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Read a short source, find the line that answers the question, and tell what it states from what you are guessing.
Paper packet. Every task here also exists on screen, where it is checked automatically; answers written on paper are not assessed by Nydus. When you are back at a device, enter your answers there.
By the end of this lesson you can read a short source, point at the line that answers a question, and say what the source states without adding anything of your own. You will also be able to say "this source does not say" when it does not, which is a real answer and not a failure.
Ashfield is not a real village. Nobody has ever lived there, and nobody ever wrote the list below. We invented it at the school so that you can practise reading a source before you meet a real one. A made-up source is safe to practise on, but it is not evidence about the past. The only thing it is evidence about is us, because we are the ones who wrote it.
Imagine a shopkeeper called Bel. At the end of one day she writes down what she has sold, so that she will remember it tomorrow. This is the list she writes.
Bel wrote her list to remember, not to explain. She did not write down why the baker wanted flour. She did not write down who came into the shop and bought nothing at all. A list tells you what the person writing it wanted to keep track of, and it stops there.
A source is anything left behind that we can read or look at to find out about the past: a list, a letter, a photograph, a broken pot. To state something is to say it in so many words. A source states what is written on it. Anything else you believe after reading it is a guess. A guess can be a very good one, but it is yours, and it did not come from the source.
When you pick up a source, the first job is the smallest one: what does it actually say?
That sounds easy until you try it. Bel's made-up list says "6 candles — sold to the school". It does not say the school needed candles because the room was dark. It does not say the school paid for them. Those things might be true and they might not; the list says neither.
So the rule is: point at it. If you can put your finger on the words, the source states it. If you cannot, you are guessing — which is allowed, as long as you say so out loud.
Another way: picture
Imagine two boxes. Into the left box go only the sentences you could underline in the source. Into the right box goes everything else you believe about it. Both boxes can be useful. Only the left one is what the source says.
Another way: story
A friend hands you their shopping list and the word "milk" is on it. You know the list says milk. You do not know whether they bought any, whether they drank it, or whether they even like it. The list only knows about the list.
The commonest mistake is to answer with what you already know instead of with what is written. If the question is "what does the list say Bel sold to Ana?", the answer is on the paper, not in your head. The second commonest is to slip in a reason. "She sold flour to the baker because he was making bread" — the "because" is yours. The list stops at the flour.
The question is: how much flour did the baker buy? Read every line before choosing one.
A question about a number is answered by the line that carries it.
The line "3 sacks of flour — sold to the baker" is the only one with both flour and the baker in it. That is the line to point at.
The other lines are about honey, candles and Ana.
So the answer is 3 sacks. Not "lots", and not "5" — the number the source states.
The question is: was the bread any good? Look for a line about bread.
Search before you decide there is nothing.
There is none. The list mentions flour, honey and candles, and never mentions bread at all.
A source that does not mention a thing states nothing about it.
So the honest answer is: this source does not say. That is a real answer, and a better one than a guess dressed up as a fact.
This note is made up — Ashfield is an invented village. Mark the one line that tells you what the cart carried on Friday.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
Bel's made-up shop list is at the top of this lesson. Two questions about it, one after the other.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
Here is one line from a made-up Ashfield note: “Friday: flour and 6 baskets of apples.” Fill in the blank from that line.
The made-up cart list says this many baskets of apples went on Friday: a
A made-up note from Ashfield says: “Friday: flour and 6 baskets of apples. Friday: home again before dark. Saturday: no market this week.” Which of these does the note actually say?
None of these comes from the past, and every one of them is a source. Match each one to the thing it actually states.
| how long a book may be kept | what was bought, and how it was paid for | why the gate should be shut | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A made-up library card: "Books may be kept for two weeks." | |||
| A made-up shop receipt: "2 loaves, 1 bag of apples, paid by card." | |||
| A made-up sign on a gate: "Please shut this gate. There are sheep in the field." |
Lesson test: one question per skill, one attempt each, no hints. Your answers are checked when you submit.
This note is made up — Ashfield is an invented village. Mark the one line that tells you how many children were away on Thursday.
This task has no paper form; do it on a device.
You can find the line in a source that answers a question, and you can say "this source does not say" when there is no such line. Before your next lesson, find something written in your own home — a label, a note, a receipt — and say one thing it states and one thing you are only guessing.