In Your Own Words

ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research In Your Own Words
Students explore what plagiarism is. Then they learn tips for successful paraphrasing and they practice the skill. Finally, they learn to cite sources and develop a bibliography.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

1:1 Devices
Teacher Pack

The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.

Here are the teacher pack items for In Your Own Words:

Preview - Scene 1
Exploros Learnign Experience Scene Navigation


Engage


Overview

In this experience, students explore what plagiarism is. Then they learn tips for successful paraphrasing and they practice the skill. Finally, they learn to cite sources and develop a bibliography.

Students will collaborate in small groups for Scene 3.

Objectives

  • Distinguish between paraphrase and plagiarism.
  • Practice paraphrasing text.
  • Credit others for their work and ideas.

Duration

One to two class periods.


When you write anything from a homework assignment to a formal research paper, you are putting words onto paper (or onto the computer disc). You may be summarizing information you learned in class or synthesizing information you gathered from multiple sources. How do you turn that information into your own words? In this experience, you will learn how to do that.

Objectives

  • Distinguish between paraphrase and plagiarism.
  • Practice paraphrasing text.
  • Credit others for their work and ideas.


cartoon of a student copying an exam answer from another student in class

Imagine that you are a fourth-grade teacher. You are grading a pile of homework papers. You notice that the work handed in by Johnny and Blanca is identical, word for word.


What do you think happened?

A) They worked on the homework together.
B) One of them copied the other’s homework.
C) They both copied their homework from an Internet homework site.
D) They are good friends and they think alike, so it is no surprise that they write alike too.

There is no right or wrong answer to this fictional scenario. The purpose of the activity is to get students thinking about ownership of words.


When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

End of Preview
The Complete List of Learning Experiences in Inquiry & Research Unit.
ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary and Secondary Sources
ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research Generating Inquiry Questions
Generating Inquiry Questions
ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research Finding Information
Finding Information
ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research In Your Own Words
In Your Own Words
Would you like to preview the rest of this learning experience, and get access to the entire functioning ELAR Grade 4 course for your classroom? Sign up using your school email address below.
Back to top