Citations, plagiarism, and paraphrasing are key words in 4th grade. As we begin expecting the kids to write more and more and start expanding on their research abilities and non fiction writing skills, we have to talk to our kids about plagiarism and citations. Our librarian has been fantastic about helping us kick off discussions about plagiarism by showing the kids how bad it feels if someone copies your work or claims your work for their own. (She does a very simple lesson where she has the kids each write a shape poem and then takes one kids work and puts her own name on it ... simple, but effective). From there we talk to the kids about how to avoid "stealing" someone's work, or plagiarizing. We model citing sources for the kids and give them lots of support as they learn how to cite. We also help them figure out how to paraphrase ... which is really difficult for most kids!
We bring up these conversations any time we get the chance. We do a lot of modeled writing, and every time I write I think aloud with my kids ... "Is this my own words?" "How can I make sure it is my own words?" "What do I need to do to be sure I am not stealing this persons work?" "How can I give the original author credit?" etc.
Thinking aloud with my students does a couple of things ... first it models the correct way to cite sources and avoid plagiarism. However, it also shows my students that I have to think through these questions, too (which is oh so true!).
Plagiarism is tricky for kids to understand. Paraphrasing is really hard. And Citations are tricky (even for me!). There are some great videos on
Brainpop that we like to use on plagiarism, citations, and paraphrasing. You can find them
here.
What helpful hints do you have for helping kids understand plagiarism?
Katie, those are great questions to ask your students when they are writing. I think we could even utilize those questioning techniques at the high school level. And, I agree... citations are even tricky for me! Every time I write an essay, I have to reteach myself how to cite.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you are modeling in front of your students. Modeling is so important if we want our students to do things correctly. I sometimes display what I want modeled on charts so it can stay up for awhile. My 2nd Graders easily forget. Believe it or not, I already have to teach 2nd Graders about plagiarism. When answering questions about something they've read, I always have some that will copy sentences straight from the story for their answer. Every so often I have to do a mini lesson on how to say things in our own words without copying it from the story. I have even used the big word "plagiarism" because they need to know what they are doing and what it is called. I have to do the same thing when we are doing research together. If they want to use an important fact, I will sometimes close the book or turn the Smart Board off. Then, I have a student tell me about the fact in their own words. They are really never too young to start teaching about plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that our students are learning about plagiarism in their ELA classroom as well as the library. Sometimes they need to see it used outside of the regular classroom for it to really set in their minds. I think you are doing a great job of modeling to the students. Kids learn so much by watching and listening to their teachers. I also think how you question yourself as you think aloud for them is so important for them to better understand. And as always, BrainPop videos are engaging and kids love Tim and Moby! Hopefully it will become easier for our students to cite and paraphrase since they are learning it from such a young age.
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