Skill: write-mcqs @ 12ef279

Topic 1 — question types in the PP100 bank, one exemplar each

James (28 Sep 2026, via the coordinator): a topic's bank has about ten question types at most; he reviews ONE exemplar per type before the rest is

generated. This sheet lists the ten types the Grade 3 Topic 1 bank runs on, names one exemplar per type, and prints each exemplar in full as it ships

in content/G3T01_pp100_bank.py. Item ids are the bank's FINAL positions (PP-1 … PP-50, the 28 Sep late-evening order after the fill to 50); the 25 Sep id is printed beside each exemplar for tracing.

No item is held any more: the L05b and L06 items were released or rewritten on 28 Sep (evening) and appear below. The bank's format carries a why per item (no per-option fb; the

engine prints "Correct." / "Not quite." itself). Revised after James's second review: every bank stem is one or two sentences unless the item is hard

("This is science, not comprehension!"); no negative stems; type 4's exemplar is the rewritten Max item; type 7 now covers the zero-not-at-start items; type 8's exemplar is the frog item from the L06 rewrite.

Type 6's form, in one sentence. Items such as "How does Diego know the moon moved?" put the verdict in the stem so that the options are reasons only:

James ruled on 28 Sep that no option may say the verdict and the reason together ("Yes. Its position changed…"), because a reason that is true in the

world makes a wrong verdict pickable — so a claim item is either a bare yes / no (the lesson quizzes) or, in the four-option bank, a reason item with

the verdict fixed.

The ten types

#	Question type	Exemplar	Items shown (held items left off)	Count
1	Recall a term or the rule: a definition or rule stem; four coined terms, or four jobs, as options.	PP-1	PP-1, PP-7, PP-10, PP-15, PP-17	5
2	Given a position sentence, pick the part that is the landmark / distance / direction (the sentence's own parts, or their roles, as options).	PP-8	PP-2, PP-8, PP-21, PP-22	4
3	Pick the complete (or the incomplete) description: four sentences about one object; only one names a landmark / has a distance AND a direction / tells where.	PP-9	PP-3, PP-4, PP-6, PP-9, PP-23, PP-27	6
4	A description with a gap: what was left out (the landmark, or the distance), which words fix it, or why two listeners who followed it ended up in different places (the hard item: a missing direction, not a counting mistake).	PP-46	PP-5, PP-25, PP-26, PP-41, PP-46	5
5	Apply a position to a described scene: which position word fits the described pair, answered from the named landmark's side (under → above; left → right; behind → in front).	PP-24	PP-24, PP-42, PP-43	3
6	Did it move? Compare the object's position before and after: which thing moved in a drawn pair; what shows it moved (drawn, or described with the mover never seen moving — 'How does Diego know the moon moved?').	PP-29	PP-11, PP-12, PP-28, PP-29, PP-36	5
7	Measure the distance moved: read a drawn or described ruler: zero at the start (one reading) or not at the start (two readings, find the difference); or choose the marks / the tool.	PP-13	PP-13, PP-14, PP-30, PP-31, PP-32, PP-47, PP-48	7
8	Straight or curved: with two classes, the four-option ask names the class and offers four motions in words, exactly one of that class; or a drawn path and four motions, one with the same shape; the hard item classifies two motions of one object and compares the verdicts.	PP-19	PP-19, PP-20, PP-39, PP-40, PP-50	5
9	Is there a pattern? Four described motions or happenings, or two sets of observations judged together (this set / that set / both / neither); only one has a part that happens again in the same way.	PP-33	PP-16, PP-33, PP-44, PP-45, PP-49	5
10	Use a pattern to say what comes next, where the thing is after a counted number of repeats, one leg of a there-and-back repeat, or the reason a prediction is allowed.	PP-34	PP-18, PP-34, PP-35, PP-37, PP-38	5

Bank: 50 items — 22 easy · 23 medium · 5 hard; none held (filled from 43 on 28 Sep, late evening, after James approved the ten types: type 2 +2, type 4 +1, type 5 +2, type 9 +2 — PP100_BANK_G3T01_2026-09-25.md, "Fill to ~50" section). Hard items: PP-46 (type 4, printed), PP-47 (type 7, the ladybugs — James's "good hard question"), PP-48 (type 7, the wind-up robot walking back down the ruler), PP-49 (type 9, printed), PP-50 (type 8, the hockey puck).

