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Olivia’s ten points — before, after, and how they are applied

What to do: each point below has her words, a real Grade 3 item before and after, how the point is being applied across Grades 3–5 and the middle school courses, and a flag where I think the rule could do more harm than good. Tap Keep as applied, Narrow it or Drop it under each. Nothing waits on these taps: the points are being applied sensibly meanwhile (your word, 17 Oct), and a tap reverts or narrows one.
Who is writing?your taps are filed under this name

1 · Position-only distractors (force arrows)

“Okay again, this is really important. Please do not make questions that are *only* wrong because of their position. Make the direction wrong too. I was actually not sure what the correct answer was going to be. You can have it floating but also have it go in the wrong direction, again because we have shown arrows that are not touching the object.” — Olivia, Topic 8, L02-q8, 13 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T08_2026-10-13.md)

How it is applied: The where-does-the-arrow-start items stay. The four whose wrong drawing differed only by a floating arrow become a choice between two drawings (floating arrow vs arrow starting on the ball). The taught line: 'The arrow starts on the object — usually at its middle, or where the force comes from.' Every video brief and cue puts the tail on the object; never floating. (ruled by James 17 Oct; recast in progress (Topic 8 only) · approx 3 Topic 8 items whose only fault was a floating arrow are being recast as two-drawing items (L02-q8 and the two others the c4 record names); the 12 where-does-the-arrow-start items stay on James's ruling. Her 13 Oct notes touched 21 items under this card.)

Low risk — Olivia's wider ask (drop the position items, test direction only) is NOT applied — your view and mine agree. The only residual risk is that MS chats read the earlier digest before the correction; all have the correction.
G3T08 L02-q8 · 2026-10-17 (in progress)
Before
A child kicks a ball to the right. Does this arrow show the kick on the ball?
A. yes
B. no
Key: B (the drawn arrow floats off the ball; figure q_arrow_ball_floating)
After
IN PROGRESS (another agent, 17 Oct). James's ruled shape: two drawings side by side, "Which drawing shows the kick on the ball correctly?" — ( ) a floating arrow, in the right direction, well clear of the ball / (x) an arrow starting on the ball. Rule sentence wherever it is stated: "The arrow starts on the object — usually at its middle, or where the force comes from."

2 · No 'X says… is X right?' wrapper round a plain fact

“Also I think there is data that supports those kinds of questions but I have an aversion to them. That's probably just my uninformed bias. I just always think they're so confusing: so-and-so says that they're right. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong on that.” — Olivia, Topic 3, L04-q4, 3 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T03_2026-10-03.md)

How it is applied: A named-student claim that merely wraps a plain fact ('Zoe says the ball moved. Is Zoe right?') becomes the direct ask ('Did the ball move?'). A claim item is kept when the belief itself is the target (your standing rule: the key corrects a real catalogued misconception, e.g. 'lava is fire', 'a tied balloon has nothing inside'). (applied across Grade 3 (sweep 16 Oct) · approx 49 claim items across Grade 3 (the 16 Oct sweep's test 2 total, out of 165 items changed in the three sweep records). Claim items that carry a catalogued belief (e.g. Zeb: the push ran out) were kept as bare yes / no on purpose.)

Watch — Over-application would strip the misconception-targeting claim items you want (MS Chemistry raised exactly this and is keeping them). The sweeps kept every catalogued-belief item as a bare yes/no; the risk is a future sweep or agent reading 'no claim items' as absolute. The rule text says 'round a plain fact' for that reason.
G3T03 L04-q11 · 2026-10-16
Before
Dev says Earth pulls a moving car straight down, toward the ground. Is Dev right?
A. yes
B. no
Key: A
After
A car is moving along a road. Which way does Earth pull the car?
A. straight down, toward the ground
B. forward, the way the car is moving
Key: A
G3T08 L01-q9 · 2026-10-16
Before
Suki says a hard push makes a swing go higher than a gentle push. Is Suki right?
A. yes
B. no
Key: A
After
Suki pushes a swing gently, then hard. Which push makes the swing go higher?
A. the hard push
B. the gentle push
Key: A

