Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What is Plagiarism?


According to the New Oxford American Dictionary:



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Now that Mrs. Yollis' class is learning to research using the World Book Encyclopedia Online, it is important for everyone to understand how to share learning without just copying.



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How to share learning without becoming a plagiarist is tricky.

Step 1:   Read the passage completely.

Step 2:   Take notes on the interesting parts.
                  (IMPORTANT - Only write facts. Do not copy sentences.)

Example:
  • California
  • largest population
  • 33,871,648 people

Step 3:    Use the facts to compose your own sentences.
                    Now is a good time to add your opinion as you share.


Example:

I was surprised to learn that my state, California, has the largest population of all fifty states. There are approximately  34 million California citizens. 


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 How do you research?

How would you feel if someone took your writing and tried to pass it off as their own?

Please leave a comment with something that YOU researched. Remember, put it in your own words!

(If your comment gets published, you will earn five minutes of free time on Mrs. Yollis' website!)

20 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I agree! Plagiarism is the wrong thing to do!

    Here are some basic facts from the encyclopedia about...pandas!

    1. eat bamboo
    2. plant eater
    3. bad digestive system
    4. 85 pound per day

    I will now turn the facts into fantastic sentences using my own words:

    One of my favorite animals is the giant panda. This herbivore eats all parts of the bamboo plant. Unfortunately, this black and white beauty has a bad digestive system. Consequently pandas have to consume 85 pounds of bamboo every day! That's a lot of chewing!

    Happy researching!
    Susie
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    When I research I type in what I want to look up then I read it, and if I want to type it in a comment I type it in my own words. If someone took my writing and they copied it I would feel mad because it is my writing.

    I researched two topics from the World Book Encyclopedia. Did you know that the Pacific Ocean is 66 million square miles? Isn't that amazing! Also, did you know that the Rocky Mountain Range is 350 miles long? That's amazing too! What are you going to look up when you go on the World Book Encyclopedia Online next?

    Your friend,
    Nick

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Nick,

    Thanks for a very thoughtful comment. Like you, I would feel mad if someone just copied my sentences and tried to pass them off as their own.

    I did know that the Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, but 66 million square miles? That's quite a few square miles!

    Your sentence about the Rocky Mountains does not make sense to me. The chain of mountains is very long. It runs from New Mexico all the way up into Canada. I would double-check that fact. It seems much, much longer to me.

    Thanks for another great comment and five more free-time minutes for you tomorrow!

    :-)
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs Yollis' Class,

    Plagiarism is such an important thing to know about! This is something I will introduce to my Grade Two students this year I think.

    I was very surprised to hear that California is such a big state! The whole population of Australia is only 21 million. Can you believe that??

    From Miss McGeady

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Mrs. Yollis,


    I also agree that plagiarism is a bad thing because people just copy your idea and take it as their own. Has anyone plagiarized you?

    Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. In Mexico they call soccer, football. I have been playing soccer for five years. My team name is the Firecrakers.

    Your student,
    Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ Sydney,

    You asked if anyone has ever plagiarized me. I don't think so, but boy would I be mad if they did!

    You researched soccer. After you posted, I looked it up too. I learned the every four years there is an international event called the World Cup. There is one for men and for women. Do you know when the next World Cup is scheduled? Since you like soccer so much, do you ever watch the World Cup?

    Thanks for a good comment!

    From,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I did some more research about the World Cup and it is on June 11, 2010 in South Africa. I have not seen a World Cup Soccer game. I hope to see one this summer.


    Thank you for the comment back.

    Your student,
    Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ Miss McGeady,

    The total population of Australia is less than the population of California. That is hard to believe.

    We read that Sydney is the largest city in Australia. How large is your community? Our city is a suburb and has a population of around 24,000 people.

    Thanks for participating!

    Your friend,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Mrs Yollis,

    What is the name of your suburb? Is it close to LA?

    Our suburb is called Leopold and it has a population of around 9,000.

