Andy's "Criteria and Constraints" script, evaluated
Skill: review-lesson (Role B, guidance read) → write-like-james @ 658e971 · James Moore's course-building rulebook · 2 October 2026
The short version
The script is an answer key, not a lesson. It is fifteen rules with "watch outs", written so that a reader who has only this text can answer the 100 practice questions. It did that job: the blind reader scored 100. A child sitting the lesson scored 26%. Those two numbers are the same fact seen from two sides. A rule list lets a careful adult pattern-match questions to rules; it gives a ten-year-old nothing to see, nothing to do, and no reason to care.
Five things decide it:
- It tells, and never shows. Not one rule arrives after an example. There is no scene, no picture, no pair of cases to compare. The first sentence a student reads is an abstraction about "a need".
- It teaches fifteen things in one lesson. One lesson teaches one idea. These fifteen rules are at least six lessons, and two of them (the fair test; two changes at once) belong to a different topic.
- The labels arrive before the meaning, six at once. Need, observation (also "evidence", also "test result"), constraint, opinion, criterion (also "goal", "success goal", "must-do"), requirement. A child meeting six new words in a page has no working memory left for the idea. Explain first, then label; one word for one thing.
- The watch-outs teach the test, not the idea. Andy's agent saw this itself: "the bottom edge curled over the name" is one question's situation. A student who memorises it has learned that question.
- The hard boundaries are decided by fiat, not shown. "Fit on the shelf" is a constraint; "stand where classmates can read it" is a criterion. That is a real and subtle line. The script states it in a clause. A child can only learn it from two cases side by side that differ in that one feature.
What is good in it. The fifteen rules are a fair inventory of the standard, in a teachable order. Three of them are exactly right and I kept their substance: a test checks a criterion only when it does what the criterion says (K12); "met", "not met" and "a constraint broken" are three different results (M13); fix the part that failed and test again the same way (I14).
What I built instead. One topic of six short lessons, each one idea, each a video of under 75 seconds or a short article (the learner's choice), an easy question straight after, and a quiz of five to eight quick items in fresh contexts. An intro that teaches nothing and a summary that recaps one rule per lesson. Then mixed practice with the two terms by recall. Walk through it from the Start page.
Where the fifteen rules went
| Andy's rule | What it says | Where it is now |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 the need | A design problem tells the need | The opening beat of Lesson 1 and the intro's scene. Not its own lesson: James's register makes the same call (SR4-020). |
| V2 observations | A sentence that tells what happened is an observation | Not taught as a class. The quizzes' options are what happened or what was asked for, so the distinction is used, never named. "Evidence" and "test result" are dropped: three names for one thing. |
| C3 constraints | A limit on material, space, time or cost | Lesson 2, as an example sequence: four limits, one of each kind, with two criteria as the near-miss non-examples. |
| O4 judging words | A rule with a judging word is an opinion | The two non-examples of Lesson 1 ("a good pencil holder", "must look neat"). "Opinion" is not coined: the frame "nobody can test it" does the work. |
| J5 criteria | A job a person can observe | Lesson 1, as the example sequence's positive cases. The synonyms (goal, success goal, must-do, requirement) are dropped. |
| D6 a clear problem | Names a criterion and the constraints | Folded into the summary and mixed practice; at this grade a sentence, not a lesson. |
| N7 no evidence | A pick for something the problem did not ask for | Covered by Lesson 5's rule read the other way; the practice item on the shade that "looks best" would sit here in a full bank. |
| P8 the process | Name the need, write criteria and constraints, build, test, record, improve | The topic's own order: the six lessons are the process, told on one pencil holder. |
| B9 write them first | Written before building, every idea is tested against the same goal | The summary's last line and Lesson 4's reason. |
| F10 the same test | The same test is fair | Lesson 4: the gentle bump and the hard bump, then the same bump on both. |
| W11 two changes at once | You cannot say which change caused it | Left out. It is a variables atom from the investigation strand, and a sixth idea is one too many for this topic. Named here so nobody thinks it was missed. |
| K12 the test watches the criterion | A test of anything else cannot check it | Lesson 3: three pencils against ten; looking against bumping. |
| M13 met, not met, broken | A result reaches what the rule asks or it does not | Lesson 5, as a three-way sort on the two holders. "Kept" added as the fourth word so a kept constraint is not called "met". |
| I14 improve the failed part | Change where it failed, then test the same way | Lesson 6: the narrow bottom, not the stars; and the non-example of bumping gently so the old holder passes. |
