Researching and Reporting your Sources

Never, ever, ever copy someone’s words. This is called plagiarism and is just as serious as stealing. You may learn from someone else’s words, just as you learn from listening to someone talk. Think about the words you read, take notes to help you remember what you read, but write your own words about the subject. This is called RESEARCH.

Using the internet: Always list the website where you got your information. Do not list the search engine. NEVER copy and paste text. For instance, I googled (a search engine) for “old Navajo culture for kids”. This is what I got:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/american/navajoland/ancientroots.htmlThis was one of my sources of information, and should be listed this way in my sources at the end of my report:www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/american/navajoland/ancientroots.html

Using pictures from the internet:Look for the © symbol. This means copyright

protected. It is someone else’s property. One © means that you cannot copy the picture. CC or no

copyright sign, means you can. Hint: Try flickr first; all of the pictures posted may be used.

© Bettmann / CORBIS You should check every picture and find out if it can be used for your educational purposes, but if you see the © symbol, then you should not use it without checking the sources to find out if a school report is allowed to copy it if you list your sources. You may be able to state who took the picture, as the photographer here is listed. If you don’t know if it is okay or not, you could be stealing someone’s creative work. This picture came from an educational website, but the picture was copyrighted. I have included the copyright information.

Listing your sources (for fifth graders):

• Textbook: Title of book, publisher, page number (year published)

United States History, Canada, Mexico, & Central America, Harcourt, Inc, p.73 (2003)

textbook title page

Textbook copyright page

United States History, Canada, Mexico, & Central America, Harcourt, Inc, p.73 (2003)

What if I use a magazine? author’s name, “article title”, magazine title, (Month and year)T.H.Watkins, “Hawk High over Four Corners”, National Geographic (September 1996)

Using a book: Author’s name, title of book, page #,(year published)

Look in the back of the book. The author of the book has listed his or her

sources, too.

Using a book:

Bial, Raymond, The Navajo, p 62-65, 1999

This is the book I used for my report. I wrote it in my source list, along with the pages I read and used for my report.

What if I use an encyclopedia?

Name of encyclopedia, Volume number, page number (year)All of this informationwill be in the front of the encyclopedia (except the Pages you used). Sometimesthe encyclopedias are online. Then list the source as a website along with the title of the part you used.

Is this all there is to reporting sources?

NO! This is a good start for fifth graders. As you get older and do more research, you will learn about more detailed ways to list your sources. Now you are learning how important it is to give someone credit for the information. After all, you were not born knowing all these things you researched! You had to get the information somewhere. When you write a book, students may list you in their sources. You will be very proud to have helped someone else learn!