It is great to be able to hear opinions from multiple perspectives, especially groups whose voices have historically been silenced. The problem is that young people (and many adults as well) have difficulty determining whose voices to trust. It is important that English teachers tackle this issue head on in order to produce critical thinking citizens. 

There are tons of articles and infographics online already that explain how to determine a source’s credibility, including this one on fake news. Instead of lecturing about it, I like to put students in groups and give each group a different article to read on the subject. I ask them to create posters with tips they learned from the articles. Then, each group presents their poster. Some tips overlap and some stand out but after hearing them all, students gain a better understanding of what they can do to assess a source’s credibility. 

The articles I have given my students include this one from International Netherlands Group (ING) which emphasizes that information nowadays is more often crowd-sourced and less often fact-checked than it was in the past. The facts on this site show that reporters now prefer to publish as quickly as possible and then correct misinformation as opposed to waiting to make sure all facts are accurate before publishing. This helps students realize that sometimes the most recent sources are not the most reliable. 

Another article I have shared with students emphasizes the importance of presenting a balanced perspective while touching on a “false balance” as well. This New York Times blog post includes questions designed to make students think critically about the information they share on social media and a handy acronym that can be used to question sources of information. 

Finally, I distinctly remember one student’s poster from a few years ago who read this article and drew a picture of the press and the government in a bed together. All of the posters came out to be helpful, informative and eye-catching. 

After sharing tip using their posters, students should test their new skills. I give them an article which I choose specifically because some claims are questionable and have students apply their tips to determine if the information is correct or not. A good one I have used in the past is from The Boston Globe. This article is passionate and sounds very convincing but no claims are backed up with sources, APA citations, or MLA style references. If the students apply their tips and fact check the article, they can find multiple opinions which go against this article’s claims. 

Many people agree that today’s teens are the instant gratification generation. Only a handful of my students regularly check multiple sources to verify information. They want to get the assignment done, so they use the first article they find that fits what they are trying to write about and leave it at that. As Peter Adams puts it in his Edutopia article, teachers enjoy the benefits of working with digital natives but also the difficulties of dealing with digital naiveté. This lesson can be used to directly instruct students on assessing the credibility of sources instead of leaving it up to them to figure it out for themselves. 

Looking to extend on students’ learning? Check out the other helpful EasyBib resources like a guide on how to cite a website in MLA, grammar guides, and a grammar check. EasyBib.com has you covered! 

The post Teaching Students to Judge Credibility  appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

This system worked well in some ways and was ineffective in others. The main benefit of receiving a hard copy of my feedback was that I definitely looked at it at least once. Sure, I had some classmates who looked at the grade on top, crumpled it up and chucked it toward the trash, but most students at least flipped through their corrections.

Since online grading has become more prevalent, it is easy to forget to give students that time in class to look over their feedback. Once the feedback is posted, the students have access to it, but that does not mean they will take the time to actually read over the comments. Oftentimes, students do not want to read the comments because, naturally, they fear that feeling of being criticized. This leads us into my first feedback strategy.

Strategy 1: Give positive feedback

When looking at a piece of writing that needs a lot of work, it can be hard to think of positive things to say. Though it’s sometimes challenging, it is important because it builds the students’ confidence in their burgeoning writing skills. I always try to include some positive comments in all of the essays I assess. Comments like, “great hook!” or “effective complex sentence” make reading feedback less miserable for the students. I have even been known to use emojis in my comments if a particular sentence just makes me smile. Including positive feedback is something I strive to improve on each year.

Strategy 2: Focus feedback on a few specific issues

It is easy to overload a student with too much feedback. One sure way to make a student shut down is to mark up every other line of their writing. I have been guilty of this before.

I have found over the years that it is better to try to keep comments focused on a few issues that students can focus on as opposed to trying to fix everything all at once. For example, if a student has great ideas but terrible grammar and organization, I will praise their ideas and comment on their organization. I may pick one grammar issue to correct throughout the essay, such as inserting missing periods, but if I comment on all the grammatical issues, that is all the student will correct. Grammatical issues are easier fixes. When a student sees fifty comments on their essay and forty of them are simple grammatical errors, they will fix those forty things and feel accomplished leaving the harder, more important comments unchanged.

Citations are another big issue for me. If the student is using improper citations, I try not to comment on many grammatical issues so they focus on nailing down proper MLA format (depending on what you use in class, it may be APA or the Chicago Manual of Style).

