6.12.G

ELA6th GradeThe student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.

The Standard

differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using source materials

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students tell the difference between a genuine paraphrase and writing copied from a source. They check wording, sentence structure, meaning, and source credit.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can compare a source with a student response and identify copied wording or sentence structure. They can rewrite the idea in their own words, keep the meaning accurate, and name the source.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think changing a few words or using synonyms makes copied writing acceptable. They may also think a paraphrase needs no source credit, or that quotation marks alone replace credit.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Show one source sentence and two student versions, one properly paraphrased and one copied too closely. Students label each version and explain their choice.

Lesson moves

Give pairs source cards and response cards to sort into clear paraphrase, copied too closely, or direct quotation.
Ask students to write: Why is replacing three words in a source sentence not enough to make it your own?
Play Paraphrase Repair, where teams revise copied sentences and earn points for accurate meaning, new wording, and source credit.
Compare a news article with a social media post that repeats its ideas, then check whether the post credits the original source.

Keep exploring

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