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Skill: course-build → write-mcqs → write-explanation, design-check-sequence @ a5ff054

Topic 16 — Describe it, sort it — the PP100's nine question types, with their exemplars

What this page is. James approves a bank's question TYPES before the bank is generated (vault: A bank is reviewed as its question types first, one exemplar each, 28 Sep 2026). This sheet writes the exemplars in full, exactly as they sit in content/G3T16.py (PP100, flagged TYPE_SHEET_ONLY). Nine types, ten exemplars (type 2 carries a second form so the pair SR3-001 + SR3-002 has a type). No other bank item exists yet. Once the types stand, about fifty items are generated from them, varying scene and nouns, easy-heavy.

James's ruling of 28 Sep (night) is applied: the hard end of the bank is typed, not multiple choice. Types 1–7 are four-option MCQs (type 7 a reorder item, allowed since Topic 2) and are the easy and medium bulk. Types 8 and 9 are text entry: the student types the class or the property instead of picking it from a fixed set — recall, not recognition, which is the extra step that makes them hard. Each typed exemplar carries an honest accept list in the lesson's own words (the grader ignores case, articles and a final period; no synonym the lesson did not teach).

How to read a type line. Each says what the stem asks, what the four options are (the kind of thing), and gives its exemplar scene. Every MCQ has a why (no per-option feedback in the bank; the engine prints Correct / Not quite). Tags follow depth of reasoning: easy = one-step sort or the fact; medium = two ideas at once, or a fresh set to judge; hard = the class or property recalled and typed, on a case that invites the wrong answer. No option bundles a verdict with a reason; every stem is a positive question; no item figure carries a chip, a label or a property word; no bank item shows a reference list or the sort card.

The nine types

TypeItemsAtomTagFormThe stem asks…The options are…Exemplar scene
1PP-1SR3-001easyMCQa child says one thing she noticed: what did she observe it withthe four senses: her eyes / her ears / her hands / her nosea ringing bell
2PP-2SR3-002easyMCQa child looks at a scene: which of four sentences is an observation (mirror form: which is an idea about it)four sentences about the scene; one is observed, three are thoughtmilk on the kitchen floor
2, second formPP-6SR3-002 + SR3-001 (pair)mediumMCQwhich of four sentences is an observation made with a NAMED sensefour sentences: one observed with that sense, one observed with another sense, two ideas about ita child in bed in the dark; the stairs creak
3PP-3MAT3-001easyMCQ"The X is [word]." Which property is thisthe fixed set: its color / its shape / its size / how it feelsa fluffy blanket
4PP-4MAT3-001easyMCQwhich of four sentences tells you a property of the objectfour sentences about the object; one names a property, the others say where it is, whose it is, or its storya boat
5PP-7MAT3-002mediumMCQ, drawntwo drawn groups of blocks, no labels: which property were they sorted bytheir color / their shape / their size / how they feelsquares in one box, triangles in the other, colours and sizes mixed inside each
6PP-8MAT3-P01 (+ MAT3-001)mediumMCQa described set, all alike in some properties and different in one: which property can sort them into two groupsfour properties; only the one that differs from object to object works (a count is the fourth)eight round red beads, big and small
7PP-5MAT3-003easyreorderput these in order from least to most of a named propertythree to five things to tap in orderfour animals by size
8PP-9SR3-002hardtext entrya child states an idea that sounds true; is it an observation or an idea about it — type the answertyped: "an idea about it" (accept: an idea about it / idea about it / an idea / idea)a broken vase and "the cat knocked it over"
9PP-10MAT3-003 + MAT3-P01 (pair)hardtext entrya child wants a LINE from least to most and knows two properties; which can he use — type the propertytyped: "size" (accept: size / their size / the size / its size)five shells; their color and their size

Hard because (type 8): the class is recalled and typed, not picked from the two-word fixed set, and the idea offered is one a child believes is true — the L02 trap. Hard because (type 9): two ideas joined (a line from least to most needs a property with a least and a most; a color has none — L06's boundary, L05's choosing step) and the property is typed.

