Grade 3: rulings backlog (15; none of these blocks the course)

Your words, 9 October, evening: "I think I've ruled on the most crucial ones already. So I'd suggest moving those into a separate list, which I can rule on when I have time … they shouldn't be a blocker to producing the rest of the course." This is that list for Grade 3. Every item has a default already in force, so the course is complete and live without a ruling. A reminder comes on Monday 12 October 2026.

Tap a button on any card; the ruling goes to the build, the card shows it as ruled, and the same card on its topic page closes too.

At a glance

#	The question	Default in force
1	Topic 4: Type 11 — which of four named things, or four named metals, is magnetic MCQ (which of four named things is magnetic) A magnet is…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
2	Topic 4: Type 12 — four described things on one desk, each in the sort's two-test frame (does a magnet pull it? does it pull a pin by…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
3	Topic 4: Type 13 — a thing's behaviour against the sort's two tests is described, and the student TYPES the word for it — "magnetic" (a…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
4	Topic 5: Your four-option "Leo" item pairs a verdict with its reason; your 28 Sep rule bans that shape. Which holds for hard PP100 items?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
5	Topic 6: Does Topic 6 coin "contact force" and "non-contact force", as Olivia asks and TEKS 3.7A words it?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
6	Topic 6: Does Lesson 2 become a lesson about "static electricity" by name, and does the balloon leave the intro?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
7	Topic 7: Does Topic 7 (or Topic 5) gain a short part on what a push is in science — a catch is a push, a still leg the ball hits pushes it, and a push doesn't always move the thing?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
8	Topic 7: Does Grade 3 keep saying "nothing pushes or pulls it" of a thing at rest, or does every such line name the push or pull that is missing?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
9	Topic 10: Type 11 — a beanbag tossed straight up, still going up — which forces act on it now A girl tosses a beanbag straight up. It has…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
10	Topic 13: Topic 13's summary still says "Remember the tent…": clear the stuck platform edit, or re-render the summary?	it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.
11	Topic 23: Type 6 — twelve months of usual rainy days (ten years of records): which month is likely to have the fewest next year text entry…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
12	Topic 32: Type 6 — a moving toy is non-living: which of the four questions gets the answer YES for it A toy train runs round its track…	the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.
13	Strand tests: pass at 27 of 30, or 26?	27 of 30 (the provisional figure in each form's routing line); no test is in the Drive package yet.
14	Roll Olivia's three themes across Topics 8–42?	Topics 8–42 stay as they are; only Topics 1–7 carry her fixes. In chat you said "you should be doing that, probably"; the work starts on your tap.
15	Eight Grade 3 videos print a rule or a sentence on screen; edit them all by id?	the eight videos stay live as they are.

The cards

Default in force: the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.

Topic 4 · Magnets · Type 11 · bank item PP-31 · tests FOR3-023

ProposedEasyProposed: Type 11 — which of four named things, or four named metals, is magnetic

MCQ (which of four named things is magnetic)

A magnet is held near four things, one at a time. Which one is magnetic?

a) a copper bowl
b) an aluminum pot
c) a steel rake ← key
d) a gold necklace

Why it is this type: A magnet pulls steel, so steel is magnetic. / The rake is steel, so the rake is magnetic. / Copper, aluminum and gold are metals, but a magnet does not pull them. / So the bowl, the pot and the necklace are not magnetic.

Recommendation: Approve the proposed type

Your four-option "Leo" item pairs a verdict with its reason; your 28 Sep rule bans that shape. Which holds for hard PP100 items?

What it says now: On 28 Sep you said "avoid these types of questions where you have the answer and a reason within the same multiple-choice question", and the Grade 3 banks were built to it: a claim item asks "Is Leo right?" with bare Yes / No, and the reason goes in the why line. Today, ruling on Topic 5's type sheet, you wrote the hard PP100 item yourself in the paired form: "Leo says: one push can act on two objects at the same time. Select the option that says whether he is right, and why" with four options each pairing a verdict and a reason. It is in the bank as you wrote it.

