Focus Questions: What is intellectual property? How and why should intellectual property be protected? How does honoring others’ work build your credibility as a writer?
Part 1
Note: This unit refers to MLA style, but your district or system may use a different style format.
“During the last lesson, we discussed how to begin researching a topic. In this lesson, we will talk about intellectual property and why and how it should be protected from plagiarism. We’ll also discuss how honoring others’ work will build your credibility as a writer.” If needed, spend a few minutes helping students to define intellectual property and plagiarism. Give students a copy of the Intellectual Property handout (LW-8-3-2_Intellectual Property and KEY.doc). Ask students in pairs or as individuals to determine their position and rationale for each scenario on the handout. Emphasize that students are only to complete page 1. After students complete page 1, select volunteers to share their positions and consequences with the class. (Be sure that no one condemns any opinions and that differences are discussed in a respectful way.)
“The actual consequences for these actions vary. Students who engage in activities such as plagiarism can expect disciplinary action. In college, those who plagiarize could face losing scholarships and automatically failing a course.
“In this lesson we are going to focus on why protecting intellectual property is important and how to share it responsibly.”
Direct students to turn to page 2 of the Intellectual Property handout and take notes (LW-8-3-2_Intellectual Property and KEY.doc) as you explain the different types of copyright infringement (The Big Deal) and the purpose of the Modern Language Association (Avoiding Plagiarism) using the key. “In this unit, so far you have begun evaluating credible Web sites and locating useful information for your annotated bibliography. You have also written a thesis statement to help you narrow and specify your research goals. To be responsible and respectable writers, you must learn how to credit the authors whose ideas you are using.
“In Lesson 1, you were instructed to keep track of any Web site from which you took information. There are two ways to refer to primary and secondary research documents in your essay:
- A bibliography
- In-text parenthetical citations
“A bibliography is often the final page of a paper. It is an alphabetical list (by first word in the entry) of all of the resources you consulted for your essay and the specific information needed to return to each source for the ideas or quotations that you included in your text.
“The in-text parenthetical citations are literally in the text. Inside your essay, after you use a fact or quotation, put the location of the information in parentheses.” (If helpful, define the words cite, citation, cited, and parentheses.) Hand out the MLA Citations sheet to give students examples and a guide (LW-8-3-2_MLA Citations.doc).
On the MLA handout, guide students through reviewing the models and doing the examples. For this unit, students are doing online research, so if you’d like to focus their study of MLA style to just this type of source, skip the gray boxes on this sheet, which cover book citations.
“Remember, it is relatively easy for a teacher to tell when a student has plagiarized. Once you’ve written anything, your teacher will have a sample of your voice and style. This is difficult to blend with others’ work, so if you do not give proper credit, plagiarized information will stand out almost as if it were in bold. Don’t risk it. Be respectful and give credit to the original author. Then expand upon his/her ideas in your own words.”
Part 2
Model how to go to a Web site, locate and record the citation information, and write a full citation for students. Then pair students and display an example Web page that they can complete a citation for together. Go over the correct citation as a class.
“Review your researched information so far. Get a clean sheet of paper (or document if you’re in a writing lab), return to the sites you chose, record the necessary information, and properly write full citations for each source. During the next lesson, we will learn how to compile your thesis, research, and citations into an annotated bibliography.” Give time for this activity and check progress with students. Offer individual assistance on MLA style as needed. Collect students’ work and provide feedback on their citation format.
Language Skills Mini-Lesson
After completing the main lesson, teach the use of the ellipsis to indicate a break in text as used in quotations from resource material. “In your annotated bibliography or in a final research paper, you may want to quote some of the source material you are using. At times, there may be portions of text that would be perfect for you to quote, but the entire sentence from the original may be too lengthy, complicated, or irrelevant to suit your purposes for quoting it. Let’s look at a way you can shorten the original text and still quote it in your bibliography or your paper.”
Provide students with copies of the Use of an Ellipsis handout (LW-8-3-2_Ellipsis.docx).
“Follow along as I read the first two paragraphs aloud.” Read the first two paragraphs. Then display the two sample sentences for the class. Read through the shortened versions below to demonstrate how ellipses may be used. Emphasize that the original meaning is maintained. Answer any questions the students have about the proper way to use ellipses.
Have students work in pairs to use ellipses to shorten some of the sample quotations from the article on the Appalachian Trail. You might have students choose three of the six samples or you may want them to do more of them for practice. A key is provided showing some of the possible ways ellipses may be used correctly in the sample sentences (LW-8-3-2_Ellipsis KEY.docx).
To complete the mini-lesson, have volunteers write their versions of the sentences for the class and discuss. Note that there is more than one way to correctly use ellipses to shorten the sample sentences.
Extension:
- Students who might be going beyond the standards can explore how to cite secondary sources or indirect quotations in online sources. They should refer to the Purdue online writing lab as a reputable source for citations at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
- Students who may require additional practice can work with three to five additional quotations or statistics, from print and electronic sources, to practice MLA citation format. They can also read samples of MLA citations done correctly within model essays.
- Students can use an online tool like Noodletools to generate citations and/or track their research notes.
