# N04 · Ask the garden labels a useful question

**A small start:** Choose a garden question. Which label could help?

## Complete supplied source

Original fiction. Bed label says: cardboard, used to name a pretend bean bed. Pot marker says: wooden, used to name an imaginary herb pot. Spare tag says: paper; its use is not recorded. None gives a maker. These are supplied written garden descriptions, not a real garden visit.

## Choose your way

Tell it, sign, use AAC, point to the words, make broad marks or direct a helper. Two reachable paper spaces are enough if wanted. Start with one clue, keep it private, rest, pass or stop. A helper can read dates or source names neutrally and write the child’s exact chosen words; record any supplied idea separately. These are choices, not fixed learning styles or diagnostic labels.

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<summary>Grown-up help · teach, model and another useful step</summary>

**Teacher invitation:** Invite a child-chosen material or use question before offering examples. Let them point, speak, sign, use AAC or direct a helper to the relevant source words. Ask what another source would need to add.

**One worked possibility, after an own attempt or if wanted:** “Which marker is described as wooden?” has a clue in Pot marker. “Which entries name a garden place?” can use Bed label and Pot marker. “Who made Spare tag?” remains open. Explain one chosen clue and one relevant gap.

**What stays unknown:** Paper alone does not reveal a tag’s use, and no maker is given.

**Next teaching:** Introduce a fresh invented seed-box record that names its use but leaves material unstated. Revisit the child’s own question; decide whether the new record is useful rather than changing the question for them.

**Keep a useful trace if needed:** chosen source/question, exact child meaning, actual helper reading/writing/moving/operation, content help and one useful next step. Missing or unoffered evidence is not a failure; a fictional action is not the child’s performance. There is no length, handwriting, speed or public-sharing requirement.

</details>

[More small jobs](INDEX.html) · [Ordinary sources](../ordinary/INDEX.html) · [Sources and reuse](../SOURCE-NOTICE.html).

Original educational work © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd2026, SubjectNest, CC BY4.0 with creator/source/licence credit and change notice; Codex assistance. These are original fiction, not actual child work or provider text. Learner contributions stay separately owned.