Grade 3, Olivia's theme 1: the sample you asked for before anything changes
12 October 2026, afternoon. Nothing below is applied. This page shows the method on a sample, so you can judge it and strike anything off before the pass runs across Topics 8–42.Your two notes this morning set the shape. Fewer questions on ideas children already have: three quizzes below are cut back to their essential questions, and a list of 22 lessons says which quizzes would get the same treatment. Plain language: twelve items are rewritten so the words are no harder than the idea, with the same key and the same science each time. The claim frame ("Tessa says … is she right?") is kept where the claim is a real belief and turned into a direct ask where it is not.
One correction to my earlier card, in your words: the fault is the language being harder than the idea, not the stem being long. So the test is a reading test, done item by item. The numbers in question 3 are only a net to find the items worth reading; they never decide a rewrite on their own.
3 questions for you below, one tap each; none ruled yet. Everything you have already ruled is applied, not re-asked.
Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → review-page → write-like-james @ 844fe58
Status: 12 October 2026, afternoon. Nothing below is applied. This page shows the method on a sample, so you can judge it and strike anything off before the pass runs across Topics 8–42.
Your two notes this morning set the shape. Fewer questions on ideas children already have: three quizzes below are cut back to their essential questions, and a list of 22 lessons says which quizzes would get the same treatment. Plain language: twelve items are rewritten so the words are no harder than the idea, with the same key and the same science each time. The claim frame ("Tessa says … is she right?") is kept where the claim is a real belief and turned into a direct ask where it is not.
One correction to my earlier card, in your words: the fault is the language being harder than the idea, not the stem being long. So the test is a reading test, done item by item. The numbers in question 3 are only a net to find the items worth reading; they never decide a rewrite on their own.
Decisions I need from you
1. Should the 22 everyday-idea quizzes listed below be cut back to their essential questions, by judgement, as the three samples show?
The course says: every lesson quiz runs to about ten items, whatever the idea; the three sample quizzes carry 10, 11 and 11.
Why it matters: your ruling today on MS Life Science, now in the vault: "The quiz after each lesson holds the ESSENTIAL questions for that lesson's objective, by judgement, from one or two up to a maximum of ten." Olivia: "fewer questions about whether something moved or not … move on faster." On an everyday idea the extra items repeat one case or ask the rule the video just said; each is a chance to word it badly and a minute not spent on the new idea.
Cost of changing it: about 90 items leave 22 quizzes (240 today, about 150 after); no key changes; every item that does new work (the non-example, the real misconception, the term) stays. The PP100 banks are not touched: PP100 work is parked until Becky's revision lands.
My recommendation: approve the list; the judgement per item is the method, and "about six" is only where it tends to land, never a target
2. Do the twelve rewrites below show the plain form you want applied across the mechanical shortlist?
The course says: 1,223 items in Topics 8–42 trip the net (three sentences or over thirty words; a named-student claim; a negative ask; true/false). A cold reader read them all against Olivia's test.
Why it matters: each rewrite keeps the scene to a sentence or two, asks one direct question with the taught word, and keeps the options short and parallel; the key and the science never change. Two claim items are kept as claims because the belief is real; three others become direct asks. The reader's count: of 316 "X says … is X right?" items, about 115 do real misconception work, about 195 wrap a plain fact (132 of them are TRUE claims, which cannot be misconceptions).
Cost of changing it: about 300 rewrites by the reader's estimate, each re-read cold for its key before it goes live; no video changes.
My recommendation: approve the form; the pass runs on it
3. Should these numbers become the standing Grade 3 net, with a checker that fails new content and lists live hits for a reader?
The course says: no limit on stem length today; a 5 October rule avoids negative stems at grades 3–5; the claim frame was never banned.
Why it matters: the twelve rewrites land on a stem of 25 words or fewer in short sentences (none over 15 words), options of eight words or fewer, no negative ask and no true/false. A checker on those numbers catches the next one before Olivia does. A reader still judges every hit against the idea, and the claim frame is counted, never failed.
Cost of changing it: one sweep in the Grade 3 checker; a hit on new content is a FAIL to fix, a hit on live content is a WARN for the reading pass.
My recommendation: adopt as written, with the claim frame as proportion, not a ban
Thinning: three quizzes, before and after
The judgement per item, in four words: essential (the video's own case, a non-example, a real misconception, the term); repeat (a case already asked); settled (the video already said it, so the item is a rule read back); harder than the idea (the words, not the science, make it hard). Only essential items stay.
