Maya Munson

LIS 725
4/25/2019

Internet Safety Lesson Plan:

Putting a Stop to Plagiarism
Overview: ​As part of a collaborative interdisciplinary unit about the
Civil Rights Movement, eighth grade students will participate in
several learning experiences revolving around the concept of plagiarism. Many of the
activities and resources for this lesson come from NetSmartz Workshops’ ​Choices and
Cheaters l​ esson. They are intended to help students identify what plagiarism is, learn about
the different ways people plagiarize, and gain an understanding of why it is unethical to
plagiarize. The interactive learning activities will help students to develop digital ethics so
that they can effectively, responsibly and respectfully complete various tasks throughout
the unit. This lesson will be followed by a lesson on how to correctly cite sources.
Standards:
● ISAIL 8th Grade: Standard 5
Understand and practice Internet safety when using any electronic media for
educational, social, or recreational purposes
● CC .8.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search
terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or
paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and
following a standard format for citation.
● ISTE 2: Digital Citizen
Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning
and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that
are safe, legal and ethical.
 ➔ 2c​ Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and
obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
Objectives: ​Students will be able to...
● Define plagiarism
○ As defined by NetSmartz: “plagiarism is copying someone else’s idea or work
and pretending it’s your own”
● Identify three ways people plagiarize
○ As identified by NetSmartz: copy & paste, word swapping, paraphrasing
● Determine when and how someone is unethically using the ideas or work of
someone else
Grade Level/Learner Population/Grouping Arrangements: ​After a brief whole group
introduction, eighth grade students from a general education class will work
independently., with partners, and/or together in intentionally arranged small groups to
complete various activities both online and on paper. Students will come together again as
a whole group after they have completed the provided activities to reflect.
Time/Environment: ​This lesson will take place in the library over the course of one
50-minute class period.
Materials: ​Students will need access to computers with internet access and writing tools.
The librarian will need to use a smartboard to display and interact with lesson resources.
Resources:
Students will use an interactive choose-your-path comic activity found on NS Teens to gain
practical exposure to ways in which individuals may be tempted to plagiarize.
NS Teens. (n.d.). Choices & Cheaters [Cartoon]. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from
https://www.nsteens.org/Comics/ChoicesAndCheaters
Students will also use a worksheet created by Netsmartz titled ​Choices & Cheaters,​ in which
students evaluate several examples of text in order to identify if the content has been
plagiarized, which type of plagiarism is being used, and what parts of each text example
should have been cited in order to avoid plagiarism.
Netsmartz Workshop. (n.d.). ​Choices & Cheaters​ [PDF]. Netsmartz. Retrieved from
 https://cdn.netsmartz.org/activitycards/IS_MS_Choices&Cheaters.pdf
The following librarian-created exit slip will be used as a form of assessment at the end of
the lesson to gauge student learning.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fPHQpnkSYB7ha6Pohu4R4wZwj7MoeNFql
ts2G18UlfQ/edit?usp=sharing
The following librarian-created self reflective plagiarism rubric will be used at the end of
the unit by students to help them think and behave ethically.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z5AwNiHiplULj2-dp_1DgkHplyxeB9E33dffI
rg3jeI/edit?usp=sharing
Instructional Roles: ​This lesson will be taught by the school librarian in order to support
student learning about the Civil Rights Movement as part of a collaborative unit with 8th
grade Social Studies and English Language Arts teachers.
Activity and Procedures for Completion: ​Students will enter the library to see a display
of famous pieces of art and music albums created by known artists, with popular music
playing in the background. The school librarian will introduce each piece using ‘I
statements’, in order to persuade students that each of the display samples was done by
her, until students start jumping in to tell the truth about the creator and owner of each
piece. Next, the librarian will take out familiar student-created artwork and written work
(borrowed with permission from other teachers, or displays from around the school
building). Again, the librarian will take credit for each and every piece, going so far as to
make up stories about the creation process. She will defend her position that she created
each and every piece displayed, despite the students’ arguments. Finally, she will ask the
students how it felt when she took credit for something that didn’t belong to her, and she
will explain that this is called plagiarism. She will then ask the students to turn and talk to a
partner about why people would plagiarize, and how they might plagiarize, in order to gain
an understanding about what the students already know about the topic. She will then
proceed to introduce NS Teens’ interactive choose-your-path comic activity on the
computers, in which students have the opportunity to guide someone on how to respond to
cheating and plagiarizing temptations. After ample independent/partner (based on
student preference) working time, she will invite students to share about their experiences
with the activity, which should vary from student to student. Next, the librarian will ask
students to share about the different ways the character behaved unethically, why some of
her choices were wrong, and what she should have done differently. Following the
interactive comic activity, students will be introduced to the three main ways people
plagiarize without the provision of what each method is called. They will simply see several
examples of each type, beside the original text, to see if students can identify the method by
naming it. The librarian will prompt the students to name the methods as copy & paste,
word swapping or paraphrasing. Then, the Netsmartz Workshop worksheet will be
introduced, in which students evaluate several examples of text in order to identify if the
content has been plagiarized, which type of plagiarism is being used, and what parts of
each text example should have been cited in order to avoid plagiarism. Students will
complete this activity in pre-established small groups. After this second activity, students
will come together as a whole group to discuss what plagiarism is, why it is unethical, and
why giving producers the credit they are due by citing sources is so important. In closing,
students will be asked what next steps should be taken to ensure that they are able to avoid
plagiarizing, with the goal of realizing the need to learn how to properly credit producers
by accurately citing sources (which will be covered in the next lesson). Students will
complete exit slips on their way out of the library, in which they define plagiarism, the
three ways people might plagiarize, and the best way to avoid plagiarism. The exit slip can
be viewed here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fPHQpnkSYB7ha6Pohu4R4wZwj7MoeNFqlts2G18
UlfQ/edit?usp=sharing
Modifications/Differentiation:​ The opportunity to work with a partner and in small
group settings provides much needed support for EL students and struggling readers.
Providing modified versions of the worksheet with simpler and/or more complex texts will
make the activity more accessible for all students. For the worksheets, designated
notetakers can write down group responses, and the librarian can record dictated student
responses on the exit slips as needed.
Assessment: ​For this lesson, students will be assessed based on their exit slip submissions.
Evaluation: ​By the end of the collaborative Civil Rights Movement unit, students will have
completed several tasks that require careful and thoughtful research. Along with
teacher-created rubrics and evaluations, students will be expected to complete the
following librarian created self-reflective plagiarism rubric for some of the unit
assignments in order to help them think and behave ethically.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z5AwNiHiplULj2-dp_1DgkHplyxeB9E33dffIrg3jeI/
edit?usp=sharing
Extension/Follow-up: ​Beyond this interdisciplinary, collaborative unit about the Civil
Rights Movement, students will be able to carry their learning about plagiarism into other
subjects and for other assignments and projects. The self reflective plagiarism rubric will
be made available to teachers and students for their own use as they see fit.