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Putting Ideas into Your Own Words and Avoiding Plagiarism

Introduction | Background Knowledge | Activities | Extensions | Standards

Introduction

21st-century students are more tech-savvy than any group of learners before them. They are digital natives and have access to the world at their fingertips. With that power comes great responsibility. Students share pictures and memes and cut and paste information without considering it. We must teach students how to put thoughts and ideas into their own words, giving credit where credit is due. Students need explicit instruction on paraphrasing and citations to protect themselves and to teach them to be ethical information users.

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Background Knowledge

Plagiarism occurs when someone uses another person's thoughts or ideas as their own. It is more than stealing a term paper or copying someone's homework. It can be a quote from text, melodies from a favorite song, a photo or infographic, or sharing a funny meme on social media. Many students do not realize that cutting and pasting a paragraph from a digital encyclopedia is wrong.

Understanding copyright is crucial. Copyright Kids (TeachersFirst Review) gives guidance and a quiz fort review.

Paraphrasing is putting thoughts or ideas into your own words; this is the first step to avoiding plagiarism. The next step is to learn to cite sources correctly; by recording key information initially, such as the book or article title, author, date of publication, website, etc. students can return to or direct others to find clarification if needed, making citation easier from the notes. Kindergarteners do not need to choose between APA, MLA, and Chicago style, but even our youngest students can learn to identify the title and author of the source they used to find their information. There are many citation resources to make this task easier for older students.

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Activities

Online Resources

  • There are several online resources to help teachers present information about plagiarism. These resources include short videos that present plagiarism in student-friendly ways. Two universities have created resources, including a game appropriate for upper elementary students and above.
  • Check up to 500 words in a document for plagiarism using an online AI plagiarism checker at Quetext (TeachersFirst Review).

Online Citation Tools

Pirates of Plagiarism

  • The Pirates of Plagiarism by Kathleen Fox and Lisa Downey is a fun way to introduce the concept of plagiarism to younger students. Captain Bumbo and his band of pirates enter the library and break all the rules. Students can identify their mistakes and learn how to avoid plagiarism.

Matching Games

  • Students can practice matching paraphrased text, copyrighted text, and corresponding citations with the sorting activities available at GameBuilder (TeachersFirst Review). The activities can be tailored to various age groups, printed, laminated for a non-tech approach, or simply copied for an interactive notebook activity or an assessment. Scroll down the page to find a Matching game generator that will help make online sorting games of terms or paraphrased phrases that are game-like; students will also enjoy the game Chakalaka. All of the activities at GameBuilder are relatively easy for even those who don't consider themselves tech-savvy.
  • Create a matching game using Connections (TeachersFirst Review) to review or introduce terms and information relating to plagiarism. For example, use categories of types of plagiarism, citation styles, consequences, and prevention ideas and then include vocabulary for each category. Chat tools such as Claude (TeachersFirst Review) are a helpful way to determine categories and vocabulary to use when building your Connections game. Describe the game and mention that it is similar to the New York Times version of Connections. Then provide a topic and grade of students and ask Claude to generate a list of ideas to use when building a Connections game for your students.
  • Use Wordwall (TeachersFirst Review) to create matching games, crosswords, and quizzes to reinforce important terms and vocabulary relating to plagiarism. Additional Wordwall activities include drag-and-drop diagrams, sorting activities, and a word search creator.

Activities for Paraphrasing

  • Paraphrase the Paraphrase
    • Busy Teacher (TeachersFirst review) suggests an idea to divide your class into groups of four or five students. Provide each group with a complex text that is on grade level. Students can work in groups to paraphrase their paragraphs. The teacher then collects the original paragraph and passes the paraphrased paragraph to the next group. The students then paraphrase the paraphrased text they were given. Do this at least twice, then compare the paraphrased paragraphs to the original.
  • PBSLearning Media
    • PBSLearning Media has a great lesson plan on paraphrasing. The lesson is based on exploring a video segment about Timbuktu as a thriving center of Islamic learning.
  • Play Telephone
    • This game is a great way to teach students how to paraphrase by playing an old-fashioned game of telephone (all students sit in a circle and the first student whispers a message to the second student.. And this is repeated until the final student shares what they think the first student said). As the message travels and changes, we can teach students how to paraphrase naturally. The message may change, but the meaning is always the same. Change the game to encourage paraphrasing and see how much the meaning changes along the line.

Activities for Citations

  • Citations are the Address for the Information
    • Using the school's or a well-known address (P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, Australia is an option if students are familiar with Finding Nemo), create a sort where the students can manipulate the address to put it in order. Discuss why it is important to have the address in order. Make the connection to citations and why having all the correct information in order is important. As in the abovementioned example, the next step is to practice with real books and websites. The final step in the progression is to use an online citation generator to create a citation. Try the ClassTools Citation Generator (TeachersFirst Review).

