“Teaching and practicing the appropriate use of citations in research should be taught early and often during one's academic career.” (DeSena, 2007) Because of that, citing and attributing content is a skill, or task, that should to be introduced and practiced in elementary school so they can be prepared to use it in high school and higher learning. By introducing citations at a lower grade levels and scaffolding that information year-by-year, the students will have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful research writers by the time they reach junior high.
To do this in my classroom I would like to gradually release the responsibility of citing sources to the students, or as I like to call it, the “I Do, We Do, You Do” model. This model is often used for literacy instruction, but I believe that it would work in a skill-based task as a constructivist approach. It is a way for me to take my knowledge as a teacher and transfer it to the students (Fisher, 2008). Through this scaffolding process, I hope that the students will have the understanding and skills to complete this task independently.
I will model through mini-lessons how to cite a specific source by giving explicit instruction. After I have modeled a specific way to create a citation, as a whole class, we will do it together. Depending on their receptiveness to this new information, I will either have the students work in partners or individually to practice this new skill. I will repeat this cycle with different types of sources, showing the students where to to find the different bibliographic information. Throughout these activities, students will be able to practice creating their own citations by making Works Cited pages of some of their favorite books, magazines, and movies. However, “for instruction to be fully effective, it needs to be in the context of their project” (Dreher, 2000). After the mini-lesson activities, I will give the students an opportunity to apply this skill to their own research projects to give meaning to citation creation. Even after the modeling, practicing, and applying of these citation creation skills, it will still be difficult for students to remember all of the different rules for how to format the bibliographic information.
Resources
DeSena, L.H. 2007. Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and Techniques. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Dreher, J. et al. 2000. Easy Steps to Writing Fantastic Research Reports (Grades 3-6). New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
Fisher, D. 2008 Effective Use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. PDF. "https://www.mheonline.com/_treasures/pdf/douglas_fisher.pdf".
DeSena, L.H. 2007. Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and Techniques. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Dreher, J. et al. 2000. Easy Steps to Writing Fantastic Research Reports (Grades 3-6). New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
Fisher, D. 2008 Effective Use of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. PDF. "https://www.mheonline.com/_treasures/pdf/douglas_fisher.pdf".