What Claude is
Claude is an AI: a computer program you talk to by typing. You ask a question in ordinary words, and it writes back. It was made by a company called Anthropic. It can explain a step you missed, check your work, make up practice problems, and quiz you, in any of the four GED subjects, at any hour.
There is a free plan. It lets you use Claude for a while, and then asks you to wait. When you reach the limit, Claude tells you when you can start again. Nothing on this page needs a paid plan.
Before you start
You must be 18 or older to have a Claude account. If you are younger, don't sign up. Ask Myles in class instead, and use the quizzes on this site.
To sign up, go to claude.ai on a computer or phone, or get the Claude app from your phone’s app store. You can sign up with an email address or a Google account.
Keep this site open
Every Open in Claude button on this page opens Claude in a new tab. This page stays where it was, in the tab you came from. When you are done asking, close the Claude tab, or switch back, and you are here again.
- Bookmark this site. The address is thepeoplesshare.org/ged. On a phone, you can put it on your home screen like an app: on an iPhone, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. On an Android phone, tap the three dots, then Add to Home screen.
- Start each chat with the starter line, below. It tells Claude what you are studying for, and it puts this site’s address in your chat, so you can find your way back from there too.
The starter line
I'm studying for the GED with The People's Share (thepeoplesshare.org).
Four habits for asking
Everyone gets stuck. The question you type first is usually a shrug: I don’t get it. That is a fine place to start. These four habits turn it into a question that teaches you something.
- Say it is for the GED. Then Claude explains things the way the test asks them, and doesn’t wander into college math.
- Say what you already did, and where you stopped. Claude can’t see your paper, and it wasn’t in your class. Type in the problem and your work so far.
- Ask for one step, or a hint, not the answer. On test day you will be working alone. A hint keeps the work in your hands. You can always say “give me the next step.”
- Check what it tells you. Claude is usually right, but not always, and it can slip on arithmetic. Put the answer back into the problem and see if it works. If something looks wrong, say so: “I don’t think that’s right, can you check it?”
Typing math
You don’t need special symbols. Claude understands math typed with the keys you have:
| x^2 | x squared (x to the power 2) |
| 8^(2/3) | 8 to the two-thirds power |
| sqrt(2) | the square root of 2 |
| 3/4 | three-fourths |
| 5 1/4 | five and one-fourth |
| 3*4, or 3 x 4 | 3 times 4 |
| 2(x + 3) | 2 times the binomial x + 3 |
You can also take a photo of the problem, or of your work, and attach it to your message with the paperclip or + button. Claude reads pictures.
Questions students ask, and how to ask them
First, a question the way a student might type it. Under it, a way of asking that gets more. Copy puts the words on your clipboard. Open in Claude opens Claude in a new tab with the question ready; press send when you are ready.
A student might typeHow do I subtract mixed numbers?
How do I subtract mixed numbers, like 5 1/4 minus 2 2/3? Show me one example step by step, then give me two to try on my own.
The question was fine as it was. Asking for an example and two to try turns an answer into practice.
A student might typeI'm towards the end of a Pythagorean theorem problem and I'm stuck. I don't remember what my teacher said always comes at the end.
I'm working a Pythagorean theorem problem. I have a^2 + b^2 = c^2, and I got c^2 = 169. What is the last step to get c? Explain why, but let me do the step myself.
Claude was not in your class and cannot know what your teacher said. So tell it what you have written down so far. Then it can see exactly where you stopped.
A student might typeI don't remember what to do with a fractional exponent.
What does a fractional exponent mean, like 8^(2/3)? Explain it with that one example, then give me one to try.
Type ^ for “to the power of,” and put a fractional exponent in parentheses.
A student might typeThere's a number in front of the x^2. How do I factor this?
How do I factor 2x^2 + 7x + 3, when the number in front of x^2 isn't 1? Go one step at a time, and wait for me to answer before each next step.
Asking Claude to wait for you keeps you doing the work. Paste in your own problem in place of this one.