The exemplars, printed in full

Type 1 — exemplar PP-1

PP-1 (25 Sep id PP-1) · atom MOT3-001 · tag easy · type 1

Stem: You say where a thing is by naming an object everyone can see. What is that object called?

a) a direction
b) a landmark ← key
c) a pattern
d) a position

Why: The object everyone can see is called a landmark. / Where a thing is, compared to the landmark, is called its position. / A direction tells which way. / A pattern is a part of a motion that happens again.

Type 2 — exemplar PP-8

PP-8 (25 Sep id PP-8) · atom MOT3-003 · tag easy · type 2

Stem: Theo says, 'The wagon is six steps behind the garage.' Which words give the direction?

a) the wagon
b) six steps
c) behind ← key
d) the garage

Why: Direction means which way from the landmark. / 'Behind' tells which way, so it is the direction. / 'Six steps' tells how far, so it is the distance. / The garage is the landmark. / The wagon is the thing being found.

Type 3 — exemplar PP-9

PP-9 (25 Sep id PP-9) · atom MOT3-003 · tag easy · type 3

Stem: Which sentence gives the water bottle's position using a distance and a direction from a landmark?

a) The bottle is five steps away from the post.
b) The bottle is just to the left of the post.
c) The bottle is five steps over to the left.
d) The bottle is five steps left of the post. ← key

Why: 'Five steps' is the distance. / 'Left of' is the direction. / 'The post' is the landmark. / Only 'five steps left of the post' has all three. / The other sentences each leave one out: the direction, the distance, or the landmark.

Type 4 — exemplar PP-46

PP-46 (25 Sep id Max (coord.)) · atom MOT3-003 · tag hard · type 4

Stem: Max says, 'The key is six steps from the gate.' Ben walks six steps and ends up left of the gate. Ines walks six steps and ends up behind it. Why did Ben and Ines end up in different places?

a) Six steps from the gate can be in many directions. ← key
b) Ben and Ines took different-sized steps.
c) The gate is a poor landmark.
d) Six steps is too far to count.

Why: Max said how far: six steps. / He did not say which way. / Six steps from the gate can be to the left, behind, or any other way. / So Ben and Ines both followed Max and ended up in different places. / Hard because: the student must see that a missing direction, not a counting mistake, made two correct walks disagree.

Hard because: the student must see that a missing direction, not a counting mistake, made two correct walks disagree (a judgement between two explanations).

Type 5 — exemplar PP-24

PP-24 (25 Sep id PP-25) · atom MOT3-001 · tag medium · type 5

Stem: At the zoo, a parrot sits on a branch right under a monkey. Which word tells the monkey's position compared to the parrot?

a) above ← key
b) below
c) beside
d) behind

Why: The question asks where the monkey is compared to the parrot, so the parrot is the landmark. / The parrot is under the monkey. / So the monkey is above the parrot. / 'Below' is the parrot's position compared to the monkey, the other way around.

Type 6 — exemplar PP-29

PP-29 (25 Sep id PP-32) · atom MOT3-004 · tag medium · type 6

Stem: Diego never saw the moon move, but at bedtime it was just above the barn roof and an hour later it was high above the barn. How does Diego know the moon moved?

a) He saw the moon moving across the sky.
b) Its position compared to the barn changed. ← key
c) The moon looked brighter than before.
d) The barn had moved to a new place.

Why: Moved means the position changed. / Before, the moon was just above the roof. / Later, the moon was high above the barn. / Its position compared to the barn changed, so it moved. / Diego did not have to see it go.