3 · No second defensible reading; name the quantity

“Again these are the types of questions that the kids who overthink are going to find frustrating. I would say, arguably, you could say that a push does change how a pillow moves because what does "how a pillow moves" mean? You are moving it so in a way you're changing its movement.” — Olivia, Topic 7, L04-q1, 8 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T07_2026-10-08.md); her L04-q3 note the same day: "I think this is really, really important to change: highest priority, because I think it's incorrect and confusing."

How it is applied: Where an option is also true of the scene, it is replaced or the stem is made to settle it (which part moves first; the most / the least). 'How it moves' becomes the quantity (how far, which way, how fast). Applied item by item from blind-read flags, not as a bulk rewrite. (applied where found · approx 8 items in Topic 7 L04 and its summary question (8 Oct), plus about 10 more across Grade 3 on 16 Oct where a blind reader found a second defensible option or a stem that named its answer (G3T07 PP-43 to PP-46, G3T03 PP-24, G3T34 PP-44, G3T36 PP-51, G3T29 PP-20). The 16 Oct sweep's own "two options both work" test found none beyond these.)

Watch — A mechanical version ('every comparison must say most/least') would make simple two-case items wordier than they need to be; and 'overthinking' is not a reason to blunt a sharp item. Applied only where a cold reader actually hesitated.
G3T07 L04-q1 · 2026-10-08
Before
A boy presses down on a pillow with both hands. What does his push change?
A. its shape
B. how it moves
Key: A
After
A boy presses down on a pillow with both hands. Does his push change the shape of the pillow?
A. yes
B. no
Key: A
(8 Oct morning: options became "the pillow's shape / the pillow's color"; the same day's blind read moved it to this yes / no form because "color" tempted nobody)
G3T07 L04-q3 · 2026-10-08
Before
A girl kicks a ball along the sidewalk. What does her push change?
A. its shape
B. how it moves
Key: B
After
A boy kicks a stone along the sidewalk. Does his kick change the shape of the stone?
A. yes
B. no
Key: B
(8 Oct: her stem "Does her push change the shape of the ball?"; the blind read swapped the ball for a stone because a kicked ball squashes for a moment, so "yes" was defensible)

4 · Test the idea, not the phrase

“This is testing language. It is trivial to identify if something moved. This is testing if students understand what "same spot" and "before and after" means, which is not terrible but also not what was taught.” — Olivia, Topic 1, L06-q1, 1 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T01_2026-10-01.md)

How it is applied: An item whose difficulty is understanding 'same spot' or 'before and after' rather than the science is reworded to plain words, or dropped if it tests nothing else. Vocabulary the lesson taught (reference point, position) is fair to test. (applied where found · approx 2 items cut in Topic 1 (L06-q1; PR-q13, which she called confusing). No other Grade 3 item is recorded as changed under this point; it was applied as a check on new and reworded items.)

Watch — Could be misread as 'never test vocabulary'. Taught terms must be tested (your recall items). The line is: taught words yes, incidental phrasing no.
G3T01 L06-q1 · 2026-10-01
Before
A pencil case is in the same spot on the shelf before and after school. Did it move?
A. moved
B. did not move
Key: B
After
CUT. The L06 quiz now opens on "Look at the dotted line behind the skateboard. Is the skateboard's path straight or curved?" (13 items kept; the item was a recall of L04 that tested the phrase "same spot ... before and after", not the atom).