A student might typeWhat is the “Straight Line” test?
My teacher mentioned a test for graphs that uses a straight line. I think it's about whether a graph is a function. What is it, and how do I use it?
If you only half remember a name, say so, and say what it was about. Claude can usually work out what you mean. Here it is the vertical line test.
A student might typeTeach me algebra!
Teach me algebra from the beginning, for the GED. One small lesson at a time. At the end of each lesson, ask me one question, and don't go on until I answer it.
A big subject needs small pieces. This turns one question into a course you can take a little at a time, over many days.
A student might typeGive me an introduction to coordinate geometry!
Give me an introduction to coordinate geometry for the GED: plotting points, then slope, then the equation of a line. Keep each part short and ask me a question after each one.
Naming the parts in order gives Claude a plan to follow, and gives you a way to say “go back to slope.”
A student might typeWhat's the square root of 2?
What's the square root of 2? Why doesn't it come out to a whole number, and how could I estimate it without a calculator?
Claude will give you the number, about 1.414. Asking why is what teaches you something.
A student might typeWhat is a ratio?
What is a ratio? Give me an everyday example, then three short practice questions with the answers hidden until I ask.
A word problem, from start to finish
Here is a whole conversation, in two turns. First, ask for help setting the problem up, not for the answer:
Don't solve this for me. Help me set it up, one step at a time:
Ann is 3 times as old as her brother. In 4 years, she will be twice as old as he is. How old are they now?
“Don’t solve this for me” is the most useful sentence on this page.
Claude will help you name the ages with variables and write two equations. Work them out yourself. Then check:
I got Ann = 12 and her brother = 4. Is that right? Show me how to check it myself.
Checking is the last step of every word problem. Ann is 12, three times 4. In four years she is 16 and he is 8, and 16 is twice 8. Both sentences in the problem come out true, so the answer is right.
More ways to use it
Put your own words in place of anything in [square brackets].
Quiz me
Give me five GED-style questions on percents, one at a time. After each one, tell me if I got it right, and if I didn't, show me where I went wrong.
Explain a quiz answer
On a practice quiz I got this question wrong: [paste the question and the choices here]. I chose [your answer]. Why is that wrong, and what should I have noticed?
Check my work
Here is my work on a problem: [type or paste each step]. Don't give me the answer. Tell me the first line where I made a mistake.
Science: read a graph with me
I'm attaching a photo of a graph from my science book. Ask me questions about it one at a time, to help me learn how to read it.
Social studies: a hard word
What does “checks and balances” mean? Explain it in plain words, with one example from U.S. history.
Language arts: my paragraph
Here is a paragraph I wrote for a practice GED essay: [paste it]. Don't rewrite it. Tell me the two things that would most improve it, and I'll try to fix them.
What it is not for
- Not during the GED itself. The test is taken alone, with no help and no phone. Claude is for the weeks before.
- Not for writing your essay. On test day you write it yourself in 45 minutes. Use Claude to get feedback on what you wrote, then fix it yourself.
- Not for private information. Don’t type your full name, address, phone number, ID numbers, or your People’s Share code into a chat. In Claude’s settings, under Privacy, you can also choose whether your chats are used to improve Claude.
When the free plan runs out
The free plan gives you a certain amount of use at a time. When it runs out, Claude tells you when you can start again. Four things make it last:
- Put everything in one message: the problem, your work, and what you want.
- Start a new chat for a new topic. Long chats use up more.
- Read the answer twice before asking again.
- While you wait, come back here. Every quiz on this site explains every answer.
Back to studying
- Mathfourteen families, quizzes, apps and practice sheets
- Sciencethe life science rooms and quizzes
- Look It Upsearch every math topic by name
- The GED pageall four tests, and this week’s homework
The People’s Share is not connected with Anthropic, the company that makes Claude. We send you to Claude because it is a good tutor with a free plan. Claude’s own help pages are at support.claude.com.