What it is. One outline built from three texts, organized by idea rather than by source.
Why our test works. Three sources organized by source give three summaries; organized by idea they give an argument — because only that arrangement makes DISAGREEMENT visible, and disagreement is the most valuable thing in a set of notes. It is also where a paper's thesis usually comes from. A child who reports three sources agreeing has almost always failed to look, which the test catches before the writing starts.
Leans on. Grade 7 separated fact from interpretation in one source.
Watch for. Sources that copy one another are one source. Check independence before recording agreement — it is the whole skill.
Build one outline from three texts, organized by idea rather than by source. The worked example is the one you build on the board: Teacher shows notes organized by source, names why that fails an essay, and reorganizes th The class reads Writing Book 8, p.51 — our own page, so a child who was absent can still get the lesson.
You open by saying where this sits — what it follows and what it is part of — in one sentence, and then you give them the reason it matters, in your own words, for about ten seconds.
Then you do one yourself, building it on the board and leaving it up: Teacher shows notes organized by source, names why that fails an essay, and reorganizes them by idea. The board copy is what they look back at when they stall, so it stays there for the whole lesson.
The We-do is the main whiteboard moment of the lesson — short answers, boards up on your signal, every child visible at once. Class decides which idea heading a fact from source C belongs under. If the answer is a whole sentence rather than a word, take it on their notebooks instead, because a sentence written on a whiteboard is written once and destroyed.
They open Writing Book 8 to page 51 and read it with you. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves. Then they work alone: Outline three short texts by IDEA, not by source. Mark which source each fact came from.
You close on the exit direction — Name an idea that appeared in more than one source. — taken from every child before anyone stands, and then the line you want them to still have tomorrow: Idea on top. Sources underneath. Mark every disagreement.
Sources that copy one another are one source. Check independence before recording agreement — it is the whole skill.