Make the dial. Draw a circle on card, write a little at one end and a lot at the other, and pin a paper arrow in the middle with a split pin or a pencil.

Before chapter 6. After each chapter, ask: what did this person see that Lan didn't? Where would you put the dial now?

The answer. There is no single answer. Lan saw one reason (Inkling likes Beto better). There were at least four: Inkling was finishing her spelling, Beto meant to explain, the bell rang at that moment, and the other rope was tangled, so Lan had only a minute. With more of the story, the hurt shrinks to "a little", and a repair is easy.

Use it on a real day. Next time something small goes wrong at school, ask who else was there and what they might have seen. Then try the dial together. Don't use it to decide who was right.

The grown-up layer. Children (and adults) often explain someone's behaviour with one reason about who they are, and miss the situation around them. Hearing one moment from several sides practises multi-cause thinking without naming it. Keep it to ordinary hurts. ThreadForge has the threads; ShadeForge has the dial.

For the ride home. Ask: has anyone ever said "not now" to you when they meant "in a minute"?