# Day 86 — Position depends on what we name

**25 minutes · AC9MFSP02 partial practice · educator review pending**

**Success:** The child locates a real classroom object relative to a named reference and, when accessible, describes their own actual position relative to a familiar object; a tabletop marker can provide a separate object-position route.

**Prepare:** an adult-checked stable classroom table/mat, two large safe object markers, a raised or flat A4 mat, teacher note of where each item actually is, optional [paper map A](shared-yard-map.svg) face down. Do not move a learner, photograph them or rely on an assumed room layout.

1. **Retrieve, 3 min.** Show two counters in different places on a mat. Ask, “If I say this one is **beside**, what must I also name?” Expect beside **what**. Counting yesterday's data does not answer position.
2. **Model with a true reference, 5 min.** Put a large marker **beside** a class mat; say, “The marker is beside the mat.” Move it **inside** the mat's outline and restate. Point to the actual classroom desk and say where **you** truly stand or sit relative to it, after checking; do not script a location that is false in the room.
3. **Guided position game, 9 min.** Children place or direct an adult to place a marker **inside, outside, beside** the mat and explain each relative to that named mat. Ask a willing learner to describe where they actually are relative to an approved nearby object, without moving or disclosing any private location. If self-location is inaccessible or inappropriate, record object-position evidence and mark own-body item not observed.
4. **Fresh independent try, 5 min.** Move a second marker to a new position without verbal cue. Ask, “Where is the second marker in relation to the mat?” Accept a correct word plus named reference, gesture/AAC or tactile demonstration. Then ask the child to create a new relation for a peer/adult to describe.
5. **Close, 3 min.** Ask, “Can the same marker be beside one object and far from another?” Yes; the reference changes. Record the exact actual placements and response, not just a remembered word. Introduce tomorrow's map as a model of a shared space, not a real route.

**If a child says only “there”:** Ask “Where, compared with which object?” and recheck a fresh placement after modelling. **Access and record:** large/raised mat and markers, precise spoken description, child-directed adult placement, AAC/sign/pointing, quiet station. Do not count a proxy avatar as proof of the child's own physical position.