Olivia's suggestion: — (your own two rulings; the vault sync surfaced the tension rather than resolve it)

Recommendation: Allow it for hard PP100 items. Your Leo item is the strongest four-option claim item in the bank: the reasons are the four beliefs a child could hold, so the item tests the why without a written answer. The ban still protects lesson checks, where a child is learning the claim itself.

Reason: Both forms cannot be the rule for the same slot. The vault records the tension and a proposed reading, marked as ours, not yours: the paired form is allowed for a HARD PP100 item where all four options pair verdict and reason in one frame and the stem says so; lesson quizzes keep bare Yes / No with the reason in the why line. Until you rule, the 28 Sep ban governs as written and the Leo item stands as a named exception on your authorship.

Default in force: it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.

Topic 6 · Lesson 1: Some forces act without touching; L03 (and a possible new lesson between them); their quizzes; the mixed practice; the summary video; the test bank

Does Topic 6 coin "contact force" and "non-contact force", as Olivia asks and TEKS 3.7A words it?

What it says now: The topic's two labels are everyday words — "a force that touches" and "a force that doesn't touch" — in every item's option set, every verdict chip (TOUCHES / DOESN'T TOUCH) and every video. The register's atoms (FOR3-020, FOR3-026, FOR3-027) coin nothing: FOR3-026 is titled "Touching or non-touching?" and its behaviour is "sort described forces into touching or non-touching kinds". "Contact" appears nowhere in the three atoms' titles, behaviours or cross fields, so the build never said it. Today's pass (7 Oct) rewrote the test itself to "does the pusher or puller HAVE to touch the thing?" — her correctness point — but kept the labels.

Olivia's suggestion: (INTRO-v1) "I would have this lesson with just a small number of questions and then I would have another lesson that now is kind of the same thing but we're using the term 'contact.' The next video defines the term 'contact' as touching and it defines the applied force as a contact force… and the magnetic force as a non-contact force. The questions there should have them say 'contact force' and 'non-contact force' as well as quiz them on what contact means." (Lesson 3 (Touching or not touching?), the video script) "We can still say touch but it also should be: this is called a contact force. This is a non-contact force." (Lesson 3 (Touching or not touching?), question 1) "'Which of these is a contact force?' 'What does contact mean?'" (Lesson 3 (Touching or not touching?), question 3) "I think we should be using 'contact' by now."

Recommendation: Coin them in Lesson 3 (essential to settle before Lesson 3b is sent — the term is TEKS 3.7A's own, and it saves a second render later). If you choose to keep the everyday labels, nothing changes and Lesson 3b goes as written.

Reason: A coining is yours to set, and the register's atoms do not carry it — so it waits for you rather than going in under the 2 Oct rule. The standard is on her side: TEKS 3.7A reads "demonstrate and describe forces acting on an object in contact or at a distance, including magnetism, gravity, and pushes and pulls" — "in contact" is the state test's own word, and "contact force / non-contact force" is the pair every later grade uses (Grade 4's forces topic, middle school, STAAR). Against: it is a second coining in a two-coining topic (Topic 5 coined "force"; "gravity" is already in use), and at Grade 3 "contact" is a word the child has only in "contact lenses". Cost if yes: the option labels across 60-odd items become "a contact force / a non-contact force" (one pass; text), Lesson 3b is re-cut once more with the coining line "A force that has to touch is called a contact force. A force that can act without touching is called a non-contact force." (one render — so you may want to rule before Lesson 3b is sent), the register gains the term on FOR3-026, and her two "what does contact mean?" items join Lesson 3 (Touching or not touching?)'s quiz. Her separate ask for a whole second lesson is more than the term needs: the coining fits Lesson 3 (Touching or not touching?), whose job is the sort.