| S15 solves the problem | Meets the criteria and stays within the constraints | Lesson 5's rule, and the summary's second question. |
Line by line: a few of the sentences, and what a child reads
| Andy's line | The fault | The rewrite |
|---|---|---|
| "When a rule names the job the thing must do, something a person can observe, it is a criterion." | Three ideas in one sentence; the label is the last word; nothing to picture. | "Mr. Park says, 'The holder must keep ten pencils standing up.' Anyone can count ten pencils. That is a criterion." (the frame, then the rule last) |
| "A sentence that names no limit on material, space, time or cost is not a constraint, even when it says must or sounds like a rule." | A negative definition with a four-item list inside it, and "sounds like a rule" is not a thing a child can check. | Show it: "It must not tip over when the desk is bumped. That says a job again. That is not a constraint." |
| "Judging words: better, best, nicer, nicest, prettiest, looks nice, cool, neat, well, works really well, easy to carry, easy to find, good, most careful, strongest-looking." | A word list to memorise. The idea underneath is one test: can anyone test it? | "Neat to Ivy is messy to Luis. Nobody can test it. That is not a criterion." |
| "Say a criterion was not met (failed the main job) and a constraint was broken; a design that did the job but went past a limit (eight sticks, blocks the path, plastic pieces, costs too much) broke a constraint." | A 40-word sentence with a bracketed list of four question scenes. | Two frames on one holder: "Ten pencils stand up. That criterion is met." / "Luis used two sheets of card. The limit was one sheet. That constraint is broken." |
| "Other names: a criterion is the goal, success goal or must-do; a constraint is the limit; each one is a requirement." | Six words for two things, taught so the student can match any question's wording. | One word for one thing. If the question bank uses six words, fix the bank. |
| "When a failed part hid some of what the job must show (the bottom edge curled over the name), move what it hid away from that part (write the name higher up)…" | One practice question, restated as a rule. | Not a rule. It is a case for the quiz, if it is anything. |
Two things for James and Andy to decide
- The terms at grade 4. James's own grade-4 register says "criteria" and "constraints" as technical terms are middle-school territory and grade 4 uses everyday wording (SR4-021). James has since confirmed this is a grade 4 topic, and the sequence is pitched at 9-year-olds. Andy's lesson title and the standards use the terms, so this rebuild keeps them, coins each after its plain meaning, and says "job" and "limit" beside them throughout. The register's own words are "success rule" and "limit"; if the Grade 4 course keeps to everyday wording, the videos stand and only the two coining sentences and the four term items change. That is the one open call.
- The question bank. The 26% is partly the bank's. A lesson cannot be judged until its items pass a cold read: one question per idea, two or three options for a sort, fresh contexts, no option that bundles a verdict with its reason. The 63 items here were written to that standard and sent to two blind readers; their report is on the method page.
How I read it
The read used the rulebook's review-lesson checklist: one atom per part; concrete before abstract; explain then label; one idea per sentence; a boundary case gets its sorting sentence (shown, not stated); checks are a case and the yes or no the concept decides. Every finding above names the principle it rests on, and every rewrite is on the walkthrough pages, not only here.
Andy's script, verbatim
Q1. When something bugs people and they want to fix it, that is a need; a design problem tells the need.
V2. When a sentence tells what happened in a test, it is an observation, also called evidence or the test result. Watch out: "It held the supplies during the first test", "two brushes tipped over", "the cover shook" tell what happened, so they are observations, not rules for the design.
C3. When a rule sets a limit on material, space, time or cost, it is a constraint. Watch out: A sentence that names no limit on material, space, time or cost is not a constraint, even when it says must or sounds like a rule. Watch out: "Only two cards", "only paper and tape", "no more than two dollars", "finished in ten minutes" set limits, so they are constraints even when the sentence says must. Watch out: Fit in a tray, fit on the shelf, fit on the desk corner, no taller than a pencil, keep the path clear, leave the path open, not block the door set the space the thing may take, so they are space limits. Watch out: When the question names the kind of limit, pick that kind: one sheet of paper is a material limit, ten minutes a time limit, too wide for the corner a space limit.
O4. When a rule uses a judging word, it is an opinion, not a rule anyone can test. Watch out: Judging words: better, best, nicer, nicest, prettiest, looks nice, cool, neat, well, works really well, easy to carry, easy to find, good, most careful, strongest-looking. Watch out: "Make a better desk" uses a judging word, so it names no job and no need; what is missing is the need to solve, not which idea to try first.