Strategy 3: Give students time to review feedback in class

Finally, don’t forget to give students a chance to review everything. One strategy I used to make sure feedback sinks in is to have students complete a two-question reflection about their feedback:

1. According to my feedback, what did I do well on?
2. According to my feedback, what do I need to focus on improving in my next piece of writing?

The first question allows them to congratulate themselves for what they did well on, reinforcing their confidence. The second reflective question is helpful because it enables students to see their writing performance improve over time based on the feedback they get on each piece of writing. In other words, if you (as student) determined that your transitions need work in one essay, and find that there are positive comments on your transitions in the next, that shows improvement!

Along these same lines, I sometimes have students read their old writing before starting a new piece that has a similar structure. For example, in the beginning of the school year last year, I had my students write an essay about the themes of the books they were reading independently. During the second semester, they built on that skill by writing an essay which related the book’s theme to its central conflict. This essay had a similar structure and rubric so before they began writing, I had the students read their first essay and review the feedback to make sure they did not make the same errors again.

Writing positive comments, focusing feedback on a few specific issues, and giving students time to reflect on their writing in class are three ways you can start improving your feedback today!

The post Three Strategies to Improve Writing Feedback appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

When I was teaching middle and high school English in a bilingual private school in Costa Rica, most of my students had been learning English since 1st grade, and many had reached a high level of proficiency or even fluency. Still, there are several differences in the way I taught them compared to my current, non-ELL students in the United States.

Below are the top three most effective strategies I found for teaching high-level ELLs.

1. Incorporating the Native Language (L1)

Although traditionalists may argue that it’s best to ban the native language in an ELL class, the use of native language is becoming more acceptable nowadays. In my own personal experience, using students’ native language helps build vocabulary skills.

My favorite way to use L1 in Costa Rica was to use the common Latin roots that English and Spanish share. Instead of teaching specific vocabulary words by rote, I used the Word Within the Word program so that students could figure out what many different words meant instead of just memorizing some definitions. Many Latin roots are essentially translations of Spanish words (e.g. mal=bad), making it easier for students to relate to English vocabulary. If a student asked me “What does ‘malevolent’ mean?” I could ask them “What does mal mean? What do you think malevolent means?”

Another great use for the native language with upper level ELLs was working with translation. Translation is a high-level critical thinking exercise that requires students to carefully consider the connotation of words and how they come together to create meaning in a text. The fact that I speak Spanish definitely helped teach that unit, but it can be done without knowledge of the first language, or even with a group that has a variety of first languages. I asked students to not only write translations of poetry, prose, and informational texts originally written in Spanish but also to explain their translations. They really enjoyed the project because it allowed them to exercise and show off their skills in both languages, rather than having to keep them seperate.

2. Direct Grammar Instruction

I usually teach grammar in the context of writing but when teaching ELLs, I found it was necessary to be more explicit. There are many grammar rules that native speakers don’t think twice about, like adjective order, which non-native speakers need to be taught. English learners tend to revert back to the grammatical structures of their native language unless they have other rules to follow. I don’t think this type of grammar instruction is necessary in elementary school when immersion seems to be the most effective way to learn a new language. However, once students reach a certain level of understanding, the only way to learn specific grammar rules is direct instruction.

3. Differentiating for Lower Level Skills

Even though most of my students had high-level English skills from attending a bilingual school all their lives, as in any class, there were a few students who were not on the same level. Often these were students who transferred in from another school. To help bring them up to the same level as their classmates, I made some accommodations. Generally, I encouraged my students to speak English during English class but if a student really didn’t understand something, I would make an exception and explain the directions in Spanish. Another exception I made a few rare times was actually allowing students to demonstrate knowledge and skills, such as identifying the tone of a text, in Spanish. That way I could make sure they understood the content even if they weren’t yet able to communicate their understanding in English.

Other strategies I used included giving students with smaller vocabularies copies of texts with difficult words glossed on the bottom of the page. I avoid giving vocabulary to higher level ELL students because I want to encourage them to use tools like context clues to figure out tough words. Students who do not have the basic vocabulary to begin with, though, are not able to figure out the context.

As with all aspects of teaching, it’s important to be sensitive to individual students’ needs and track their progress to determine when they are ready to succeed without extra scaffolding. In a mixed-ability middle school class (or any class), no student wants to stand out as the one getting extra help, even if their peers are understanding. None of the above strategies singles out individuals. When the student who needed extra vocabulary help starts building her vocabulary, no one in the room will notice when she starts getting the same articles as the rest of the class—not even the student herself.

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Find more useful teaching resources on EasyBib: a simple bibliography definition, works cited example, and more. Share the EasyBib citation generator with your students to help make citing in APA style, MLA style, and Chicago style format a breeze!