Type 7 — exemplar PP-13

PP-13 (25 Sep id PP-13) · atom MOT3-005 · tag easy · type 7 · fig pp_ruler_bottle_cap

Stem: A bottle cap slides across the table from the start mark to the stop mark, with the ruler lying between the marks. How far did the bottle cap slide?

a) 14 cm
b) 15 cm ← key
c) 16 cm
d) 15 m

Why: The start mark is at the 0 on the ruler. / The stop mark is at the 15. / The length from 0 to 15 is 15 centimeters. / Count the centimeter spaces, not the lines. / The numbers on a ruler are centimeters, not meters.

Type 8 — exemplar PP-19

PP-19 (new 28 Sep 2026, L06 rewrite) · atom MOT3-006 · tag easy · type 8

Stem: Which of these makes a curved path?

a) a frog hopping from a rock into the pond ← key
b) a drawer sliding open
c) a shopping cart rolling down the aisle
d) a swimmer swimming down one lane of a pool

Why: A curved path bends. / The frog goes up off the rock, then comes down into the pond: its path bends. / The drawer, the shopping cart and the swimmer each travel in one line with no bend. / Their paths are straight.

The other type-8 forms: "The drawing shows the path a child takes going down a slide. Which of these makes a path with the same shape?" (PP-20, drawn); the same

on the bike around the fountain (PP-39); "Which of these makes a straight path?" (PP-40, words); the hard item (PP-50): a hockey puck slid along the ice, then hit

so it flies up and comes down — "Which sentence about the two paths is right?", four parallel verdict pairs.

Type 9 — exemplar PP-33

PP-33 (25 Sep id PP-40) · atom MOT3-007 · tag medium · type 9

Stem: Which of these motions has a pattern?

a) a flag flapping in a changing wind: fast, then slow, then still
b) a ball kicked once across a field
c) a drumstick hitting a drum once every second ← key
d) a cloud slowly crossing the sky

Why: A pattern is a part that happens again in the same way. / The drumstick hits, and one second later it hits again, the same every time. / The flag flaps again, but not in the same way: fast, then slow, then still. / The ball and the cloud each move once and do not repeat.

PP-49 (25 Sep id PP-new) · atom MOT3-007 · tag hard · type 9 · hard item, printed in full

Stem: This week the mail came at these times: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 o'clock. Last week it came at these times: 10, 12, 9, 10, 11 o'clock. Which set of times has a pattern?

a) last week's times
b) this week's times ← key
c) both weeks' times
d) neither week's times

Why: A pattern is a part that happens again in the same way. / This week, 10 o'clock happened again every day. / Last week, 10 o'clock came twice, but the other days were all different. / So only this week's times have a pattern.

Hard because: "happens again in the same way" transferred from a motion to times of day (SR3-020), judged on two sets, one a near-miss (10 o'clock appears twice in the set with no pattern).

Type 10 — exemplar PP-34

PP-34 (25 Sep id PP-41) · atom MOT3-008 · tag medium · type 10

Stem: Jonah watches the waves come small, small, big, small, small, big, again and again, and the last two waves were small. What will the next wave be?

a) small
b) big ← key
c) no wave at all
d) there is no way to know

Why: The pattern is small, small, big, again and again. / The last two waves were small. / In the pattern, big comes after small, small. / So the next wave will be big. / The pattern tells you, so you do not have to guess.

Reading notes for the review

Types 2 and 3 are the two forms James praised on 28 Sep ("Which part of that sentence tells you the direction?"; "Which of the following has

distance and direction?"). The L03 quiz and PRACTICE carry seven more items on them; the fill added two type-2 items (the distance asked, in meters; the role of the distance phrase).

Type 4's exemplar is the Max item as James's second review left it: a positive question ("Why did Ben and Ines end up in different places?") whose

key is the missing direction; its hard line is in the why.

Type 5 has three items after the fill: the monkey / parrot flip (under → above), a lamp post and a mailbox (left → right), two children in the lunch line (behind → in front). The Ava hat item stays cut.
Type 9's hard item (PP-49) moves "happens again in the same way" off motion onto times of day (SR3-020) and asks the student to judge two sets. The fill added two medium type-9 items: four happenings at night with a firefly's flash as the key (PP-44), and two rides judged together (PP-45).
Type 10 includes the frog ("Where is it now?") and the ferry (medium).