5 · No hidden cause in a scenario

“I think this is a little bit of a trick question because something is making the pencil roll to fall off the desk so I would remove this.” — Olivia, Topic 3, L01-q8, 3 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T03_2026-10-03.md)

How it is applied: 'A pencil rolls off the desk' gets its cause ('a nudge', 'the desk is tilted') or a different example. Applied in the wording sweep and in the video cue sweep (316 cues). (applied where found; pencil item kept by James 6 Oct · approx 5 items reworded so the stem states the cause (G3T07 PP-43 to PP-46 and the summary's sled question, 8 and 16 Oct). The pencil item she flagged was kept on James's ruling. Elsewhere the point was applied as a check on new items.)

Watch — Stating every cause can push a stem past the three-sentence limit (your 'science, not comprehension' rule) — the fix is a few words, not a story. Also must not add a cause where the lesson's point is that nothing touches the object (a magnet's pull, a falling thing): the sweep kept those as written.
G3T03 L01-q8 (now L01-q7) · 2026-10-16 (wording); kept 2026-10-06 (James)
Before
True or false: The desk is pushing the pencil down off its edge.
A. true
B. false
Key: B (figure q_pencil_desk_edge)
After
The pencil is tipping off the edge of the desk. What is pulling the pencil down?
A. the desk
B. Earth
Key: B (figure unchanged)
NOTE: James ruled on 6 Oct (card A34, "Keep all") that the pencil item stays; the wording change came from the 16 Oct true/false sweep. The item still does not say what made the pencil roll, so her hidden-cause point was NOT applied to this item.
G3T07 PP-43 · 2026-10-16
Before
Kip slides down the hill on his sled, and at the bottom his dad grabs the rope and pulls back until the sled stops. Kip says the sled stopped because its slide ran out, but what really stopped it?
A. Its slide ran out.
B. The snow pulled it back.
C. His dad's pull on the rope.
D. The cold air pushed it back.
Key: C
After
Kip slides down the hill on his sled, and at the bottom his dad grabs the rope and holds on tight until the sled stops. What stopped the sled?
A. Its slide ran out.
B. The snow pulled it back.
C. His dad's pull on the rope.
D. The cold air pushed it back.
Key: C
(the stem states the cause of every movement — the hill, the dad's grip — without naming the answer)

6 · Name the thing, no bare pronoun

“Actually for here, in previous ones, and in following ones, I would not just say "its shape." I would say "the dough shape." "How the dough moves."” — Olivia, Topic 7, L04-q2, 8 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T07_2026-10-08.md); earlier, Topic 1 L06-q2, 1 Oct 2026: "replace \"its\" with \"the skateboard's\""

How it is applied: 'its shape' → 'the dough's shape' where the referent is not the only thing in the sentence; options never start with a bare pronoun. (applied where found; checked on every reworded item (sweep 16 Oct) · no Grade-3-wide tally was recorded for this point. Topic 1 L06's eight picture items were renamed on 1 Oct; every Topic 7 L04 and practice item names its object since 8 Oct; approx 40 before → after rows in the 16 Oct sweep records replace an "its" with the named thing.)

Low risk — Clunky repetition if applied to every pronoun ('the dough… the dough… the dough'). Applied to ambiguity and options, not to every 'it'.
G3T07 L04-q2 · 2026-10-08
Before
A baker pulls a lump of dough longer. What does her pull change?
A. its shape
B. how it moves
Key: A
After
A baker pulls on a lump of dough with both hands. Does her pull change the shape of the dough?
A. yes
B. no
Key: A
G3T01 L06-q2 (now L06-q1) · 2026-10-01
Before
Look at the dotted line behind the skateboard. Is its path straight or curved?
A. straight
B. curved
Key: A (figure path_straight_skateboard)
After
Look at the dotted line behind the skateboard. Is the skateboard's path straight or curved?
A. straight
B. curved
Key: A (figure unchanged)

7 · Biggest/smallest is size only

“An extremely high-priority comment, however, is that you say to line them up from biggest to smallest and then you put the cyclist up top. I actually thought you literally meant biggest in size because that's what biggest usually means but in fact you meant from the longest distance traveled to shortest distance traveled. I would remove that whole final section.” — Olivia, Topic 2, L06-script (Fastest to slowest), 2 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T02_2026-10-02.md)

How it is applied: Mechanical sweep; applied across all grades. (ruled by James 2 Oct; applied in Topic 2 the same day · approx 15 places in Topic 2 (L06 q3–q9 feedback and why lines, the attached question, the forest line, the summary script's beat 10, bank items PP-26 and PP-39 to PP-42). James made it a rule for every grade the same day; it is a checker test on later topics.)

