Advanced
40 mins
Teacher/Student led
+60 XP

Check It Before It Goes Out

You will examine your draft piece using four checks for safety, consent, crediting and accuracy. Perform your own review first, noting any issues with precise details. Then exchange with a partner for further checking and make necessary fixes.

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    1 - Start ~4 mins

    Illustration for StartYou already have a draft of the piece you mean to publish (from your research log and plan if you need to rebuild it). Today that draft faces a real test: four checks for safety, consent, crediting and accuracy, run first by you and then by a partner who must name the exact line, image or credit behind any fail. Anything that fails gets fixed, or listed as a clear next step, before it can go out.

    Tip

    No draft open? Use your research log and plan, or pair with someone who has a draft and run the four checks on theirs so you still practise naming exact fails.

    2 - Examine and Discuss ~6 mins

    Illustration for Examine and discuss

    Key point

    Before anything is published, it has to pass four checks. Keep these four in front of you for the whole lesson. You will use them on your draft next.

    1. Safety: does this piece put anyone at risk? Look for personal details that should not be public (a full name with a school, a home area, a phone number, a private location), content that could invite harm, and anything that breaks the class charter you agreed.
    2. Consent: whose face, voice, name or words appear? Did each of those people clearly agree this could be shared with the audience you chose? If someone is in a photo, a clip or a quote and they did not agree, that is a fail.
    3. Crediting: every borrowed image, clip, sound or line of text needs a credit that names the creator, where it came from, and the licence (the rule that says whether you are allowed to reuse it, e.g. Creative Commons or written permission). A missing, vague or wrong credit is a fail.
    4. Accuracy: are the facts checkable? Is anything overstated, out of date, or presented as fact when it is opinion? If you used AI help, is that noted honestly in your log?
    Note

    A pass means the check is clean. A fail means you can point to the exact line, image, credit or gap that caused it. Vague worries do not count; named evidence does.

    3 - Hands-on: Run Your Own Four Checks ~8 mins

    Open your draft and work alone through the four checks. For each one, decide pass or fail and write a short note so a partner can follow your reasoning.

    Use the four-row check card below (or copy the same headings into your notes beside the draft):

    CheckPass/FailExact line, image, credit or gap (or short pass reason)Fix now / next step
    Safety
    Consent
    Crediting
    Accuracy

    Pattern for each row if you are writing freehand: Check: ___ | Pass/Fail: ___ | Evidence or reason: ___ | Fix now / next step: ___

    Key point

    If fail, name the exact place (for example: "second image, no creator named" or "opening paragraph names a classmate without consent"). If pass, give one short reason you are confident.

    Before you finish, check
    • all four checks have a pass or fail marked
    • every fail names a specific place in the piece
    • you are ready to hand the draft and your notes to a partner

    If all four are passes before time is up, mark one place that nearly failed and what would tip it.

    Save your check notes the class way so they sit beside the draft.

    4 - Your Turn: Partner Check and Fix ~16 mins

    Key point

    Swap drafts and check notes with a partner. You are not rewriting their piece. You are running the same four checks cold, as if you had never seen it. What you see in a partner draft stays in the pair. You name fails for them; you do not repeat their content or their fails to the room.

    1. Read your partner's draft once without looking at their notes.
    2. Run safety, consent, crediting and accuracy yourself. For every fail, name the exact line, image, credit or gap. Do not write "improve credits"; write which credit and what is missing.
    3. Compare your calls with theirs. Where you disagree, talk it through and decide what evidence would settle it.
    4. Hand the draft back. Each of you then works on your own piece: make any quick fixes you can do now (remove a credit gap, delete one line, blur or drop content that lacks consent), and list any fail that still needs a next step (for example a consent you still need to ask for) clearly beside the draft.
    Tip

    No draft of your own? Stay on your partner's piece as second checker: confirm every named fail, suggest one concrete fix, and write that fix as a next-step note they can keep. You are still practising the skill; you are not inventing a fake draft under pressure.

    Before you finish, check:

    • Must hit by about 10 minutes: your partner has four check calls on your draft, each with named evidence on any fail
    • Then, with whatever time remains: you have made quick fixes you can do now, and any left (like consent still to ask) is written as a clear next step beside the draft. One solid fix beats four half-started ones
    • the updated draft and next-step notes are saved the class way, ready for the publishing session

    Partner check: the four checks, run cold

    5 - Make Sense ~3 mins

    Which check caught the most fails in your pair: safety, consent, crediting, or accuracy? Give one named example. Share only craft-type examples with the room (missing creator on image 2, opinion stated as fact in paragraph 3). Keep any fail about a real person's face, name, or consent inside the pair; do not retell those to the class.

    Key point

    A named fail now is cheaper than harm, a missing credit, or a false claim after the piece is public. A partner who can point to the exact line is more useful than a vague "looks fine".

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