    Our school, Leopold Primary School, is the only one in the suburb and has around 700 students. When the students finish Grade Six they have to go to a Secondary school in another suburb.

    Leopold is part of a larger city called Geelong with a population of around 200,000. Geelong is about an hour away from our state's capital city of Melbourne. You may have seen the Australia Open tennis championships on tv recently. The Australian Open is being held in Melbourne.

    Your friend,
    Miss McGeady

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mrs. Yollis,
    The thing I researched is Jerusalem. I learned that it is one of the world's holiest cities. It is incredible at night I saw it with my own eyes. Jerusalem is the largest city in Israel. It is also the capital of Israel. In my opinion it is really fun visiting Jerusalem.

    From
    Gal

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Gal,

    Thanks for a great comment! :-)

    I’m curious, did you compose your comment in Word or some other writing program like we discussed? If so, it's a great tip to share with everyone.

    I have never visited Israel, but have plans to travel there someday. Many people don’t realize that Israel is part of Asia. I know that Israel is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, so I researched the highest elevation. Did you know that Mount Meron is the highest point? It is 3,963 feet above sea level. Do you know any facts about the lowest point on Earth?

    Thanks for a great comment, Gal!

    From,
    Mrs. Yollis

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I have researched snow. Did you know snow is made of crystals? These crystals are made from clouds. This is one thing I learned from the online World Book.

    What is something you learned?

    Your Student,
    Scarlet

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I researched two topics on World Book Web. The first topic is about coyotes. Coyotes are two feet tall and weigh 25 to 30 pounds.

    My second topic is about lynxes. Lynxes are a type of bobcat. They are 20 to 45 pounds and baby lynxes stay with their mother until they are 10 months old.

    From,
    Charlie

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    When I was on the World Book Encyclopedia I learned that the Rocky Mountain chain extends 3,000 miles. Isn't that amazing. Also, some mountains can be 350 miles wide. That's amazing, too.

    Sincerely,
    Nick

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    Did you know that the red panda has long, soft fur, and a bushy tail with rings like that of a raccoon?


    From,
    Aaliyah

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    On World Book, I looked up the topic wolves, and here are some of the facts I found.

    First, wolves are just as dangerous as human beings, and humans fear wolves because of their howl. Wolves can live in almost any climate, and in ancient times wolves walked the northern hemisphere of the world. Wolf fur can be pure white to jet black.

    Wolves have an excellent sense of smell, hearing, and a wolf with all the great senses can track down a deer from one mile away. Wolves have forty-two teeth including four fangs at the tip of the mouth which are two inches long.

    Wolves are five to six-and-a-half feet long and are around two feet tall near the shoulder. Wolves have such a large stomach that they can swallow as much as twenty pounds, and can go without food for two weeks or more.

    Wolves mate in the winter. The mom wolf can carry her pups for 63 days. That's amazing.

    Wolves weigh one pound at birth, and live only on their mother's milk for three weeks, then they start to eat meat and leave the den on their own.

    From,
    Caleb
    A wolf lover!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    Did you now that horses are measured in hands? My horse back riding teacher let me measure the horse.

    Millions of years ago horses was as big as a dog. Wow! Isn't that amazing!


    From,
    Kate

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I learned that the Denver Nuggets' first game was played in the 1949-1950 season. Before they were the Nuggets, they were the Denver Rockets. Did you know any of those things about the Denver Nuggets/Rockets/Nuggets?

    From,
    Sydney

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    When I was on the World Book Web, I looked up blue whales. I learned that blue whales are the largest animals living. They can weigh up to 150 short tons. Isn't that cool. Blue whales also don't dive deeper than 300 feet.

    Sincerely,
    Nick

    P.S. A short ton is a name of three different units named measure and capacity.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    Did you that a garden is a section with flowers,fruits,and vegetables.
    Many people have gardens for many reasons. Did you learn anything new from the World Book Web?

    Your student,
    Aaliyah

    ReplyDelete

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:-) Mrs. Yollis