English Language Arts · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

Avoiding Plagiarism and Citing Sources

Active learning works well for this topic because plagiarism and citation are not just about following rules, they are about making deliberate choices with language. When students manipulate sentences, compare models, and discuss decisions in real time, they internalize the difference between borrowing and stealing words and ideas.

• Common Core State Standards
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.8

• 20–35 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Plagiarism or Paraphrase?

Show students four paired examples: an original source passage and a student version that is either a proper paraphrase, too close to the original, or a direct quote without quotation marks. Partners classify each example and explain their reasoning before the class discusses edge cases as a group.

Differentiate between acceptable paraphrasing and plagiarism.

Facilitation Tip

During The Paraphrase Surgeon, give each group a printed paragraph with clear line numbers so they can reference exact locations when they revise for originality.

What to look for

Provide students with short passages. Ask them to identify whether each passage is a direct quote, an acceptable paraphrase, or plagiarism, and to explain their reasoning for one example.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 35 min · Small Groups

Workshop: Citation Construction Station

Set up four stations, each with a different source type (website, book, article, video). Students move through stations and practice constructing a correctly formatted MLA citation for each, then compare their entries with a partner and resolve discrepancies using a reference guide.

Justify the importance of citing sources in academic writing.

What to look for

Give students a fictional source (e.g., a short paragraph from a made-up website). Ask them to write one sentence using a direct quote from the source with a correct in-text citation, and one sentence paraphrasing the source with a correct in-text citation.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Inquiry Circle
• 30 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: The Paraphrase Surgeon

Give each group a paragraph from an informational article and a weak student paraphrase that is too close to the original. Groups annotate the paraphrase to identify the problem phrases, then rewrite the passage correctly. Groups share their revised versions and discuss what makes a paraphrase genuinely 'in your own words.'

Construct a correctly formatted citation for a given source type.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Why is it important to give credit to the original author, even if you change the words significantly?' Facilitate a class discussion focusing on academic integrity, respecting intellectual property, and building credibility.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers succeed when they treat citation as a craft, not a chore. Model your own thinking aloud as you paraphrase or choose quotes, and praise students for small improvements in sentence structure, not just ‘correct’ citations. Avoid teaching citations in isolation; always connect them to the student’s own argument or purpose.

Students will move from memorizing definitions to applying specific techniques: restructuring sentences, integrating quotations smoothly, and formatting citations accurately. By the end, they should be able to identify plagiarism, explain why it matters, and produce original writing that includes properly cited evidence.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share: Plagiarism or Paraphrase?, some students will claim that changing a few words is enough to avoid plagiarism.

  Use the side-by-side comparison cards in this activity. Show students how the sentence structure remains identical and ask them to rewrite the sentence from scratch, setting the original aside.

• During Citation Construction Station, students may believe they can fill their paper with direct quotes as long as they add citations.

  During the station, provide a rubric that includes a 'voice' criterion. Have students highlight their own words in one color and quotations in another to visualize balance.

• During The Paraphrase Surgeon, students are unsure whether common knowledge needs citation.

  Give students a list of statements labeled as ‘common knowledge’ or ‘needs citation.’ Ask them to sort the list, then discuss where the boundary lies using examples from the activity materials.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Case Study Analysis
• Inquiry Circle