ELA Lesson: Citing Information Grade Level: 8

Lesson Summary: For pre-assessment, the teacher will ask for examples of citing books, journal
articles, and Internet articles. Students will review procedures for citing research sources and practice
by providing imaginary examples in guided practice and real examples in independent practice.
Advanced Learners will integrate those examples into a short paper, and Struggling Learners will
practice citations and review as necessary.

Lesson Objectives:

The students will know…

 that information taken from outside sources must be acknowledged.
 the procedure for citing books, article with authors, anonymous articles, encyclopedia articles,
and Internet articles.

The students will be able to…

 recognize appropriate citation.
 use appropriate citations in writing.

Learning Styles Targeted:

x Visual x Auditory Kinesthetic/Tactile

Pre-Assessment:
1) Ask students to provide examples of citing a book with an author, an anonymous article, an
article with an author, and an Internet source.

2) Ask students to read examples, or have students write examples on the board. Review student
responses.

Whole-Class Instruction

Materials Needed: notebooks, pens and pencils, library time.

Procedure:
1) The teacher will remind students that good writers always use research to support, clarify, or
develop their ideas, but they NEVER try to pass of other people’s ideas as their own. Explain that
good writers use many different sources to support their ideas. Many sources show that they
have been thorough and thoughtful in their research. Citing information is an essential writing
skill because it shows a reader where a writer got his or her information in case a reader wanted
to check that information afterwards.

2) Explain that there are rules about how to acknowledge those sources. Usually, within a paper, a
writer should put an author, or source if there is no author, along with a page number within
parentheses: (Jones, 61) (Talking to Parents, 208). At the end of the paper, on a separate Works
Cited page, the listing would appear like this: Jones, Frederick. Relating to Teenagers. New York:
Helpful Books Press, 2007: 61.

3) When using an article taken from a journal or newspaper, follow the same procedure as a book
when citing within a paper. In the Works Cited page, list the title of the article in quotation marks
and the title of the journal or newspaper in italics. Then provide information that would help a
reader locate the article, such as the edition (September, Fall, or date) and the pages where the
complete article is found: Haskell, Denise. “How to be a Varsity Star,” Teenage Athletes. October,
2009: 206–213.

Copyright © 2010 Study Island - All rights reserved.

 4) When quoting from an article taken from an encyclopedia, use the title of the encyclopedia and
the page number within the paper. On the Works Cited page, list the article name in quotation
marks, the name of the encyclopedia in italics, the edition and date, and the volume and page
number: ”Insomnia,” Golden Encyclopedia Twelfth Edition: VII, 1203.

5) When quoting an article taken from the Internet, follow the same procedure as an article from a
printed source, but provide the URL instead of the name of the journal. Remember, only use
websites from reliable sources, such as a university, library, or professional organizations.

6) Sometimes you may want to quote from an interview heard on television. If time permits,
transcripts are sometimes available from an address provided by the program or the television
station. Within the paper, provide the name of the program and the date of the episode you are
quoting from. On the Works Cited page, provide the name of the program and the date.

7) Remind students that even if you paraphrase or simply mention an author, it is important to
point a reader towards where they obtained their information.

8) For guided practice, challenge students to invent sources involving an imaginary book, an
imaginary journal article, an imaginary encyclopedia article, and an imaginary website. Have
them create appropriate citations for each.

9) For independent practice, have students track down real versions of the type of sources they
created and cite them appropriately.

10)For closing, ask students to review how to cite information appropriately.

Advanced Learner

Materials Needed: Notebook, pens or pencils

Procedure:
1) Challenge students to integrate the sources they compiled for independent practice into a one to
two page paper. Have them cite the information on the page as well as on a Works Cited page.

2) If time permits, have students exchange papers and elicit feedback.

Struggling Learner

Materials Needed: Notebook, pens or pencils.

Procedure:
1) Review each example with students, and ask them to copy and annotate each so that they
identify the significance of each element of the citation. Discuss and review as necessary.

2) Ask students to provide an example of each citation.

*see supplemental resources

Copyright © 2010 Study Island - All rights reserved.