Spot the guess.
A message can sound perfectly ordinary and still change a fact. Start with one quick check, then try three more prepared examples.
Deliberately edited teaching example. We planted one made-up detail in the message below. This is an original exercise, not an authentic model response or a recorded model error. You can finish it here without an account or an AI app.
Start with the source.
These are the made-up notes the message should use:
Plant swap at the community garden. Saturday. Bring spare seedlings. The time has not been decided.
Which detail came from nowhere?
“Join us at the community garden this Saturday at 2 p.m. Bring your spare seedlings!”
Compare the message with the notes. Choose the unsupported detail, then reveal the answer:
- Saturday
- 2 p.m.
- Bring spare seedlings
Reveal the answer
B: 2 p.m. The notes say the time has not been decided. “2 p.m.” is an invention. Saturday and spare seedlings are both supplied.
If you chose something else, look back at the source. Checking the original is the whole skill.
A useful follow-up prompt is: “Remove that time and ask when people should arrive.”
Before sending a message, check that it kept the facts, left unknown details open, and added no new promises.
Three more checks: invented or changed details.
Each exercise below uses fictional notes and a deliberately edited message with one planted factual error. Compare the message with its source before opening the answer. These are prepared teaching examples, not authentic model responses or recorded model errors. No account or AI app is needed.
Check a repair update.
Fictional source notes
Repair shop update. The replacement part has not arrived. The ready date is unknown. The next update will be Thursday.
“The replacement part has not arrived. Your repair will be ready Friday. We will send the next update Thursday.”
Which detail does not match the notes?
- “The replacement part has not arrived.”
- “We will send the next update Thursday.”
- “Your repair will be ready Friday.”
Reveal the repair-update answer
C: “Your repair will be ready Friday.” The ready date is unknown, so Friday is unsupported. Thursday is the date of the next update, not a repair completion date. Ask when the repair will be ready or leave that date unknown. Do not replace it with another guess.
A corrected message: “The replacement part has not arrived, so the ready date is still unknown. We will send the next update Thursday.”
What to check next time: An update deadline is not a promised outcome.
Check a class invitation.
Fictional source notes
Beginner sketch class. Tuesday. Library meeting room. $12 per person.
“Join the beginner sketch class on Tuesday in the library meeting room. The cost is $21 per person.”
Which detail does not match the notes?
- “$21 per person”
- “Tuesday”
- “library meeting room”
Reveal the class-invitation answer
A: “$21 per person”. The source says $12 per person, not $21. Correct the number from the notes. The notes do not give a start time, so do not add one.
A corrected message: “Join the beginner sketch class on Tuesday in the library meeting room. The cost is $12 per person.”
What to check next time: Read numbers against the source, even when the wording sounds plausible.
Check a tool-library notice.
Fictional source notes
Tool-library drop-off. Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. Hand tools only. Power tools are not accepted.
“Bring hand tools and power tools to the tool-library drop-off on Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon.”
Which detail does not match the notes?
- “Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon”
- “power tools”
- “hand tools”
Reveal the tool-library answer
B: “power tools”. Adding power tools contradicts the notes. Keep the hand-tools-only restriction. Do not turn a limit into permission.
A corrected message: “Bring hand tools to the tool-library drop-off on Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. Power tools are not accepted.”
What to check next time: Check restrictions and exceptions as carefully as dates and numbers.
Before using any draft, compare it with the original, correct changed facts, and leave unknown details open. You can stop after any check.