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At the beginning of the year I’m always so excited to meet my new students and learn about their literary interests and writing skills that I forget to refresh their memories about plagiarism. I assume it’s been covered in middle school and that the rules are obvious. Yet year after year, my students teach me that this assumption is false. There are always questions about specific cases, clarifications about obscure details and shocked faces when self-plagiarism comes up. Not to mention the same inevitable confrontation with a student who didn’t realize rewording a Wikipedia article or copying and pasting “just the introduction” counts.

This year, my plagiarism unit came first thing after winter break. I had closed the previous semester with an unfortunate case of plagiarism in high school and was determined to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. My favorite way to introduce the topic is through music. There are several compilation videos on YouTube with hit songs and their original samples. Before I even say the word “plagiarism,” I tell my students we’re going to listen to some old songs and that their job is to guess which modern song sampled the oldie. They get really into the game and the music buffs are able to show off their knowledge. (It’s also a great way to get to know the musical tastes of the class.) After a few minutes of this, I switch videos to the final round: a song that has gotten an artist in legal trouble for violating copyright laws.

I chose a top ten pop hit from 2014 compared to an 80s classic rock song with a similar melody for this year’s final round. I told the students that the final round is more difficult because only one aspect of the song was allegedly copied. Many students were stumped, as they didn’t think the songs were that similar. This led right into a discussion about music plagiarism, a subject of interest to many students, that touched on many points that directly relate to plagiarism in high school. For example, one student asked, “If they have permission from the original artist, isn’t sampling allowed?” Another added, “They have to put their name in the credits.”

Finally, after this long introduction, the students are ready to discuss plagiarism. If you don’t hook them in the beginning, they will shut down as soon as you say the “p-word.” I present statistics about copying and plagiarism so students feel more comfortable talking openly, knowing that it’s a widespread issue. I emphasize the fact that being proactive and informed are the best ways to avoid the dreaded “zero with no possibility of make-up,” the typical minimum consequence for plagiarism in high school. I also stress that among the types of plagiarism (direct, self, and mosaic), there is also accidental plagiarism. Students must understand that even if accidental, these cases carry all the same consequences as intentional plagiarism.

The most important skills to teach for avoiding accidental plagiarism are proper quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing with parenthetical or in text citations. A common misconception is that it’s not necessary to cite if you paraphrase or summarize. Many students believe rewording someone else’s article still counts as original work. This connects back to the music discussion, since taking someone else’s idea for a melody can be considered a copyright violation. We spend several days practicing quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing example paragraphs. This may seem juvenile for high school, but these skills need to be constantly reinforced in every grade level with increasing difficulty. During these exercises, students make a habit of consistently citing sources.

I teach my students to use EasyBib correctly to make accurate citations. It’s always amusing to me that some students complain about citing sources when it is made so easy for them. Back in my day, we had to create citations from scratch by finding all the information ourselves. Now, with one click, you can switch between MLA style, APA style or even Chicago style format.

The only reason I need to go over these sites with my classes (instead of just telling the kids to use them) is that they need to be reminded not to just click through the steps without looking at the information being pulled. When the algorithms can’t see a piece of information that is available, it’s the student’s job to fill that in. When a full citation looks particularly sparse, I usually review the site myself to make sure the student did the same. If an author or publication date is missing from the citation, I use it as a “teachable moment” to show the student why they need to use their own brain in addition to the online tool.

Having the plagiarism talk early and clearing up misconceptions is often the best way to make sure your students are producing high-quality, original work they can be proud of. Plagiarism in high school is one thing I am very serious about because if I’m not, I know it will cost them much more in their future education or career.

The post Educating Against Plagiarism in High School appeared first on EasyBib Blog.

It wasn’t until I started my teacher education program that I realized the importance of teaching to different learning styles. Sure, there are skeptics who claim that “in the real world” you won’t be given an audiobook of your job training manual. But I believe that helping students recognize their learning styles, and using strategies that address them, will help them later in life. (Of course, this must be done while simultaneously encouraging students to exercise and strengthen their weaker skills.)

At the beginning of the year, my students write an essay in class so that I can assess the gaps in their writing skills. This year, I determined that my students needed to work on the first lines of their essays: the hooks. Before writing the first take-home essay of the year, we spent a class period looking up types of hooks with examples. Students wrote examples of their own for each type of hook (striking statistic, anecdote, vivid comparison, etc.) so that they they would have a collection of possibilities when it came time to start their essays. The mini hook posters they created that day are still hanging on a wall in my classroom so that any time the students need help writing a hook, they can reference them.