Low risk — None seen.
G3T02 L06 article, rule line · 2026-10-02
Before
Give everyone the same time. Line up how far each went, from biggest to smallest. That is the order from fastest to slowest.
After
Give everyone the same time. Whoever went farthest is the fastest. Whoever went the shortest distance is the slowest.
G3T02 L06 video, closing beat (say + screen cue) · 2026-10-02
Before
SAY: So here is the rule. Give everyone the same time. Line up how far each went, from biggest to smallest. That is the order from fastest to slowest.
SCREEN: [rule slide reuses the ordered table; rule text]
(the beat before it: SAY: Line the distances up from biggest to smallest: 300, 80, 1. SCREEN: [the rows slide into order: cyclist, walker, snail])
After
SAY: So, give everyone the same time. Whoever went farthest is the fastest. Whoever went the shortest distance is the slowest.
SCREEN: [the table in its original order, snail, walker, cyclist; the chip FASTEST stays on the cyclist's row and the chip SLOWEST on the snail's row; nothing moves or reorders]
(the line-up beat is gone; v2 brief batch_G3T02_L06_v2.json)

8 · Typed recall after an MCQ on the same idea

“Before recall I would have this exact same question, but with multiple choice and maybe a couple other questions in between, and then recall. Or you could just have multiple choice and then immediately after, recall. Maybe depends how strong the student is” — Olivia, Topic 1, L06-q14, 1 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T01_2026-10-01.md)

How it is applied: A typed term-recall item never comes cold: it follows a multiple-choice item on the same idea in the same quiz, or sits in the topic's recall bank (your 8 Oct rule). No item is added to meet it. (applied where found; standing checker rule (S33) · approx 2 items in Topic 1 (L06-q13; L08-q11 "To say what will happen next, before it happens, is to ___." — L08 has since been retired with the pattern lesson). James's 30 Sep recognition-before-recall rule (checker S33) covers every later topic, so no other item is recorded as changed under this point.)

Watch — Read as 'add an MCQ before every recall' it would grow quizzes, against your 16 Oct 'the number of questions is fine' ruling. Applied by reordering only.
G3T01 L06-q13 (the MCQ immediately before the typed recall L06-q14) · 2026-10-01
Before
A hamster runs along its tube. What do we call the line the hamster goes along?
A. a position
B. a path
C. a direction
Key: B
(followed by L06-q14, typed: "The line a moving object travels along is called its ___. Type the word.")
After
A hamster runs along its tube. The line the hamster goes along is called its ___.
A. position
B. path
C. direction
Key: B
(L06-q14 unchanged and still last: "The line a moving object travels along is called its ___. Type the word." — the recall item's own sentence frame now appears as an MCQ first)

9 · A picture-dependent item has the picture

“Don't give them a trick question with both the magnet and the bulb, especially without an image, and they might get confused: Is there another magnet?” — Olivia, Topic 5, PP-q18, 7 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T05_2026-10-07.md). The item says "bolt"; her "bulb" reads as the same item.

How it is applied: If the stem's answer depends on seeing the scene (which of two magnets, where the bulb is), the item carries the figure, else the stem names everything. (applied where found · approx 1 item reworded and drawn under this note; about 3 further "add image" notes of hers were applied in the Topic 1–9 triage records (e.g. Topic 5 PP-17 tractor and trailer, Topic 8's two term items). No Grade-3-wide sweep; applied as a check on new items.)

