Keep a version and try another

Foundation Media Arts · Day 87 · optional flexible start

Child invitation: Keep this one. Try a different bit if you want.

Target: Compare two genuinely available traces of own making and choose what to keep, change or leave open.

Prepare: Two broad paper areas, or maker's Keep a comparison button and current work. The comparison is tab-memory only; it is an actual copy of current frame data, not an invented previous version.

A runnable start

1. Invite · 3 min. Use actual work. Ask whether the child wants to keep a comparison or just continue. If absent, make a wanted part first. Never reconstruct a fictional 'before' and call it an observed earlier response.

2. Model · 4 min. Adult saves their own actual two-frame snapshot, changes one frame's position, then reads both complete descriptions. On paper, place two genuinely drawn alternatives beside each other. Neither is labelled better.

3. Make / direct · 8 min. Child chooses a real feature to change or keeps the current work. If wanted, preserve the first trace then make/direct one alternative. Ask 'Which bit will you try?' A new unrelated work is not automatically a revision.

4. Try / inspect · 6 min. Compare both actual traces through pictures or full descriptions. Child selects first, current, both, neither or later. Receive preference or intention without requiring a spoken reason. Only real feedback may be attributed as feedback.

5. Close · 4 min. Finish with the child's selected version. Record actual change/hold and roles. Reload loses the comparison; printing/downloading is optional under local storage rules. An improvement claim needs separate evidence.

Switchable practical routes

Route A · Two paper endings

Make two actual endings for an invented underwater postbox; choose either/both/neither. These are fiction, not an account of an animal habitat.

Route B · Screen snapshot trial

Select Keep a comparison on actual work, change one child-selected position/order/caption, then read the complete kept/current descriptions. A snapshot is not a saved file or audience trial.

Route C · Change a useful pretend guide

Child directs two actual broad versions of a pretend play cleanup picture sequence. Choose the form they want; no real household rules or family duties are required.

Notice: Two genuine traces if available, exact difference, chosen keeper and operator. If only one exists, compare unavailable stays unavailable.

Next teaching: When comparison is unavailable, offer a new reversible broad two-version trial later. When all decisions are adult-made, offer one wanted choice rather than manufacturing an own reason.

Teacher setup · Maker and paper route · Complete source notice