J5. When a rule names the job the thing must do, something a person can observe, it is a criterion. Watch out: A job can say hold, keep, stay put, stand, not fall, not tip, not touch, show, cover, or let a person do something; two or more jobs are criteria. Watch out: A number or place inside the job (ten cards standing in one place, stand where classmates can read it, a label kept on the cubby front) tells the job, not a limit. Watch out: A sentence about who builds it, how the team will test it (tested by shaking the book), or when to choose it names no job, so it is not a criterion. Watch out: Other names: a criterion is the goal, success goal or must-do; a constraint is the limit; each one is a requirement.
D6. When a design problem names a criterion, and any constraint the need has, it is clear and can be tested. Watch out: A problem sentence with only a limit (fits inside a pencil box, made from folded paper and tape, uses every material in the bin) names no job, so it is not clear. Watch out: When the need has two parts (keep soil in, people still walk), the clear problem names both; a sentence about looks or size belongs to neither.
N7. When a design is picked for something the problem did not ask for, the pick has no evidence. Watch out: More parts, more material, least material, covering more, extra features, tallest, built first, fastest to fold, a pointed nose, looks best: not asked for, so not evidence.
P8. When you solve a design problem, name the need, write criteria and constraints, build and test, record what happened, then use the results to choose or improve.
B9. When criteria and constraints are written before building, every idea is tested against the same goal and limits. Watch out: Limits say what the idea may use; they are not step-by-step directions for building, and they do not replace the test. Watch out: Limits help you choose ideas that can really work: drop an idea that goes past a limit, then test the kept idea for each criterion. Watch out: When no limits are written, a design that uses too much material, space, time or money may be chosen.
F10. When compared designs get the same test, it is fair and shows which is better; different tests cannot.
W11. When two things change at once and the result changes, the test cannot show which change caused it. Watch out: When the material and the size both changed, you cannot say the material change caused the improvement.
K12. When a test watches the very thing a criterion says, it checks that criterion; a test of anything else cannot. Watch out: Three books on the table and watching the top checks "stay flat with weight"; a gentle push checks "not tip over"; blocks, lid, upside down checks "things inside must not fall out". Watch out: A test with fewer, softer or harder than the criterion says (two crayons for ten, ten hard bumps for three gentle), or of looks (looks straight), is not that criterion's test. Watch out: A rule with a judging word (better than the old one) has no test that checks it.
M13. When a result reaches what a criterion or constraint asks, it is met; otherwise it is not met or broken. Watch out: Say a criterion was not met (failed the main job) and a constraint was broken; a design that did the job but went past a limit (eight sticks, blocks the path, plastic pieces, costs too much) broke a constraint. Watch out: A result shows only the rule it reached: staying in through three shakes shows the shake criterion met, not the material limit. Watch out: "No more than two cards" lets you use two or fewer; only three cards or two strips go past the limit and break it. Watch out: Held by a hand, held seven of ten cards, held three of ten seconds: the result did not reach what the criterion asks, so not met. Watch out: A design never tested for a rule has no observation for it, so it is neither met nor not met; it needs more evidence, so test it.
I14. When a test shows a part failed, change that part; the change is the improvement, and making it is called improving or redesigning the design. Watch out: Change the part where the failure happened (the open side, the end the water went around, the arm that was too short), not another part and not the whole design. Watch out: When a failed part hid some of what the job must show (the bottom edge curled over the name), move what it hid away from that part (write the name higher up); a part that worked (the hook and clip) is not changed, and adding material past a limit (a second sheet) is not allowed. Watch out: A design that sags, bends or does not hold its load failed at the weak part; add support or make that part stronger. Watch out: A design that broke a limit is fixed by using less or making it smaller while still doing the job (less tape, fewer sticks, a shorter tray). Watch out: Never change the goal, the test or the limit so the design passes; test the changed design the same way again. Watch out: A design that met every criterion and constraint is kept as it is; nothing needs improving.
S15. When a design meets the criteria and stays within the constraints, it solves the problem; otherwise it does not. Watch out: Compare each option to the criteria to see if it solves the problem; check the constraints to see if it stays within the limits; two lists, two checks. Watch out: The result that shows the job was done (flew past the line in all three tries) is the first evidence for choosing a design; the limit result (one sheet) is the second. Watch out: Sentences that judge with test results: "Design B is better supported because it met both needs" and "Design A needs improvement because it blocked the button".