Topic 8, L01 "A stronger push makes a bigger change" (FOR3-009): 10 → 6
| Item | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| q1 | Efe rolls a marble gently, then harder. How far does it roll? | stays | essential: the video's own case |
| q2 | Cleo pushes a can gently, then shoves it. What does the can do? | gone | repeat of q1, same move |
| q3 | Cleo kicks a ball gently, then harder. How far does it go? | stays | essential: the kick, the intro's scene |
| q4 | Nadir's small shove or his sister's hard shove: which rolls the tricycle farther? | stays | essential: two pushers, one object |
| q5 | True or false: a stronger push on the same ball makes a bigger change. | gone | settled by the video; true/false |
| q6 | True or false: a gentle pull and a harder pull make the same change. | gone | settled by the video; true/false |
| q7 | Two horses, two matching carts, one rolls fast. Which horse pulls with a stronger force? | stays | essential: reasons back from motion to force |
| q8 | The drawing shows where Nico's and Zuri's balls stopped. Whose push was stronger? | stays | essential: the same reasoning on a picture |
| q9 | Suki says pushing the swing harder makes it swing higher. Is she right? | stays | essential: the one claim, and a pull |
| q10 | Tariq says a gentle and a hard push move the truck the same distance. Is he right? | gone | repeat of q9; no child believes it |
Topic 21, L01 "Melting" (MAT3-040): 11 → 7
| Item | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| q1 | A snowman stands in the sun. What happens to it? | stays | essential: the video's own case |
| q2 | A rock lies in the sun. What happens to it? | stays | essential: the non-example, warm but no melting |
| q3 | An ice cube drops into warm lemonade. Does it melt? | gone | repeat of q1: ice warms, melts |
| q4 | An ice pop stays in the freezer. Does it melt? | stays | essential: the no-warming case |
| q5 | Kester stirs sugar into water and says it melted. Is he right? | stays | essential: the real confusion, dissolving is not melting |
| q6 | A metal fork stands in hot soup. What happens to it? | gone | repeat of q2 |
| q7 | Candle wax near the flame gets hot. Does it melt? | gone | repeat; butter (q9) covers "not only ice" |
| q8 | Verity says her ice cream melted because it warmed up. Is she right? | gone | settled by the video, as a claim |
| q9 | Butter sits on hot toast. What happens to it? | stays | essential: melting is not only ice |
| q10 | An ice cube turns into a pool of water. What is that change called? | stays | essential: the term, recognised |
| q11 | A solid warms and turns to liquid. Type the word. | stays | essential: the term, recalled |
Seven stay rather than six: the two non-examples (q2, q4) each show a different reason nothing melted.
Topic 33, L02 "Every living thing needs water" (LIF3-004): 11 → 6
| Item | Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| q1 | A frog sits by a pond. Does it need water? | stays | essential: the video's own case |
| q2 | A lizard lives in the dry desert. Does it need water? | stays | essential: the hard case, a desert animal |
| q3 | A plastic bucket stands in the yard. Does it need water? | stays | essential: one not-alive case |
| q4 | Ugo says a bighorn sheep never needs water. Is he right? | gone | repeat of q2's desert case, as a claim |
| q5 | A wooden spoon lies in a drawer. Does it need water? | gone | repeat of q3 |
| q6 | A pine tree grows on a hill. Does it need water? | stays | essential: a plant |
| q7 | Beatrix says a desert snake needs water. Is she right? | gone | repeat: a third desert case |
| q8 | A wheelbarrow stands in the rain. Does it need water? | gone | repeat of q3 |
| q9 | An earthworm lives in damp soil. Does it need water? | gone | repeat: a fourth yes-case |
| q10 | Nobody watered the mint for ten days; its leaves droop. What has it used up? | stays | essential: reasons from a sign |
| q11 | A gerbil's water bottle stays empty for days. What happens to it? | stays | essential: the consequence |
The everyday-ideas list (the real decision)
Each lesson here teaches an idea the register or the lesson itself treats as something children arrive with. Strike any you disagree with in the box on question 1. Quiz sizes are today's.
