Copied or own words?
A pupil found these facts on a website. Did they use their own words?
Card 1 of 8
“Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers.”
The website says: Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers.
A pupil wrote this in their project. Compare it with the website. Drag the card to a box, or tap a box.
What the words mean
- Paraphrase: to say something again in your own words, keeping the meaning.
- Plagiarism: pretending that someone else's work is your own and taking credit for it.
How to use your own words
- Read the sentence until you understand it.
- Look away from the screen.
- Write it the way you would explain it to a friend.
- Check that the meaning is still right.
For teachers
This tool goes with Unit 2, Lesson 9 (Using a search engine efficiently) of the Year 4 Inspire Computing student book. Use it just before pupils start recording their research.
- Before the screen: read a sentence aloud, hide it, and ask pupils to tell a partner what it said.
- The card with one word changed is the one to stop on. Many pupils believe that changing a word or two is enough.
- Exit question: rewrite this in your own words: "Elephants use their trunks to drink and to pick up food."
- Every sentence was written for this tool. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
More to try
- Take one fact from a library book and write it in your own words.
- Swap with a partner. Is the meaning still the same?