More detail

Half-answered 8 Oct 2026 by your Topic 5 ruling (A41): "The push or pull from a person is called a contact force, because you make contact when you push or pull — so name it contact force and include the because line." Topic 5 now coins "contact force" in Lesson 1, so Topic 6 reuses that name rather than coining it. What this card still asks is only the other half: does Topic 6 Lesson 3 also name the forces that do not touch "non-contact forces"? Recommendation unchanged: yes, in the sort's closing line, with "contact force" recalled from Topic 5.

Default in force: it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.

Topic 6 · INTRO (INTROb); L02 (video; article; quiz); the mixed practice; SUMMARY (SUMMARYb); the test bank

Does Lesson 2 become a lesson about "static electricity" by name, and does the balloon leave the intro?

What it says now: Lesson 2 teaches the fact as the register's atom FOR3-027 rules it — "a rubbed balloon pulls light things toward it, without touching them" — and names nothing but, once, in its closing line, "something called electric charge. You'll learn about it later" (the atom's cross field, your 25 Sep ruling: "show, do not explain… say only that this is because of something called electric charge, met later; the charge explanation is FOR5 SD-4"). "Static" is never said. The intro's third scene is the balloon over the friend's head. Today's pass stripped every line that treated "the balloon's pull" as a NAME for a kind of force (it is "the rubbed balloon's pull" on the page), cut "electric charge" from the summary, toned the balloon's effects down to hair and bits of paper, and cut the two practice items she called unreliable (pepper grains; foil on a wet day). The live Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching) video still has a chip THE BALLOON'S PULL.

Olivia's suggestion: (Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching), the video script) "I'm uncomfortable with this video defining 'balloon pull' as though it's a specific thing. I think kids will come away from it thinking 'balloon pull' is like a science, like a type of force. I would here maybe lead with the term 'static' because we can't really explain what static is very well without going into electrons… I would just say, 'There's something. This is because of a force called static electricity' and then I would give other examples of static electricity, like taking laundry out of the dryer, getting a shock… We can just name it and give examples." (Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching), question 2) "have the kids ask a few questions and name static electricity and give examples of static electricity." (INTRO-script) "Let's not introduce static electricity yet. That should be its own thing… So remove the balloon." (Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching), question 5) "it's putting a lot of focus on this rubbing. I guess it's fine." (PR-q4) "have the static electricity video have tons of examples of static electricity, which actually is more fun."

Recommendation: Keep Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching) as it is, with today's wording fixes (nice-to-have for her; the atom's 25 Sep ruling stands and "static electricity" is Grade 5's lesson). If you choose to name static, the course form would be "the rubbed balloon's pull, which we call static electricity", in the Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching) render and the summary.

Reason: This reshapes a lesson and coins a term the atom's cross field names differently ("electric charge", met later) — so it is yours. Her point has substance: a rubbed balloon is one case of a thing that has a name every child has heard, and a lesson that only ever says "a rubbed balloon" invites the "balloon pull is a kind of force" reading she fears. Against: "static electricity" names the happening (like "gravity"), not the force — your language rule would want "the rubbed balloon's pull, which we call static electricity"; the dryer and the shock are examples of static that are NOT pulls on light things, so they widen the atom; and the intro's balloon is the topic's curiosity gap (the clip and the kick are both answered by Topic 4 and Topic 5 — the balloon is the one the child cannot explain). Cost if yes: Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching) becomes a fresh render (static named, three everyday examples, the balloon as the one that shows the pull), Lesson 2 (A rubbed balloon pulls without touching)'s article and quiz follow, PP-49 ("electric charge" recognised) changes its key word, the register's FOR3-027 cross field changes, and INTROb loses beats 6–7 (a second re-cut, 90 words).

Default in force: it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.

Topic 7 · L01 and L02 (videos and articles); or a new short part between them; Olivia also points at Topic 5

Does Topic 7 (or Topic 5) gain a short part on what a push is in science — a catch is a push, a still leg the ball hits pushes it, and a push doesn't always move the thing?