| Topic | Lesson | Atom | Items now | Why it counts as everyday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | L01 A stronger push makes a bigger change | FOR3-009 | 10 | a harder kick sends the ball farther; every child has done it |
| 11 | L01 Air is something | MAT3-063 | 8 | the register calls it "everyday observables": a breeze on the face |
| 13 | L01 Light comes from a light source | ENE3-010 | 13 | naming the Sun or the lamp that lights the scene |
| 15 | L03 Rubbing warms things up | ENE3-021 | 12 | rubbing your palms on a cold day |
| 16 | L03 Describe an object by its properties | MAT3-001 | 12 | grey, smooth, hard; only the word "property" is new |
| 18 | L01 Which has more mass? | MAT3-004 | 12 | heavier or lighter is everyday; reading the balance is the only new step |
| 18 | L03 Which is warmer? | MAT3-006 | 11 | warmer or colder is everyday; reading the thermometer is the only new step |
| 19 | L01 Does it sink or float? | MAT3-007 | 11 | drop it in and look |
| 20 | L04 Liquids take the shape of their container | MAT3-021 | 10 | juice fills any glass; the word "liquid" is the new part |
| 20 | L05 Solids keep their shape | MAT3-020 | 10 | a spoon stays a spoon; the word "solid" is the new part |
| 21 | L01 Melting | MAT3-040 | 11 | ice melts in the sun |
| 21 | L02 Freezing | MAT3-041 | 10 | water in the freezer turns to ice |
| 22 | L01 The thermometer measures how warm the air is | EAR3-017 | 12 | children know what a thermometer is for |
| 32 | L01 Living things grow | LIF3-001 | 10 | a puppy becomes a dog |
| 32 | L02 Living things feed | LIF3-007 | 11 | animals eat; the plant case is the only new part |
| 33 | L01 Every living thing needs food | LIF3-003 | 10 | pets must be fed |
| 33 | L02 Every living thing needs water | LIF3-004 | 11 | plants wilt, pets drink |
| 33 | L03 Every living thing needs air | LIF3-005 | 11 | you cannot hold your breath for long |
| 36 | L03 Animals sense, then respond | LIF3-027 | 12 | the cat comes running when the cupboard opens |
| 38 | L02 The stem holds the plant up | LIF3-022 | 12 | a plant with a snapped stem flops over |
| 40 | L03 Offspring take after their parents | LIF3-040 | 11 | kittens look like cats |
| 40 | L04 Same kind, small differences | LIF3-041 | 10 | puppies in one litter differ |
22 lessons, 240 items today; by the three samples' judgement, about 150 would remain. Not on the list, on purpose: lessons where the everyday scene hides the new idea (Topic 32 L03 "Living things move", where the point is that plants move; Topic 33 L04 "a place that suits it"; Topic 9 L01 "More than one force at once", where the force idea is the point).
The twelve rewrites
Twelve topics, six quiz items, two practice items, four PP100 items. Each row: the item as it is, the item in the plain form, the counts, and the key. US spelling in the student text, as on the site.
| Item | Before | After | Words, sentences | Key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T11 L05 q9 (quiz, ENE3-032) claim → direct ask | Lola says beads near a loud speaker will still jump a little when the speaker is moved a few steps farther away, just less than before. Is Lola right? [yes / no] | Beads jump near a loud speaker. When the speaker is moved a few steps farther away, what do the beads do? [They jump more. / They jump less. / They jump just the same.] | 29 w, 2 s → 21 w, 2 s | same science ✓ (they jump less; was "yes") |
| T28 L01 q8 (quiz, EAR3-040) claim → direct ask | Lupe says her wooden pencil started as a tree. Is Lupe right? [yes / no] | Lupe has a wooden pencil. What did the wood start as? [a tree / a factory / a rock] | 12 w, 2 s → 11 w, 2 s | same science ✓ (a tree; was "yes") |
| T13 L04 q3 (quiz, ENE3-017) KEPT as a claim | Yusra says her eyes send out beams, so she can see in a room with no light at all. Is Yusra right? [yes / no] | unchanged: "eyes send out beams" is a documented belief, and this lesson exists to break it | 22 w, 2 s → 22 w, 2 s | no ✓ unchanged |
| T21 L02 q3 (quiz, MAT3-041) KEPT as a claim, trimmed | A bottle of water left in a car on a very cold night froze. Nye says the cold went into the water and froze it. Is Nye right? [yes / no] | Water in a bottle froze overnight in a cold car. Nye says the cold went into the water and froze it. Is Nye right? [yes / no] | 28 w, 3 s → 24 w, 3 s | no ✓ unchanged ("cold gets in" is the belief the lesson breaks) |
| T09 L04 q5 (quiz, FOR3-045) true/false → yes/no on a case | True or false: If the forces on an object are balanced, the object must be standing still. [true / false] | A ferry crosses a lake at a steady speed in a straight line. Are the forces on the ferry balanced? [yes / no] | 17 w, 1 s → 20 w, 2 s | same science ✓ (balanced; was "false"). Or cut it: q8 (Kaya) asks the same rule |
| T22 L04 q5 (quiz, SR3-010) negative → positive | Fitz's table has rows of numbers, but nothing written along the top. What can't a reader tell? [which day each row is / what each number is / how many rows there are] | Fitz writes "Rain in millimeters" along the top of his table of numbers. What does that tell a reader? [same three options] | 17 w, 2 s → 19 w, 2 s | what each number is ✓ unchanged |
