
- Vocabulary students know
- Reading confidence
- Background knowledge
- The final task
For example:
Review the passage itself rather than trusting its label.
For mixed-level teaching, consider changing support before creating entirely different texts:
What About Feedback on Student Writing?
All AI-generated feedback needs teacher review.
Use a fictional sample or appropriately de-identified work in a school-approved environment. Supply the assignment and rubric rather than asking for a general grade. Try:
Check whether the comments are accurate and understandable to the learner.
A detailed response is not necessarily a useful one. Two well-chosen points may support revision better than a long list of corrections.
Pricing, Access, and School Accounts
Compare the features you need before comparing subscriptions. Official plan information is available here:
School-managed access may differ from personal subscriptions. Confirm file permissions, data handling, student-use rules, and available features with your institution.
There is no need to maintain three paid subscriptions simply to prepare lessons. Start with an approved tool you already have and evaluate whether another solves a specific problem.
Final Recommendation
For conversational drafting, try ChatGPT’s text chat. For planning around shared unit references, explore Claude Projects. For direct document revision, explore Gemini Canvas.
These are useful entry points — not permanent rankings.
Choose the workflow that helps you produce accurate, appropriate materials with manageable review time. Then judge the lesson by what students understand and do, not by how impressive the first AI draft looks.