South Dakota ELA 6.W.8

6.W.8 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• 6.W.8.a

  Assess the credibility of each source.

• 6.W.8.b

  Quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students use a book and a website to answer a research question. They check who made each source, when it was published, and what backs up its claims. They quote or put borrowed facts in their own words and record where they found them.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can choose useful facts from two sources and explain why each source is trustworthy. They can use quotation marks for exact words, paraphrase without copying, and list each source's author, title, and publisher or website.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may trust the first search result or assume a polished website is accurate. They may change only a few words and call it a paraphrase, or forget that paraphrases need a source.

04

How to Assess It

Give students a bat field guide excerpt and a bat website printout with author, date, and title visible. Ask for one useful fact from each, one reason to trust or question each, and a paraphrase with source details.

1. 01

   Give pairs a library book and a bat website on a tablet; have them mark author, date, and supporting evidence on a checklist.

2. 02

   Display a museum bat fact beside an unsigned blog claim; students write which they would use and give two reasons.

3. 03

   Play Paraphrase or Copy: display three rewrites of a bat fact, then have teams spot copied wording and write a credited paraphrase.

4. 04

   Have students choose a native plant for a bat garden using a wildlife agency page and a field guide, then label their recommendation with sources.

• 8.W.8

  The 8th Grade version of this standard.

• 6-8.WHST.8

  Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources.

• 7.W.8

  The 7th Grade version of this standard.

• 5.W.8

  Gather and recall relevant information from experiences and multiple print and digital sources such as library databases.