Academic

Honesty
What are my own words?
Grade 7

Mission Impossible
S http://www.powtoon.com/show/dToc5Q

y6vo3/mission-impossible/#/

The following paragraph is from

a published biography of John F. Kennedy:

Of Irish descent, he was born in

Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29,
1917. Graduating from Harvard in 1940,
he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his
PT boat was rammed and sunk by a
Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite
grave injuries, led the survivors through
perilous waters to safety.

Student # 1 one wrote . . .

Of Irish descent, he was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts, on
May 29, 1917. Graduating from
Harvard in 1940, he entered the
Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat
was rammed and sunk by a
Japanese destroyer, Kennedy,
despite grave injuries, led the
survivors
through
perilous
waters to safety.

Did Student #1 plagiarize?

Yes!
The student has
copied word for
word and has not
cited his source.

Hmmmm.
Better change some words around!
Student #2 writes . . .
Kennedy was born in Brookline,
Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917 and
was of Irish descent. He graduated
from Harvard in 1940 and then
entered the Navy. In World War II, his
boat was rammed and sunk by a
Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was
gravely injured, but led the survivors
to safety through perilous waters.

Did Student #2 plagiarize?

Yes!
The student has
rearranged the words,
but they are still not
her own and she has
not cited her source.

Now for Student #3 . . .

John Kennedy was from an Irish
family. He was born on May 29,
1917
in
Brookline,
Massachusetts. He went to
Harvard and then joined the
Navy. During the war, Kennedys
boat was sunk by the Japanese.
He was hurt, but led his men to
safety.

Did Student #3 plagiarize?

Probably!
While the wording is very
different, the order of facts
and the facts included are
exactly the same as the
original.

And now for Student #4 . . .

John Kennedy was a war hero
for saving his men after their
boat was sunk by the enemy.
He wrote a prize winning book
about the experience. This
showed voters that he could
handle a crisis.

Did Student #4 plagiarize?

No!
Not only is the wording
different, it includes new
facts. Most importantly, it
shows that Student #4
understands why this was a
big event in Kennedys life.

So how can I be more like

Student #4?
Do some background reading first to learn what is
considered general knowledge about your subject.
Have specific research questions to answer. Take
notes separately for each research question.
Take notes from multiple sources.

NEVER simply copy and paste notes from a digital

source into a paper or even notes. Either take notes
by hand, or type them in an adjacent window.
ALWAYS keep detailed information for a
bibliography and LEARN how to make citations!

We all know that copying is bad.

When you copy or plagiarise . . .

* You steal from another person.

* You dont show what YOU know.
* You commit a crime!
* Ultimately, you dont make the most
of a learning opportunity!

Academic Honesty Initiatives

coming to Middle School
S Note-taking workshops
S Easy Bib
S Turnitin.com

MS Library website
S http://acsmslibrary.weebly.com/

Research Quality & Citation

Rubric
Works Cited & Research Quality Rubric
1. Does not meet

2. Barely meets

Citation Format

None or little of the

necessary information is
present in the citation
(i.e. only gives URL) or
there is none at all.

Has provided a citation

but its not in the right
format (MLA). There
may also be components
of the citation missing,
and punctuation and
capitalization are
irregular.

3. Meets with few

exceptions
Uses the correct format
(MLA) with all of the
essential components,
but there are
inconsistencies in the
order of the parts of the
citation, punctuation and
capitalization.

4. Meets all
requirements
Uses the required MLA
format correctly. All
capitalization and
punctuation are perfect.
The citation elements are
correctly formatted within
the following areas: title,
punctuation,
capitalization, indentation,
and spacing.
The Works Cited list is
alphabetized by authors
last name and is correctly
located at the end of the
assignment.

Final Document

The final Works Cited

List is basic or
completely absent. It is
located in the wrong
part of the assignment.

The Works Cited List

may not be correctly
located within the
assignment and is not
alphabetized.

The final Works Cited

List is located correctly
within the assignment
but may not be
alphabetized.

Quality of Sources
& Jot Note-taking

Students sources are

not authoritative (e.g.,
Wikipedia). They may be
extremely out of date
and biased. Student
cannot provide evidence
of their notes.

Students sources are

generally (but not
completely)
authoritative, current
and unbiased. Notes are
jotted and nearly
complete.

All of the students sources

are credible, current &
unbiased. A reliable search
engine (WebPath Express)
has been used. Jot notes
are complete.

Number/Formats
of Sources

The student shows no

use of library resources
(e.g., relies mainly on
Google for searching).

Students sources are

partially authoritative
(only some are out of
date and/or biased).
Notes may be
incomplete and/or are in
complete sentences not
jot notes.
One to two different
sources of information
are used, but they may
only cover one format
(e.g., website).

Three different sources

are used but they only
cover two different
formats (e.g., print and
website).

Student uses three

different sources in a
variety of formats of
information (e.g., reliable
website, library database
and & print source).

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