NBJH Learns
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Try This: Possible Sentences
After reading, students go back and read their possible sentences. If they have a sentence that contains incorrect or inaccurate information, they rewrite it, correcting the inaccuracies. This forces students to go back into the text.
Using the possible sentences strategy allows students to be active participants in preparing to read a text, rather than sitting passively while a teacher tells them what the text will be about. In addition, this strategy can also increase engagement with the text as students read to find out if their predictions are correct.
Click on the video below to see a short clip of students using this strategy.
More on Infographics
On another note, the TeachThought blog recently published an entry on how to use infographics as a multimodal teaching tool. Check out Sara McGuire's seven ways to use these powerful tools here.
Paying Attention to Plagiarism
Luckily, resources are available to help teachers design lessons and practice that will help students learn to avoid plagiarism. This post from The New York Times Learning Network is really worth the read. It not only discusses the basics of plagiarism but also spends time on how instruction needs to be different in a digital age, especially in light of the "mash up" trend that is part of popular culture. This is not an article for students to read; instead it is intended for teachers who want to consider plagiarism in another way. I haven't clicked on every link to every article in this particular post, but most of them lead to stories published in the New York Times. As always, you should read the articles you are considering for use in your classroom to decide whether or not they are appropriate for your students.
Also consider the resources available to you in the building. Amanda and I are both willing to work with you and your students in designing and delivering lessons intended to prevent plagiarism and to show students how important it is to credit others for their words and ideas. The work done in this area is sure to pay off throughout our students' academic and professional lives.