What it says now: Topic 7 teaches what a push or pull changes: Lesson 1 (A push or pull starts things moving) starts, Lesson 2 (A push or pull can slow or stop things) slows and stops, Lesson 3 (A push or pull can change direction) turns, Lesson 4 (A push or pull can change shape) reshapes. Its stopping cases are a girl's hands against a rolling ball, a boy's pull back on a sled's rope and a girl holding a swing's seat. The word "push" is used in the everyday sense a child brings; nowhere in Grade 3 does a lesson say that catching, holding or just being hit IS a push in science. Topic 5's Lesson 2b (a fresh render awaiting its slot) already shows the no-movement case: "A boy pushes a wall. It stays still, but his push is still a push." Today's Lesson 2 (A push or pull can slow or stop things) edit says and shows the holding ("She holds the seat. Her hands push against it — and the swing stops").

Olivia's suggestion: (Lesson 1 (A push or pull starts things moving), the video script) "kids intuitively know pushes and pulls can move things so I think this is a case where bringing in the vocabulary would be really good. 'Forces can make things move' but I am concerned again that this is going to create a misconception that things only move… have this video talk about how forces can make things move but they don't always. If you push a rock, the rock isn't moving but you are pushing it." (Lesson 2 (A push or pull can slow or stop things), the video script) "There's not enough emphasis in this video on how touching something, even without you moving your hand, is a push… 'a push in science, a science push, is sometimes a little different than what we think of as a push outside of science'… 'If you're playing baseball and you wear a glove and someone throws the ball to you and you catch the ball, we would not call that a push outside of science but in science we would say that the glove pushes the ball. If someone kicks a ball to you and you just stand there and the ball hits your leg, we would say that your leg pushed the ball even though you didn't move your leg.'… 'Science Pushes' should perhaps be its own video earlier in the series… I'm understanding this probably wouldn't happen now. Hopefully these comments can be saved for future changes." (Lesson 1 (A push or pull starts things moving), question uiz) "a force can start movement, stop movement, or it can do nothing to movement." (Lesson 4 (A push or pull can change shape), the video script) "I'd like to see the same treatment with movement… It can make things move but it doesn't always."

Recommendation: Not now (nice-to-have; her own words "probably wouldn't happen now"). The wall case and today's "She holds the seat. Her hands push against it" say the two halves she wants in the places they arise; a dedicated part is a forward item for the Grade 4 or 5 forces topic, where force pairs are taught by name.

Reason: A new teaching point in an approved topic, with no atom behind it in the register (FOR3-002–005 are the four changes; the force-pair idea is Grade 5's), so it is yours under your 7 Oct word that approved content is not re-authored now. Her physics is right and the gap is real: a child who thinks "push" means an active shove has to be told that a still hand stopping a ball is pushing it, and Lesson 2 (A push or pull can slow or stop things) leans on exactly that. Against: it is a lesson about what a force IS, which is Topic 5's job, not Topic 7's; the no-movement half is already in Topic 5's Lesson 2b; and a new part means a new render and a new quiz. Cost if yes: a 60 s part "What counts as a push?" (a catch, a wall, a still leg; "a push can move a thing, stop it, or move it not at all") with six items, placed in Topic 5 after Lesson 2b or in Topic 7 before Lesson 2 (A push or pull can slow or stop things); the register gains a proposed atom.

Default in force: it stays as it is now (the card's "what it says now"); nothing changes until you tap.

Topic 7 · L01 (the rule sentence; the swing and nail non-examples; the attached question); the L01 quiz (five items); PRACTICE PR-5 and PR-6; the bank (PP-1; 5; 8; 29); and the same form in Topics 5; 6; 8 and 9

Does Grade 3 keep saying "nothing pushes or pulls it" of a thing at rest, or does every such line name the push or pull that is missing?

What it says now: The atom FOR3-002's lexicon line is "With no push or pull, a still thing stays still." The non-examples say "Nothing pushes or pulls the swing, so it stays still"; the quiz says "Nobody pushes or pulls the ball… With no push or pull, a still thing stays still." Today, on Olivia's note, the nail's line (video, article, caption) became "The magnet no longer pulls the nail, so it stays still" — it names the pull that went, instead of saying no push or pull acts. The rule sentence and the other lines stand.

