We know you have come to this tutorial because you are a serious writer who wants to write well — and correctly! You have probably heard the word plagiarism and would like to understand it better. You have come to the right place. In this tutorial, you’ll learn:

What plagiarism is
How to recognize seven different kinds of plagiarism
The correct way to use ‘open access’ materials
The consequences of plagiarism
How to avoid plagiarism by doing the following:
Citing sources correctly
Recognizing ‘common knowledge’
Writing good paraphrases
Writing good summaries
Taking careful notes

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

The laws that govern and the social norms that regulate society are not always fair, legal, moral, or ethical. What is a person to do about all this injustice? What are the hazards of righting injustices or changing social norms? And what are the dangers of doing nothing?

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate Antigone, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Pygmalion.
Students write a literary analysis showing the effect of social class or the law on a character’s life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do social class and legal institutions shape literary characters’ lives (and presumably our lives)?
How does social class affect a person in dealing with the law (protect a person, hurt a person)?
How is social class determined in America and in other places in the world?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will discuss in small groups whether Antigone, Thoreau, or Dr. King was the most courageous in his or her stand of civil disobedience. Then they will write a short argument about it.

Tell me about it in your own words! If students can paraphrase the information they have read, then youand they can be confident that they understand it.

This resource is geared toward tier 2 middle school students who are learning about paraphrasing.

This little booklet, put together based on experience, can be a helpful guide to students to avoid potential traps around plagiarism and paraphrasing - after all, plagiarism needs not be deliberate and more often results from a lack of knowledge than from an intention to cheat. Although the topic of plagiarism should be standard material for every beginning student as one of the key competences all students should possess, I noticed that far from all students have ever seriously thought about, or actually learned about, the concept. The booklet does not provide you with a detailed account of plagiarism definitions, nor with lengthy elaborations on the ethical or moral considerations behind the concept. Instead, the aim is to provide students (as well as fellow teachers) hands-on insights into what plagiarism is, how it can be traced and how it can be avoided.

In an annotated bibliography, the annotation is not a simple summary of the article. It usually focuses on a particular method or concept/theory and explains how the article contributes to a larger research question. Use this worksheet to practice writing annotations. First, practice writing an annotation of the provided source. Second, practice writing an annotation of an article you have selected for your annotated bibliography.

A major challenge when writing with sources as a graduate student is learning just how to integrate the material you read into your writing in a way that:

•Shows you understand the material•
Allows room for your own ideas•
Distinguishes your ideas from your sources’ ideas