Coverage (every atom alone, and the pairs)

AtomTypes testing it alonePair types
SR3-001 observe with more than your eyes12 second form (with SR3-002)
SR3-002 observation or idea about it2, 82 second form (with SR3-001)
MAT3-001 describe by properties3, 46 (with MAT3-P01: the properties the choice is made from)
MAT3-002 sort by one given property5— (the sort's fixed set is type 5's option set; the pair with MAT3-001 is inside type 5's distractors)
MAT3-P01 choose a property to sort by (provisional)69 (with MAT3-003)
MAT3-003 put in order by a property79 (with MAT3-P01)

At most two alone-types per atom (James: "unlikely that you're going to need more than two question types per atom"). Order in the file: easy PP-1…PP-5 → medium PP-6…PP-8 → hard PP-9, PP-10. Keys of the seven MCQs, in file order: PP-1 B · PP-2 A · PP-3 D · PP-4 C · PP-6 D · PP-7 B · PP-8 C (no letter over 35 %); PP-5 is a reorder and PP-9, PP-10 are typed.

The exemplars, in full

Type 1 — PP-1 · SR3-001 · easy

Stem: Amani says, "The bell is ringing." What did she observe that with?

Why: A ring is a sound. / Sounds reach your ears. / So Amani observed the ringing with her ears.

Type 2 — PP-2 · SR3-002 · easy

Stem: Otto looks at the kitchen floor. Which of these is an observation?

Why: Otto can see the puddle of milk. His eyes told him that, so it is an observation. / Nobody saw the cat, Dad or anyone slipping. / Those three are ideas about it.

Type 3 — PP-3 · MAT3-001 · easy

Stem: "The blanket is fluffy." Which property is this?

Why: Fluffy is how something feels under your hand. / So "the blanket is fluffy" tells you how the blanket feels.

Type 4 — PP-4 · MAT3-001 · easy

Stem: Which sentence tells you a property of the boat?

Why: White is a color, and a color is a property. / Where the boat is, whose it is, and when it was built are not properties. / They say nothing about the boat's color, shape, size or feel.

Type 7 — PP-5 · MAT3-003 · easy · reorder

Stem: Put these animals in order from smallest to biggest.

Items, in the correct order: a beetle · a rabbit · a cow · an elephant (the page shows them shuffled; the student taps them in order).

Why: The order runs from the least size to the most. / A beetle is the smallest, so it goes first. / A rabbit is bigger than a beetle, and a cow is bigger again. / An elephant is the biggest, so it goes last.

Type 2, second form — PP-6 · SR3-002 + SR3-001 · medium

Stem: Freddie is in bed in the dark. Which of these is an observation Freddie made with his ears?

Why: A creak is a sound, and sounds reach your ears. / "It is dark" is an observation too, but Freddie made it with his eyes. / "Someone is coming" and "it must be late" are ideas about it.

Medium because: two sorts at once — observation or idea, and which sense — and one distractor is a true observation made with the wrong sense.

Type 5 — PP-7 · MAT3-002 · medium · drawn (pp_sort_shape: left box a big red square and a small blue square; right box a big blue triangle and a small red triangle; no labels)

Stem: These blocks are sorted into two groups. Which property were they sorted by?

Why: Every block in the left group is a square. / Every block in the right group is a triangle. / Each group holds a red block and a blue block, and a big block and a small block. / So the blocks were sorted by shape.

Medium because: the student must rule out color and size by reading both boxes, not match one word.

Type 6 — PP-8 · MAT3-P01 (+ MAT3-001) · medium

Stem: Layla has eight round red beads, some big and some small. Which property can she use to sort them into two groups?

Why: Every bead is round, so shape puts them all in one group. / Every bead is red, so color puts them all in one group. / Some beads are big and some are small. / So size can sort them into two groups.

Medium because: the student applies the choosing rule (pick a property that differs from bead to bead) to a fresh set, ruling out two shared properties.

Type 8 — PP-9 · SR3-002 · hard · text entry

Stem: Wilf finds a broken vase on the floor. He says, "The cat knocked it over." Is that an observation or an idea about it? Type your answer.

Accept: an idea about it · idea about it · an idea · idea

Why: Wilf saw the broken vase. / Nobody saw the cat knock it over. / Wilf thought it, so his sentence is an idea about it.

Hard because: the class is typed from memory, not picked, and the idea offered is one a child believes is true.

Type 9 — PP-10 · MAT3-003 + MAT3-P01 · hard · text entry

Stem: Casper wants to put five shells in a line from least to most. He knows their color and their size. Which property can he use? Type the property.

Accept: size · their size · the size · its size

Why: To put things in order, you need a property with a least and a most. / Size has a least and a most: smallest to biggest. / A color has no least and no most. / So Casper uses their size.

Hard because: two ideas joined (order needs a least and a most; a color has none), and the property is typed rather than picked.

Reading notes for the review