HIT paraphrasing

[amy daly <adaly@MAIL.PHILA.K12.PA.US>]

Thank you so much for all of your advice!    Many of you asked if I would
post a HIT, so here it is:

I don't know how you are approaching paraphrasing or for what reason.  The
reason we do it is to avoid copyright infringements during research.  I tell
the kids that stealing ideas is the same as stealing stuff from a store.  We
talk about the future and what would happen if they stole ideas at college
or at a job.  We acknowledge that that would be BAD and then we talk about
how not to do it--how to "say it in our own words."  I use something I think
comes from the Big Six model--"trash and treasure notetaking."  I tell the
kids to imagine they are SCUBA diving and they come across a sunken pirate
ship.  All over the floor of the ocean are bars of gold and rocks.  I tell
them they can only carry 25 pounds of stuff.  Are they going to takes rocks
or treasure?  I also ask them if they see something and don't know what it
is are they going to risk taking it up or find out about it first i.e.. if
they don't know what a word means are they going to write it down/use it?
In this way I can get the kids to write down only important info that they
later resynthesize into their own words.  If they read "a humpback whale is
62 feet long" I have them write  62 ft.  I can explain better  if you are
interested or you can go to the Big 6 site.

 I have taught paraphrasing to grade 3s and up. The way I introduce it via
jot notes (point form notes). I make a list of things about myself that I
wish to share.
(e.g., married,
teacher-librarian
have taught gr.1, 3, 4, 9,10
two children, Marcie- married
Chrissy- University
House- pool
Dog- Charlie
Roller-blading, curling
Etc.
Then I have a student make a sentence about the first item. Then onto the
next point.
I emphasized that I did not write all of the words that were spoken but they
were able to make up a good sentence with the few words I wrote down

I have them make a list about themselves. Warning them that we only tell
some things about ourselves.

They then write a paragraph about themselves.

Then I use books that they are using for research. I have used a set of
books about Canada- one for each province. There is a nice table of contents
in each. I have a sheet made up with heading and lines of what I need them
to make jot notes about. The lines keep the copying to a minimum. Then they
go back to class to make up paragraphs with headings.

This can work with older kids too.
Hope this helps.

Amy,
You aren't the only one who has trouble teaching this.  I've tried to teach
it by making transparencies of pages and writing notes on both note cards
and a web.  Then the student must take those notes and turn it into a
paragraph.

I wonder whether using morals of fables or idioms and having the students
put the morals or idioms into their own words would work.  It might be more
fun.  I'm of the opinion that unless the media specialist is doing the same
thing the same way as the classroom teacher, the students won't pay much
attention.  Still, I believe I reach a few kids.

Hi,
I am not sure if you mean paraphrasing from notes to draft passage or
actual note taking not copying. I guess I am saying if the notes are words
and phrases (not sentences) then when the student goes to write a
paragraph the student must supply th4e connecting words to make complete
sentences so tends to short circuit copying.  It is sort of a back door
approach.  To help get the students to take appropriate notes I give them
a passage (2 or 3 paragraphs I usually cut and paste from a document) and
ask them to underline the words they would write down as notes.  Usually
they underline more than is appropriate. The share verbally what they
underlined and talk about how successful they were or what would have been
better.  I then ask them to go back and put (  ) around what they really
ment to "write as notes".  By doing it this way (underline and ( ) they
don't get burned out writing notes and focus on content of notes.  We then
move on to note taking in context of actual assignment.  I also ask them
to take notes that answer a specific question not the old "write down
important words".  Unless it meets the information need it is not
important.  When they have this kind of prep they take notes that will not
lead to copying sentences to then reassemble as "their own" work.  Just a
thought.

I don't know how creative this lesson is, but I teach
paraphrasing this way:

1.  Copy a short article from World Book that students
will be familiar with (i.e. Santa Claus)
2.  Tell students to write (or preferably, type) each
sentence (from an assigned paragraph) substituting at
least 3 words per sentence.  (For elementary classes,
brainstorm adjectives together.  For example, instead
of robust, use fat, round, overweight...)
3.  After students have substituted words, now work
together to word order of each sentence.
4.  Finally, (and most importantly) write down the
source where students got the information.

Again, it's not fun, but I think students start to get
the idea by substituting and rearranging words.

Hope this helps!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu   In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html
 See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
    http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=