| T37 practice 6 (typed) long → short | A bean seed is cut open. A coat wraps the outside, and food for the start is packed inside. One more thing lies curled up inside, with a short root and two small leaves: a tiny ___. Type the missing word. | A bean seed is cut open. Curled up inside, with a short root and two small leaves, is a tiny ___. Type the missing word. | 36 w, 3 s → 20 w, 2 s | plant ✓ unchanged (same accept list) |
| T25 practice 15 (typed, term) long → short | A thin metal pole on a roof, with a wire running down to the ground, gives a thunderstorm's lightning a safe path into the ground instead of through the roof. What is this defense called? Type the two words. | A metal pole on a roof, with a wire to the ground, gives lightning a safe path down. What is it called? Type the two words. | 35 w, 2 s → 22 w, 2 s | lightning rod ✓ unchanged (same accept list) |
| T36 PP-43 (PP100 hard, LIF3-027) long → short | A snake follows the trail of a mouse that ran by an hour ago, which it cannot see or hear. As it goes, it flicks something in and out of its mouth to pick up the smell the mouse left on the ground. Which body part did the snake sense the trail with? [its nose / its ears / its tongue / its tail] | A snake follows a mouse's smell along the ground. Which body part does the snake pick up the smell with? [same four options] | 53 w, 3 s → 20 w, 2 s | its tongue ✓ unchanged (the lesson's own snake; tag to medium) |
| T08 PP-50 (PP100 hard, FOR3-010) negative → positive | Nat draws a boy pushing a wagon to the right, and draws the arrow starting on the boy's arm, pointing to the right. The drawing is wrong. Which rule does it break? [A force arrow starts on the object the force acts on. / A force arrow points in the direction the force acts. / A longer arrow always shows a stronger force. / A force arrow must be longer than the object it is drawn on.] | Nat draws a boy pushing a wagon to the right. Where does the force arrow for his push start? [in the middle of the wagon / on the boy's arm / in the air in front of the wagon / on the ground under the wagon] | 32 w, 3 s → 19 w, 2 s | same science ✓ (the arrow starts on the wagon); options are now places, not rules; tag to medium |
| T30 PP-32 (PP100 medium, SPA3-007) narrated claim → direct ask | Alexa's uncle says the night stars are tiny lamps hung up in the sky, and the Sun is something else. Which sentence about the Sun and the night stars is true? [The night stars are tiny lamps that someone hung up. / The Sun is the only huge ball of glowing gas. / The Sun and the night stars are the same kind of thing. / Every night star is smaller than the Sun.] | Which sentence about the Sun and the night stars is true? [The night stars are tiny hung-up lamps. / Only the Sun is made of glowing gas. / The Sun is a star too. / Every night star is smaller than the Sun.] | 31 w, 2 s → 11 w, 1 s; longest option 11 w → 8 w | the third option ✓ (same meaning, shorter words) |
| T39 PP-32 (PP100 medium, LIF3-025) long → short | A seedling leans toward a window on its left, and then Dru closes the curtain over that window and opens a door on the seedling's right, so light comes in only from the door. What does the new part of the stem do over the next week? [It keeps leaning toward the window. / It grows straight down. / It grows toward the door. / It stops growing.] | A seedling leaned toward a window. Now its only light comes from a door on its right. Which way does the new stem grow? [same four options] | 47 w, 2 s → 24 w, 3 s | It grows toward the door. ✓ unchanged |
Two things the table shows that a count alone would not. The seedling item goes from two sentences to three and reads easier, because each sentence is short; that is your point about language over length. And the two kept claims are the ones where a child really holds the belief; the three turned into direct asks were facts in a child's mouth.
The numbers, for question 3
Where the twelve land: a stem of 25 words or fewer (the typing instruction "Type the word." not counted), in one to three short sentences, none over 15 words; options of eight words or fewer; no negative ask; no true/false. The claim frame is counted, not failed: a quiz or bank where more than about one item in five is a claim is listed for a reader. The numbers find the items; the reader decides, item by item, against the idea.
Also found by the cold reader (no decision needed; for the key check)
- Topic 17 L07 q4: Team Green read the scale before the numbers settled; the key says "a mistake", but "measured in different ways" is defensible too.
- Topic 13 PP-42: "just before the light reaches his eyes, which thing does it come from?" keys "the shelf"; a child may fairly say "the flashlight".
- Topic 35 PP-31 to PP-34: each stem states the deciding feature ("but only the alligator has dry, scaly skin") before asking which feature decides.
- Topic 42 L04 q10: dragonflies flying to another pond when theirs dries; a child who knows the young live in the water could defend "no".
What happens next
On your taps: the thinning runs on the approved list, the reading pass rewrites the shortlist in the approved form, every changed item is read cold for its key, and the checker lands if you adopt it. Nothing in Topics 1–7 is touched. The PP100 share of everyday atoms stays parked with the rest of PP100 work until Becky's revision lands; "no more than a sixth of a bank on everyday atoms" is a later possibility, not a question today.
Skill: course-build → review-page → write-like-james @ 844fe58 · built 12 October 2026 by build_tools_rulings_page.py