WATER Check · Student handout · Sept. 14, 2026 · Version 1.0

The lunch line claim

Classroom simulation: Every school, record, post, and summary below is invented for instruction. This is not a report about a real school.

Use a separate sheet for your answers. Your job is to decide what the evidence supports and what the newsroom should do next.

The source packet

Item 1: Student post

“Lunch complaints doubled after the new schedule. The schedule has made lunch worse for everyone.”

Item 2: School bulletin

Staff logged 4 complaint forms in September and 8 in October.

Item 3: Office tally

The school served 800 lunches in September and 1,600 in October. The tally does not identify unique complainants or measure waiting time.

Item 4: Repost

“Two sources confirm the new schedule is failing.” The repost links only to Item 1 and Item 2.

Run the WATER Check

  1. Wait. What was your first reaction? Which wording encouraged it? Keep that reaction separate from your conclusion.
  2. Ask. List three claims in Item 1. For each, name the evidence you would need. Is a count of complaint forms the same as a measure of everyone’s experience?
  3. Trace. Draw arrows from Item 4 to the items it cites. Which records supply numbers? Does another post necessarily mean another independent source? Explain what the packet does and does not reveal about the origins of Item 1.
  4. Examine. Calculate complaint forms per lunch for each month. Show your work. Identify two things the records cannot establish.
  5. Respond. Write a two-sentence news brief with attribution. Then choose: publish that narrow finding, report further, or withhold. Explain your choice and identify one useful next reporting step.

Audit the summary

Instructor-written simulation of a generated answer, not an actual AI output:

“The school bulletin confirms that the new schedule doubled the complaint rate. All students experienced worse lunch service. Two independent reports support the conclusion. Reversing the schedule will solve the problem.”

Break the summary into four claims. For each, identify the supporting item, if one exists, and mark it supported, contradicted, or not established by this packet. Rewrite the summary. A confident sentence still needs evidence.

Exit note

My first conclusion was ____. The evidence supports ____. It does not establish ____. My next step would be ____ because ____.

Framework: Eric Jourgensen · Wait, Ask, Trace, Examine, Respond. Adapted from the Sept. 6, 2026 News Media and AI Literacy course-design cases, with AI assistance. No account or book purchase required.

Teacher guide and answer key · Optional WATER Check app. Print this page using your browser’s Print command.