Low risk — Figure count grows a little; each is code-drawn and read for leaks (the figure never names the answer).
G3T05 PP-18 · 2026-10-07
Before
A magnet pulls a steel bolt across a tray. Which object does the magnet's pull act on?
A. the tray
B. the magnet
C. the bolt
D. both the magnet and the bolt
Key: C (no figure)
After
One magnet hangs above a tray and pulls a steel bolt across the tray toward it. Which object does the magnet's pull act on?
A. the tray
B. the magnet
C. the bolt
D. both the magnet and the bolt
Key: C (figure pp_magnet_bolt: a drawing of the one magnet on a string above the tray and the bolt)

10 · Videos: physical reality

“Again, decent video, very confusing execution. Objects should not just randomly appear. // And this is lower priority but it's confusing as to the sled moving. Why is the sled moving? The guy is standing there with a slack string kind of passively so there's no indication as to what caused the sled to have this movement. It just kind of seems magical. I'm a little concerned about magical-seeming things in science lessons.” — Olivia, Topic 1, L02-script, 29 Sep 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T01_2026-09-29.md); Topic 7, L02-script, 8 Oct 2026 (reviews/olivia/G3T07_2026-10-08.md)

How it is applied: Every movement has a visible cause (a hand, a slope, wind, a string); nothing appears from nowhere; people drawn whole; force arrows on the object. Natural motions that ARE the lesson (a plant growing toward light, the Moon's path, a falling thing) are left as written and said so in the cue. (video cues, 316 across 42 topics (sweep 16 Oct); live videos edited by Peps id · 316 screen cues rewritten across 42 topics in the 16 Oct sweep (192 in Topics 1–16, 124 in Topics 17–42): things appearing from nowhere now placed or in view (class 1), things moving by themselves given a visible cause (class 2), oblong arms and no-hands bodies drawn naturally (class 3), teleports given movement (class 4). Narration untouched.)

Watch — Adding a visible cause to every scene can busy the picture (your note on photoreal) and invent business the narration never mentions (a gust of wind shaking a pine cone). The sweep added only causes the narration implies; the re-render check watches for invented scenery.
G3T01 L01 video, beat 9 and beat 11 (screen cues) · 2026-10-16
Before
[hat appears on the desk]
[box peeks from behind the door]
After
[Mia sets a hat down on the desk]
[Mia carries a box over and sets it behind the door; one corner of the box stays in view]
G3T01 L02 video, beat 7 (screen cue) · 2026-10-16
Before
[chip REFERENCE POINT: DOOR; the ball appears two steps from the door]
After
[chip REFERENCE POINT: DOOR; the ball, two steps from the door, glows]
(and beat 1's scene now has the ball two steps left of the door, the hat on the desk and the box behind the door in view from the first frame)
G3T07 L02 video, beat 5 (screen cue; the narration is unchanged: "And now, a sled slides down a gentle snowy slope. A boy holds its rope and pulls back, against the direction it moves.") · 2026-10-16
Before
[a pale snow slope, gently downhill to the right, so the sled slides on its own (Olivia, 8 Oct 2026: the sled's motion looked magical); the wooden sled (a curled front) slides right on a dashed path; a boy in a yellow-orange shirt behind it, leaning back, one plain oblong arm on the TAUT rope tied to the sled's back, no hands; the blue pull arrow, its tail at the sled's centre, points back toward him along the ground, against the path]
After
[a pale snow slope, gently downhill to the right: the slope is why the sled slides (Olivia, 8 Oct 2026: the sled's motion looked magical, so the downhill slope is drawn clearly); the wooden sled (a curled front) slides right on a dashed path; a boy in a yellow-orange shirt behind it, leaning back, both hands on the TAUT rope tied to the sled's back, drawn naturally; the blue pull arrow, its tail at the sled's centre, points back toward him along the ground, against the path]
(the live video was first edited by id on 8 Oct: slope and taut rope)

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