Judging Your Sources

English · Writing Composition · ages 11-14

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which of these counts as paraphrasing?
- Copying a sentence exactly and putting it in quotation marks
- Rewriting the idea in your own words and sentence structure
- Copying a sentence and changing only one or two words
When you take notes from several sources on one topic, what's the best way to organize them?
- List each source's notes separately, one after another
- Group notes under logical headings that match your topic's main ideas
- Write every note in the order you read it
A source is automatically credible if it shows up first in a search result.
Circle one: True False
Ravi has notes from four sources about volcanoes. Two notes are about 'eruption causes,' and one note about 'famous eruptions' came from a different source than the other two. Where should the famous-eruption note go?
- In its own separate section, since it came from a different source
- Under a heading for famous eruptions, next to any other notes on that idea
- At the very end, after all the other notes
You find an article about climate change written by a fuel company trying to sell its product. What should you check before using it?
- Whether the writer might be biased because of what they're selling
- Whether the article uses long words
- Whether the article has pictures
Changing a few words in a sentence but keeping the same order and structure counts as a safe paraphrase.
Circle one: True False
Original text: 'Bees pollinate about one-third of the crops humans eat.' A student writes: 'Bees pollinate about a third of the crops that humans eat.' Is this an acceptable paraphrase?
- Yes, because it uses different words like 'crops that' instead of 'crops'
- Yes, because it's shorter than the original
- No, it copies the same sentence structure with only tiny word changes
Mia cites a blog post from 2009 about 'the newest smartphone features' in her research paper. What's the biggest problem with this source?
- The information is likely outdated for a fast-changing topic
- Blog posts never have authors
- The post is too short to be useful

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

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Rewriting the idea in your own words and sentence structure · A true paraphrase changes both the wording and the structure, not just a word here and there.
Group notes under logical headings that match your topic's main ideas · Grouping by heading pulls related facts together, even if they came from different articles.
False · Search ranking doesn't measure trustworthiness. Check the author, date, and purpose instead.
Under a heading for famous eruptions, next to any other notes on that idea · Notes are grouped by idea, not by which source they came from.
Whether the writer might be biased because of what they're selling · A source tied to a product or opinion the writer wants you to accept needs extra scrutiny for bias.
False · That's still too close to the original. A real paraphrase rebuilds the sentence, not just swaps words.
No, it copies the same sentence structure with only tiny word changes · Swapping 'one-third' for 'a third' and adding 'that' doesn't change the structure enough. It's still too close to count as a paraphrase.
The information is likely outdated for a fast-changing topic · Even a well-written source can be a poor choice for a fast-changing topic if the date makes it outdated.