plagiarism humor

[Sryhanen@AOL.COM]

We begin collaborative research in 3rd grade and this week I was beging to
talk to my students about notetaking and writing short facts on notecards
(rather than writing something down word for word.)  They were interested and
had many questions about copyright and plagiarism. I explained that taking
someone else's work and using it as your own was like stealing and against
the law.   One boy raised his hand and in all seriousness said "Well, then I
think I'll be going to jail.  When I was in first grade, I wrote down all the
words for the book *Cat in the Hat* because I liked it so much."

Sometimes I forget they're only 8!

Susan Ryhanen
Van Cort Elem.
Mohegan Lake, NY