Matthew Froehlich

Dr. Kosso
HIS205
9 September 2014
Lesson Focus: Plagiarism and correct way of citing sources
Enduring Understanding: Avoiding plagiarism and the proper citing of sources
Essential Questions: First and foremost, what is plagiarism? Why is it important to cite?
Content Objectives: Making sure students understand what plagiarism is and its consequences.
Skill Objectives: Teach Student how to properly cite a source.
Common Core Standards: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources,
assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding
plagiarism. (azed)
Arizona Standards: This standard requires students to use and attribute many reliable sources
using advanced research skills. Students note that all sources have their limitations and take care
to use a variety of sources and avoid plagiarism. Attribution should follow a standard format, i.e.,
MLA. (azed)
NCSS Theme: Theme: Time, Continuity, and Change
Knowing how to read, reconstruct and interpret the past allows us to answer questions
such as: How do we learn about the past? How can we evaluate the usefulness and degree of
reliability of different historical sources? What are the roots of our social, political and economic
systems? What are our personal roots and how can they be viewed as part of human history?
Why is the past important to us today? How has the world changed and how might it change in
future? How do perspectives about the past differ, and to what extent do these differences inform

contemporary ideas and actions? (Can tie into why citing is important, how to use and even how
to look into a sources source)
What I need to Know: Plagiarism is an act of imitating another authors language or idea
without correctly citing (giving credit to) the source it came from.
Assessment: Have students write down definition of plagiarism to see if they understand what it
is, then come up with a group definition.
Materials: Copy of A Manual for Writers by Kate Turabian, or at least photo copied on the
pages that explain plagiarism in its many forms. (Or a manual on MLA format or APA because
that is what mostly is used in high schools, and differ in citations)
Technology: Could have the information from Turabian on slides in a power point as a second
option.
Inquiry: Why is citing important?
Key Vocabulary: Plagiarism, Credibility, Logos, Ethos, Consequence, Primary and Secondary
sources
Lesson Outline:
1) Start with a lesson that relates to the students before divulging that we are talking
about plagiarism.
2) Get into class discussion about what students think it is and why.
3) Get into examples of plagiarism and how to avoid it.
4) Get into examples of citations and how to properly use them.
5) End lesson back in a group to make sure that everyone is on the same page and has a
complete and full understanding of citations and plagiarism.

Step By Step Procedure:

1) Have students place something that they feel is of major value to them on desk. Once they
have done this, take a few things off their desks and say that you will give it back to them at
the end of the year (make it seem believable to them). See how student reacts and then
show the rest of the class how it feels to have something that is theirs taken away from them
(give item back to student). Elaborate that is what it is like when you take writings or ideas
from someone when its his or hers. Then show that is what it is like every time you copy a
paragraph or steal an idea, paraphrase it, and pass it off as your own (you are taking
someone elses valuables)
2) Ask students to write down definition of they think plagiarism is.
Come up with a definition, as a group by asking for student input on what they think is
plagiarism.
Give dictionary definition and see how close we were. an act or instance of
using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without
authorization and the representation of that authors work as ones own, as by not
crediting the original author. (dictionary.com)
3) Now that weve established what plagiarism is, go into examples on how to avoid it. Pull
out Turabian (or pull up PowerPoint) and go over gray areas in plagiarism that they may not
fully understand. First off on pages 80-81, Turabian discusses paraphrasing. Changing the
wording doesnt mean you are in the clear on plagiarism, it just reduces the amount of
quotations being used, if the idea is not your own, you must credit the person who supplied
you this idea.

4) Next is page 347, it is about avoiding plagiarism while quoting someone. You cannot
change a single word or phrase whatsoever. Turabian goes into specifics where you can
change punctuation of capitalization if it is incorrect.
5) Use pages 138-139 to show an in-text citation showing the two examples of them. The
Bibliography style or the author-date style. It also goes deeper into other forms of sources
such as print sources and online sources.
6) Finally, show a how to properly form a bibliography over all types of print sources and
online sources. Use either Turabians manual or bibme.org. bibme.org is very useful for
high school students and offers APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian formatting for a
bibliography.
1) Come back as group and discuss any questions they may have and also ask now why citing
someone elses work is important. This lesson would be useful after a paper has been
assigned to evaluate whether or not they have grasped the concepts after the papers are
turned in and looked over.
Time
5 minutes

Activity
Introducing
Plagiarism

5-7 minutes

Plagiarism Definition

25-30 minutes

Examples of
Plagiarism and how to
cite

5 minutes

Group Discussion and

Questions

Student Task
Lay out valuable on
desk for me to take

Teacher Task
Take a valuable and
turn into lesson on
why stealing is the
same as plagiarism
Come up with their
Guide the group
own definition on
convo on why they
plagiarism
think that is what it
means
Observe and takes
Go over each section
notes (if needed) on
thoroughly to make
the examples and how sure students
to avoid plagiarism
understand what to do
and how to cite in text and not to do in a
and in a bibliography paper
Now talk about why
Make sure they
citing is important and understand by letting
then any questions
them talk about the
they may have
lesson after they have
just received it and
answer questions