GoalTake notes in my own words, paraphrase, quote with sentence starters and write a list of sources in alphabetical order.
New words
notes · short points you write to remember what you readparaphrase · to say an idea in different words and a different sentence shapelist of sources · a list that shows where your facts came fromalphabetical order · arranged by the first letter, A to Z
Explanation
Good researchers write notes in their own words. At the top of the notes, write the web address and the author, so you can find the source again. To paraphrase, change the words and the sentence shape but keep the idea. When you want the exact words, use a quotation with a sentence starter: ‘According to Ms Aly, …’ or ‘This shows that …’. At the end of your work, make a list of sources in alphabetical order by the author’s name. For each source write the author, the date, the title and the address. The entries here are all invented. A list of sources shows that you respect the makers of the information and lets readers check your facts.
Author
Date
Title
Address
Aly, S.
2023
Desert animals
www.desert-guide.org/animals
Hassan, M.
2022
How camels drink
www.nile-farms.org/camel
Nabil, R.
2021
Life in the oasis
www.oasis-news.org/life
Worked examples
Notes by Nour. At the top: www.desert-guide.org/animals, Ms Aly. Then: camels store fat in the hump, not water. She wrote it in her own words, not copied.
Mina’s sentence starters: According to Mr Hassan, camels can go many days without water. This shows that camels are well suited to the desert. The starters tell the reader whose words and whose ideas they are.
Malak puts her list of sources in order by the authors’ names: Aly, Hassan, Nabil. A is first, H second, N third. Her teacher can find each source in seconds.
Class activity
Notes and sources. Choose a fact from a school book (copy only a few words in quotation marks). Write notes in your own words with the author’s name and title at the top. Write a sentence with ‘According to…’ and one with ‘This shows that…’. Then write a list of three invented sources in alphabetical order.
Practice
1
What two things do you write at the top of your notes?
The web address and the author.
2
What does it mean to paraphrase?
To say the idea in different words and a different sentence shape.
3
Put in alphabetical order by author: Nabil, Aly, Hassan.
Aly, Hassan, Nabil.
4
Name the four parts of each entry in a list of sources.