Olivia's suggestion: (Lesson 1 (A push or pull starts things moving), the video script) "Things are still pulling and pushing on the nail (gravity, the table, etc.). We're going to teach that later so it's incorrect."

Recommendation: Keep. Clarity beats accuracy here: the simplification is fit for the atom's purpose, it is corrected inside the same grade (Topic 10), and the one line that pointed at a specific pull now names it. If you choose the re-wording, it is a text sweep plus two AUDIO edits by id (Topic 7 Lesson 1 (A push or pull starts things moving) beat 4's rule line, the summary's beat 4), and the register's FOR3-002 lexicon changes with it.

Reason: Her reasoning, taken all the way, changes the register's wording — so it is yours, and it changes what a student learns. Her physics is right: Earth pulls the resting nail down and the table pushes it up; "nothing pushes or pulls it" is a Grade 3 simplification that Grade 5's balanced forces will overturn (Topic 10 coins balanced and unbalanced forces for Grade 3, and there a still thing is one whose forces are balanced). For: a line that is later called wrong costs trust; "no NEW push or pull" or "the pushes and pulls on it are balanced" would be true now and later. Against: at eight, "nothing pushes or pulls the swing" is the honest everyday reading of a hanging swing, the atom's own words, and the frame of eleven items and two videos across the topic; "balanced" is Topic 10's coining and cannot be used before it; the one case where a specific pull is removed (the magnet) now names it, which is where her note bit.

Default in force: the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.

Topic 10 · Unbalanced forces · Type 11 · bank item PP-11 · tests FOR3-046

ProposedHardProposed: Type 11 — a beanbag tossed straight up, still going up — which forces act on it now

A girl tosses a beanbag straight up. It has left her hand and is still going up. Which forces act on the beanbag now?

a) Earth's pull down and her push up.
b) Her push up only.
c) No force at all.
d) Earth's pull down only. ← key

Why it is this type: Her push acts on the beanbag only while her hand touches it. Once it has left her hand, nothing pushes it up. / Earth pulls the beanbag down the whole time. / So the only force on it is Earth's pull down, and that pull is what slows the beanbag as it goes up.

Recommendation: Approve the proposed type

Topic 13's summary still says "Remember the tent…": clear the stuck platform edit, or re-render the summary?

What it says now: Your 5 Oct rule — no video points at another video ("avoid 'remember the drum'") — was applied to 22 live videos as audio edits by id. One cannot be applied: Topic 13's summary. The platform holds a pending edit on that video dated 29 Sep that never ran; every new edit is refused and cancelling does nothing. So the live summary still opens its recap with "Remember the tent…". Everything else in it is as approved.

Olivia's suggestion: — (your own 5 Oct rule; the block is the platform's)

Recommendation: Ask the platform team once. As of 8 Oct four videos sit in this state (Topic 13's summary since 29 Sep; Topic 7's intro, two small visual edits from Olivia's notes, since 10:07 today; Grade 4 Topic 5 Lesson 1 (Light comes from a light source) since 00:57; Grade 4 Topic 4 Lesson 2 (Light travels in straight lines) since 13:37 — its live file carries the rule and bullets, only six scene lines are the generator's paraphrase). Cancel does nothing and a re-post is refused, so only the platform can release them. A re-render fixes one at a time and does not stop it recurring; Topic 7's intro is not worth a re-render for two small visuals.

Reason: Two ways out. Ask the platform team to clear the stuck 29 Sep edit, then the one-line audio edit goes through as it did on the other 21 videos. Or render the summary afresh as G3T13-SUMMARYb from the same approved script with "Here's the tent…" — a new file and id, about two minutes of narration, with the usual landing checks.

