Improving Students’ Ability to Reference Sources
Subject: English Language Arts, History/Social Studies
Grade: 6 – 12
Timeframe: 45 minutes
Introduction:
It is important that students are able to read texts thoroughly for important information and details, extract certain pieces of evidence, and synthesize the information from a number of different sources. Students must be able to use this information to make points in a research paper. When using information, students must be able to discern appropriate times to cite directly from the source, and appropriate times to paraphrase.
Additionally, it is important that students are comfortable using technology tools integrated into their research.
EasyBib’s citation tools make it easy for students to cite their sources correctly.
Objective:
- Read and comprehend different sources
- Identify the main points of each source
- Evaluate which ideas are the most valuable in the investigation
- Understand when to paraphrase information and when to quote directly from it
- Give and receive feedback to other students
- Engage in group discussion
Materials:
- Computer with internet access
- Different newspaper articles or magazine articles for each student (either electronic or physical articles)
- Highlighters (if using physical articles)
- EasyBib’s Notebook
Procedure:
- Explain to the students when it is appropriate to quote from a source directly and when it is appropriate to paraphrase. Students should only quote directly from the source when the author has an insightful phrasing or brief description of an idea, but otherwise should try to paraphrase the information in a more concise way. Teach them what constitutes plagiarism and how to paraphrase correctly without plagiarizing.
- Give each student a different magazine or newspaper article, photo, or video (either electronically or physically).
- Have the students read their articles/analyze their sources and highlight important information.
- While analyzing, the students should be thinking about what kinds of information would be better paraphrased, and what kinds of information would be better quoted directly.
- Students should also generate MLA citations of their sources to get in the habit of citing their sources academically. This can be done using EasyBib’s citation composer.
- By using EasyBib’s Notebook, have the students create a summary of the source using the most important information. The students should paraphrase the article and use direct quotes
- Next, tell the students to get with a partner and exchange summaries. Once the students have read their partners’ summaries, have them read their partners’ original articles.
- Allow the students to engage with each other and discuss how well they summarized the articles. Was there any key information that was left out? Did they paraphrase correctly? How did analyzing the different media compare?
- Come together as a class to have a group discussion. What were some of the challenges of paraphrasing? In what instances was it best to quote a source? In what instances was it best to paraphrase from a source? How does paraphrasing differ from different media?
Assessment:
- Though no student’s summaries should be the same, the summaries should:
- - Summarize the key points of the article
- - Demonstrate effective use of paraphrasing (not plagiarizing) and quoting
- - Demonstrate correct use of citing (parenthetical citations as well as Works Cited)
- - Demonstrate depth of thought and accurate understanding of each source
Self-Evaluation:
At the end of this assignment, students should have met the objectives outlined at the beginning of this lesson. Furthermore, they should have furthered the skills outlined in the introduction.
After the lesson, the students should have developed a better sense of the best times to quote directly from a source and the best times to paraphrase from it. Students should have developed their ability to cite sources correctly by using parenthetical citations and by adding a source to their Works Cited.
Extension:
Students will be able to use the skills they’ve developed (ability to skim information for important points, ability to quote and paraphrase correctly, etc.) in future research projects. They will be able to be more effective researchers and writers in upcoming research papers.
Additional Resources:
- EasyBib
- For articles
Common Core Standards:
| Standard | 8th Grade Expectation | How this lesson plan addresses this standard: |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Anchor Standard 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. | CC.R.L.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. | Students are required to read articles/other informational texts closely to create summaries of the text; they also must include paraphrasing and quotes when necessary. |
| Reading Anchor Standard 2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. | CC.R.L.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text | The lesson plan is to create a summary based on the entire article. |
| Reading Anchor Standard 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. | CC.R.IT.8.7 Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea | In the lesson plan, students are given different media sources to analyze and then compare their summarizing techniques according to each type of source. |
| Reading Anchor Standard 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. | CC.R.IT.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently | Reading different articles at the appropriate level of complexity will improve students’ reading skills |
| Writing Anchor Standard 6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. | CC.W.8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others | Attaching a works cited to every summary reinforces the relationship between the information and its source. |
| Writing Anchor Standard 8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. | CC.W.8.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. | Students will quote and paraphrase information from sources while avoiding plagiarism. |
| Writing Anchor Standard 9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. | CC.W.8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. | While students are asked to summarize their sources, the lesson plan also requires depth of thought and insightful reflection of the article. Students must apply their reading and summarizing skills to create high quality syntheses of each source, and evaluate other’s summaries as well. |
