Checking your own work
After finishing a task, look back at what you did and ask yourself: does this seem right?
What a learner can do afterwards
- After finishing a piece of work, re-read or review it without being asked to
- Spot and correct at least one error in their own work by checking back through it
- Describe what they checked for, for example: 'I re-read each line to make sure my answers matched the question'
1 · Read
After you finish a task, look back at your work before putting it away. Checking can help you notice something you missed.
You can check your own work by reading or looking at it again yourself. Someone else finishing it for you is different. If you do not understand a part, you can ask for help and still do your own check.
Read all the directions, including any on the back. Check each part. Did you add your name? Did you copy the order shown in the example? Did you use the colors asked for? If you find something missing, add it before you finish.
Check each answer against its question. If a question asks for an animal, an answer about a color does not match. Reading only the last page or erasing everything does not check each answer.
Mia wants to write the numbers from 1 to 5 in order. She reads her line again: 1, 2, 3, 5, 5. After 3 comes 4, then 5. She changes the extra 5 to 4.
A mistake can stay in your work if you do not look back. Your work will not fix itself. A check can help you find a mistake, but you might still miss one.
Check what you made as well as how many. If the task asks for blocks, apples do not match, even when the count matches. Look at every part of the request.
To check a count, touch each object once while counting aloud in order. Stop at the last object. The last number is the total. Compare that total with the number you wrote. Count again if you are unsure.
Look back at your work and ask yourself: does this seem right?
Original checking activities and reading about checking a packed bag.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Where this leads
13 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.