The Block: REAL-SOURCE PACKET
Before the group chat decides what a school rule means
An original fictional school story set in New York, paired with real state and NYCPS guidance. Fictional records do not describe an actual school. Other states and schools use different rules.
Malik opens the class group chat after basketball. A seven-second vertical clip shows the assistant principal holding up a phone pouch. The caption reads: NO PHONES. NO EXCEPTIONS. Someone has added, “If you see somebody with a phone tomorrow, they’re getting special treatment.” The comments are already turning toward a student who used a device in science.
Malik remembers that the assembly was longer. He also remembers being distracted when the slides changed. His first thought is that the caption sounds right. But the accusation about another student is doing more than reporting a rule. It is asking everyone to judge a person whose situation they do not know.
At school the next morning, Malik and Nia ask for the announcement and the written device plan. They do not need access to anyone’s health information to check the claim. They need to know what the policy says, which part the school decides, and whether the video left anything out.
Your job is to write the next message in that chat. It has to be short enough that people will read it and accurate enough that it will not create a second rumor. You can disagree with a phone policy and still describe it correctly. Save your opinion about the rule for after you have established what the rule actually is.
A: NPW fictional practice record
Visible caption: NO PHONES. NO EXCEPTIONS. Audio: “Personal phones stay stored for the school day.” The clip stops. A reply says, “Then explain the phone in science.” No original recording link is included.
Establishes: What viewers were shown and the claim attached to it.
Leaves open: The rest of the announcement, the full policy, why it was cropped, or another student’s circumstances.
B: NPW fictional practice record
Personal phones stay stored for the school day. There are approved exceptions. Do not question another student about why they use a device. Families can ask the office for the device plan and contact procedures. Teachers will explain classroom technology arrangements.
Establishes: The announcement contains a qualification missing from the repost.
Leaves open: Whether every staff member follows the plan or whether any particular use is approved.
C: NPW fictional practice record
Students place covered personal devices in the school’s designated storage system at arrival and collect them at dismissal. Exception requests go through the principal’s designee. Families contact the main office for urgent communication. The plan links to the district policy. It does not publish students’ individual approvals.
Establishes: Where this school directs implementation questions and how its ordinary storage routine works.
Leaves open: The content of an individual approval or whether this school represents every New York school.
D: Primary-source summary written by NPW
New York requires restrictions on unsanctioned use of personal internet-enabled devices throughout the school day. Local organizations develop storage arrangements and family-contact methods. The state describes exceptions, including healthcare, translation, and uses included in an IEP or Section 504 plan. This is the state’s public explanation, not the local school’s implementation document.
Establishes: The state-level framework and the existence of defined exceptions.
Leaves open: The fictional school’s records or a student’s private reasons.
New York State Governor’s Office: New York State Phone-Free Schools Law
E: Primary-source summary written by NPW
NYCPS says students may bring devices but must store them during the school day unless an approved exception applies. Schools set their written storage and return procedures. Its FAQ identifies exceptions and directs families with implementation questions to school leadership. This does not reveal the circumstances of any particular student seen using a device.
Establishes: An actual district’s public explanation of storage, exceptions, and local procedures.
Leaves open: A universal rule for every U.S. school or proof that one student broke a rule.
New York City Public Schools: Cell Phone and Electronic Device Policy
Read only A. Write the claim you would be tempted to repeat. Underline any words you supplied that the audio did not. Mark your confidence low, medium, or high; this is a starting point, not a grade.
Your output: Two sentences and a confidence mark.
Read B. In a two-column note, place “heard in the clip” beside “missing from the clip.” Then cross out only the part of your first interpretation that the fuller text changes. Do not call the whole clip fake when the audio is real within the story.
Your output: Two matched details and one revised sentence.
Use C, D, and E. Identify the best source for each question: Where does this fictional school store devices? Does the state framework include exceptions? Where can a NYCPS family start with a local implementation question? For the question “Why did that student have a device?”, explain why none of these sources answers it.
Your output: Three source labels with reasons and one unresolved question.
Write a 70–100 word chat update. Correct the caption, name two receipts, distinguish what is known from what is private or unknown, and give one useful place to check. Avoid identifying the student discussed in A. Add a separate sentence about whether you support the policy; show that this opinion is a different claim.
Your output: A corrected message plus a separately labeled opinion.
Responses stay in this browser. Download your notes to keep a copy.
Answer: B. B preserves the actual restriction while correcting the unsupported absolute. A discards true information; C invents an approval process; D confuses a framework with local implementation.
Use these criteria to review your work before comparing it with the model response. Each criterion earns 0–3 points.
The caption left out part of the announcement. Receipt B says there are approved exceptions, and C explains our fictional school’s storage routine and who handles questions. That does not tell us why someone used a device in science. We should stop naming that student as proof of special treatment. The state explanation in D also includes exceptions. If you need to know how storage or family contact works here, ask for the written school plan. I still want to discuss the rule’s effects, but that is separate from claiming there are no exceptions.
| Minutes | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 | Show A alone; collect private first reads. |
| 8 | Compare A and B; distinguish audio from caption. |
| 12 | Pairs match the four source questions using C–E. |
| 15 | Write, exchange, and revise the chat correction. |
| 5 | Complete exit ticket and name one change in thinking. |
| Minutes | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10 | First read and neutral recap of the fictional situation. |
| 15 | Annotate clip and full announcement; test two interpretations. |
| 20 | Source stations for C–E; build a question-to-source map. |
| 10 | Discuss how to correct a rumor without investigating a peer. |
| 20 | Draft correction and get partner feedback on scope. |
| 10 | Compare with model answer; revise one sentence with a reason. |
| 5 | Exit ticket. |
Multilingual: Keep scope/alcance and exception/excepción visible beside examples. Partners may plan in either language and produce the final correction in the language of their chosen audience. Optional frame: “El video muestra __, pero no demuestra __.”
Accessible: Provide A and B as plain text, read aloud if useful, with no sound or visual memory test. Offer typed, handwritten, dictated, or recorded responses with a transcript. Reveal one receipt at a time and keep the source letters visible.
Challenge: Compare the actual state and district pages. Identify a question the district explains more specifically and a claim the two pages still cannot establish. Write a question for an administrator that does not request a student’s private record.
Ask a trusted adult about a time a short notice caused confusion. What fuller document helped? Together, draft one question about how the school communicates urgent messages. Discuss the procedure rather than another student’s situation; completing this activity does not require sharing a family’s private needs.
Print the story, all five receipt cards, vocabulary, and tasks. D and E contain enough attributed summary for this exercise; their URLs remain visible for later checking. Use paper columns for the source map. No video platform, phone, account, or family participation is required.