Human Citations

  • While this is still a sorting activity, get the students up and moving as they practice creating appropriate citations. On separate 8 ½ x 11 pieces of paper, print out each part of a citation in a large font, along with individual punctuation marks. When creating multiple citations, use different colors of paper for each individual citation and a basic color for the punctuation mark sheets. Have students arrange themselves to create the correct citation.
  • Use GameBuilder (TeachersFirst review) and scroll down the page to find the Sequence game, where the pieces of a citation can be correctly listed in the sequence. Creating multiple games with varied media types will help students learn how different citations appear.

Citation Scavenger Hunt

  • Prove It! (TeachersFirst review) is an activity for middle and high school students, provided by ReadWriteThink (TeachersFirst review). The game challenges students to find evidence that supports a claim and then cite it accordingly. There is a downloadable PDF to introduce the lesson and another for the student to complete.
  • Challenge your students to complete the Digital Escape Room (TeachersFirst Review) offered by the John S. Bailey Library. The objectives for the escape room include navigating the MLA Citation Guide and identifying differences in MLA in-text citations, MLA works cited citations, and the parts of an MLA paper.

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Extensions

  1. Model how to cite their sources from kindergarten on! After reading a nonfiction book, ask students to recall information and ask them how they know. Show students how to go back into the book and find the information. Write the page number where the information/text evidence was found. Write the book's name and the author at the bottom of the anchor chart or graphic organizer, such as a K-W-L chart.
  2. Develop a classroom culture where students practice paraphrasing throughout the day; this is an excellent way to promote listening and inference skills. When a student responds to a question, ask another student to paraphrase what the first student said.
  3. Students can paraphrase a section chapter of the textbook during science and social studies content lessons.
  4. Use paraphrasing in small group reading to support a student's comprehension, especially in fiction books. Students can paraphrase a conversation or event in the book to show understanding.
  5. Take advantage of the Paraphrasing Guide from Quillbot (TeachersFirst Review) to find specific ideas and activities to teach paraphrasing. Be sure to include the paraphraser and summarizer tools to model and teach these important skills.

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Correlation to Standards

  • AASL National School Library Standards
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners display curiosity and initiative by:
      • 1. Formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
      • 2. Recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes:
      • 1. Interacting with content presented by others.
      • 2. Providing constructive feedback.
      • 3. Acting on feedback to improve.
      • 4. Sharing products with an authentic audience.
    • Include Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners exhibit empathy with and tolerance for diverse ideas by:
      • 1. Engaging in informed conversation and active debate.
      • 2. Contributing to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.
    • Include Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by:
      • 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners.
      • 4. AASL National School Library Standards
    • Engage Shared Foundation, Think Domain: Learners follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information by:
      • 1. Responsibly applying information, technology, and media to learning.
      • 2. Understanding the ethical use of information, technology, and media.
    • Engage Shared Foundation, Create Domain: Learners use valid information and reasoned conclusions to make ethical decisions in the creation of knowledge by:
      • 1. Ethically using and reproducing others' work.
      • 2. Acknowledging authorship and demonstrating respect for the intellectual property of others.
      • 3. Including elements in personal-knowledge products that allow others to credit content appropriately.
    • Engage Shared Foundation, Grow Domain: Learners engage with information to extend personal learning by:
      • 1. Personalizing their use of information and information technologies.
      • 2. Reflecting on the process of ethical generation of knowledge.
      • 3. Inspiring others to engage in safe, responsible, ethical, and legal information behaviors.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by:
      • 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understandings.
      • 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group.
      • 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners participate in personal, social, and intellectual networks by:
      • 1. Using a variety of communication tools and resources.
      • 2. Establishing connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge and create new knowledge.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners actively participate with others in learning situations by:
      • 2. Recognizing learning as a social responsibility.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by:
      • 1. Reading widely and deeply in multiple formats and writing and creating for a variety of purposes.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners construct new knowledge by:
      • 1. Problem solving through cycles of design, implementation, and reflection.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners engage with the learning community by:
      • 3. Collaboratively identifying innovative solutions to a challenge or problem.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners develop through experience and reflection by:
      • 1. Iteratively responding to challenges.
      • 2. Recognizing capabilities and skills that can be developed, improved, and expanded.
      • 3. Open-mindedly accepting feedback for positive and constructive growth.
  • ISTE Standards for Students
    • Empowered Learner 1.1
      • 1.1.b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
      • 1.1.c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
    • Digital Citizen 1.2
      • 1.2.c. Demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
    • Knowledge Constructor 1.3
      • 1.3.d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.
    • Innovative Designer 1.4
      • 1.4.d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance, and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
    • Global Collaborator 1.7
      • 1.7.c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

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