Summary
In this lesson, students will work in groups to annotate and summarize texts about plagiarism and its effect on learning. They will reflect on what they know about plagiarizing and how to avoid it in their writing. By teaching one another through group and class discussions, students will better understand what plagiarism is and the steps that can be taken to avoid it.
Essential Question(s)
What is plagiarism, and how do I avoid it to ensure that my writing is authentic?
Snapshots
Engage
Students consider their prior knowledge and feelings about plagiarism through Magnetic Statements and I Used To Think, But Now I Know activities.
Explore
Groups of students read texts about plagiarism and, using the First Turn/Last Turn strategy, work collaboratively to highlight the main ideas of the texts.
Explain
Students discuss what they now know about plagiarism in consideration of what they used to think about the topic.
Extend
Each group creates a Collaborative Word Cloud about plagiarism to display in the classroom.
Evaluate
Students reflect on the lesson by noting ways that they can avoid plagiarism.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Magnetic Statements (attached; one copy)
I Used To Think But Now I Know handouts (attached; one per student)
Copies of various plagiarism texts (linked in the Explore section)
Notebook paper
Pens/pencils
Highlighters
Butcher paper
Markers
Index cards
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Display slides 2-4 and introduce the topic of the lesson, the essential question, and the lesson objectives.
Display slide 5. Introduce the Magnetic Statements strategy and ask students to move to the statement that interests them or that they believe in the most. Circulate around the room, helping students to assess the different statements and finalize their decisions.
Once all students have moved to a statement, display slide 6 and ask them to discuss their chosen statement for three minutes.
After three minutes, invite two to three groups to share why they chose their statement.
Display slide 7. Instruct students to move to the statement that repels, confuses, or annoys them the most. Once they have formed groups around their new statements, ask them to discuss their new statement for another three minutes.
After three minutes, invite two to three groups to share why they chose their statement.
Display slide 8. Introduce the I Used To Think...But Now I Know strategy. Pass out a copy of the I Used To Think But Now I Know handout to each student. Ask students to reflect on the magnetic statements, then write down thoughts, ideas, and words that they already know related to plagiarism on the left side of the chart.
Explore
15 Minute(s)
Assign students to groups of three to five and provide each group with an article about plagiarism. Depending on class size, the same article may be assigned to multiple groups.
Display slide 9. Introduce the First Turn/Last Turn strategy. Have students break into groups of three to five and follow the strategy, beginning by reading their group’s article and highlighting four items from the text that they feel are the most important.
Display slide 10 and have students complete the rest of the First Turn/Last Turn strategy.
Explain
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 11. Instruct students to take out the I Used To Think But Now I Know handout and begin filling in the “But Now I Know” column as groups share out. One at a time, ask groups to share out regarding what they learned about plagiarism. During the discussion, write down relevant points, ideas, and facts on the board, clarifying and adding to the points, as needed. Take a picture of the board, or save the slide at the end of the discussion, in order to revisit these thoughts for possible future follow-up.
Extend
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 12. Introduce the Collaborative Word Clouds strategy. Instruct groups to begin by listing as many words or phrases that they can think of that relate to what they learned about plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Display slide 13. Give each group a piece of butcher paper and markers. Have them select the strongest and most important words from their brainstorming session and use those words to create a colorful "word cloud." When all groups are finished, students display their word clouds around the room. If time allows, take a few moments to walk around to the final word clouds and draw attention to words that are especially important or interesting, asking groups clarifying questions as needed.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Display slide 14. Give each student an index card and introduce the Point of Most Significance strategy. Have students complete the prompt on their index cards and turn in the cards as they leave the classroom.
Resources
Carnegie Learning. (2023, August 21). Top 10 Ethical AI Practices to Teach K-12 Students. Carnegie Learning. https://www.carnegielearning.com/blog/ethical-ai-chatgpt-students/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Collaborative word clouds. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/103
K20 Center. (n.d.). Edwordle. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/693
K20 Center. (n.d.). First turn/last turn. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/50
K20 Center. (n.d.). I used to think . . . but now I know. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/137
K20 Center. (n.d.). Magnetic statements. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/166
K20 Center. (n.d.). POMS: Point of most significance. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/101
Navarre, M. (2017, November 22). Top 10 Reasons Students Plagiarize & What Teachers Can Do About It (With Apologies to David Letterman). Kappan Online. https://kappanonline.org/cleary-top-10-reasons-students-plagiarize/
OU Office of Academic Integrity. (2024, July 29). Nine Things You Should Know About Plagiarism. OU Office of Academic Integrity. https://www.ou.edu/content/dam/integrity/docs/NINE-THINGS-short.pdf
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Plagiarism: OWL One Page Overview. Purdue OWL. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/documents/plagiarism_one_pager.pdf
TurnItIn. (2021). Avoiding plagiarism. Marketing-tii-statamic-assets-us-west-2. https://marketing-tii-statamic-assets-us-west-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/marketing/avoiding_plagiarism_student_handout.pdf