More detail

Ruled: "Re-render those four fresh" (James, 8 Oct 2026 16:10, in the Grade 4 chat). Applied: G3T07-INTROb and G3T13-SUMMARYb batched from their current scripts and sent to the pipeline the same hour (handoff/G3T07/videos/READY_INTROb.md, handoff/G3T13/videos/READY_SUMMARYb.md); Grade 4's two re-rendered by the Grade 4 chat. The stuck edits on the old ids are abandoned.

Default in force: the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.

Topic 23 · Weather over a season, and far away · Type 6 · bank item PP-10 · tests EAR3-023 SR3-012

HardtypedType 6 — twelve months of usual rainy days (ten years of records): which month is likely to have the fewest next year

text entry · drawing pp_year_rain_pp · closed (29 Sep: the month is one of the twelve labels on the item's own graph)

The graph shows the usual rainy days in each month, from ten years of records in Richmond. Which month is likely to have the fewest rainy days next year? Type the month.

Accepted answers (typed): July · Jul

Why it is this type: The graph shows what is usual year after year. / The shortest bar is the month with the fewest rainy days. / July's bar is the shortest, landing on 2. / So July is likely to have the fewest rainy days next year.

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Default in force: the items written to this type are live in the bank as the card shows them.

Topic 32 · Alive or not · Type 6 · bank item PP-6 · tests LIF3-002

MediumMCQType 6 — a moving toy is non-living: which of the four questions gets the answer YES for it

A toy train runs round its track, but it is non-living. Which of the four questions gets the answer yes for the toy train?

a) Does it move? ← key
b) Does it grow?
c) Does it feed?
d) Does it make more of its own kind?

Why it is this type: Medium because: the rule is run backwards, from the verdict to the one question the toy answers yes to.

The why line (what a student reads after answering): The toy train runs round its track, so it does move. / It never grows, never feeds and never makes more toy trains. / Three answers are no, and one no is enough. / So the one question that gets a yes is: does it move?

Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar

Default in force: 27 of 30 (the provisional figure in each form's routing line); no test is in the Drive package yet.

Grade 3 · the four strand tests

Where should the pass mark sit on the four Grade 3 strand tests: 27 of 30, or 26?

What it says now: Each form says pass at 27 of 30. The honest hard-item counts (five to seven of thirty per form) make 27 harsher than the state tests' top band.

Recommendation: 26 of 30, for Grades 3 and 5 alike (Grade 5's own card asks the same).

Reason: A student at the 90 per cent target misses three; 26 keeps the bar at the state tests' top grade without failing a strong student on one hard item.

The strand tests page · Grade 5's pass-mark card

Default in force: Topics 8–42 stay as they are; only Topics 1–7 carry her fixes. In chat you said "you should be doing that, probably"; the work starts on your tap.

Grade 3 · Topics 8–42

Roll Olivia's three themes (question wording, pictures, quiz order) across Topics 8–42?

What it says now: Her notes on Topics 1–7 made 606 points; the top three themes account for 358 of them. Topics 8–42 were built before most of those notes and carry the same patterns.

Recommendation: Yes, all three: about 300 question rewrites with a cold re-read of every changed key, about 250 drawings, and 85 quizzes' opening recall item moved to the recall bank.

Reason: The same reviewer will otherwise write the same note 35 more times; the fixes are mechanical where they are not re-authoring.

The themes report, with the graphs

Default in force: the eight videos stay live as they are.

Grade 3 · eight videos (Topics 16, 25, 32, 35, 38, 42)

Eight live Grade 3 videos print a full rule or sentence on screen. Edit all eight by Peps id to chips and short bullets, or rule one by one?

What it says now: Your 9 Oct rule: nothing printed on screen but chips and short bullets paraphrasing the audio. These eight predate it.

Recommendation: Edit all eight by id (audio untouched); the pipeline queue is long, so they land over a few days.

Reason: One tap here saves eight; a per-video ruling is still open on the sweep page if any should stay.

The sweep page: one card per video, with the frame

Skill: course-build → review-page → write-like-james @ 2234392 · built 9 October 2026 by build_tools_rulings_backlog.py