I also post resources on Google Classroom so that if a student is working on an essay at midnight and can’t remember something from class, they have access to the materials, even if they lost the papers I gave them. Some teachers would consider this “babying,” but my priority is demystifying content area knowledge and skills—not forcing students to learn in a certain way. (Having spent many a late night writing essays myself, I also understand that sometimes, this is simply reality.)

For both timed writings and take-home essays, students need a variety of strategies because no two students learn the same way. Some students can look at a rubric and understand what is expected, but many need examples. Sometimes even phrasing requirements differently can help. The SPED teacher at my school recently shared the document she uses to break down essay expectations sentence by sentence by phrasing each requirement as a question. For example, instead of, “Must use a sentence to introduce a quote,” the requirement is phrased: “This sentence answers the questions ‘Who said this?’, ‘When did they say it?’, and/or ‘Who did they say it to?’” I gave that handout to all of my students because it’s one more way to provide an explanation that might click with some.

In most of my classes I read rubrics out loud because some students see that page full of words, can’t process it, and give up. Hearing the requirements out loud sinks in. Practical learners may not comprehend requirements by reading or hearing them but need to use the rubric in context for it to make sense. For this reason, I don’t grade first drafts until after they have been peer reviewed (except for timed writings). I grade peer reviews to ensure students are really thinking about each part of the rubric when they assess their peers. If a student gives her peer a 5/5 on the hook, when there is no hook, she either did not understand what a hook is or did not really check her peer’s introduction. This holds students accountable for understanding the rubric while they still have time to make changes to their essays.

To me, one of the most important aspects of teaching is variety, not only in teaching strategies but also in assessment types. This is especially true in English class because there are so many different ways to be a skilled writer and reader, none more objectively valid than another. A creative writer is not more talented than an analytical writer. It’s important to value and work on all the skills that fall under the blanket of English class, and find ways to help students improve their writing through the strengths they already have.

For example, one of my students who has trouble writing academic papers recently wrote and delivered an impassioned speech about patriotism. He made a strong argument and even used some of the writing techniques we practiced—skills that we can now work on transferring to persuasive written work. Using different teaching styles and assessments not only enables students to learn more, it also helps them develop confidence in their abilities rather than just giving up.

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Chicago Manual of Style, MLA style, or APA style. Share the free and easy-to-use EasyBib citation generator with your students! 

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Before he’d even started writing, I had given him some advice on writing a concluding sentence, knowing this was a weakness of his. I told him a story of my own timed writing experience back in high school.

I was rushing to finish my 40-minute essay after the bell rang, knowing that time was up but still searching for a way to conclude. My teacher read my half-sentence conclusion, thought for a moment, and said, “it.” I re-read my sentence and realized the beautiful simplicity of her suggestion. I tacked on the word “it” and handed her the essay. Was it perfect? No. Was I proud? No. Was the essay finished? Yes.

My student dismissed this idea as a cop out and turned in another unfinished essay.

During the sixth timed writing of the year, I wrote the essay along with my students. Not only did this help me to empathize with their struggles, it also thrust me back into a once-familiar situation. As the period came to a close, I found myself rushing to finish my conclusion just like I had back in high school. Reading over my last sentence, I tacked on my trusty “it” and was done.

The next day, I photocopied my essay and handed out to my class. I told them that I was rushed at the end, and while my conclusion wasn’t perfect, it served its purpose effectively. The same student who turned down the “it” conclusion when I described it found it brilliant in my example essay.

This experience reinforced my belief that when it comes to timed writings, students need practical strategies they can apply during those precious minutes. In fact, my class found other phrases they wanted to “steal” from my example essay. We made a board of those they found the most useful, like “…highlights the importance of…” “…emphasizes the meaning by…” “…this is further emphasized by…” “…he/she does this because…” and “…as evidenced by…”

Taking the time to engrain these phrases helped my students build a “bank” of sentence starters and transitions that they could draw from during a stressful timed writing. Providing my own writing and exemplary student samples puts these tools into context, making them easier to remember.

Timed writings and take-home essays target different skills, and are both important tools to make students into better writers. In life, sometimes you need to write things as quickly as possible and sometimes you need to write things to the best of your ability. Timed writing practice helps students with time management and pushes them to produce higher quality work faster—a crucial 21st century skill. Take-home essays allow students to labor over specifics like word choice and sentence structure, skills which take less time with more practice. Because these types of writing target different skills, it’s essential to use both in any writing or language class.

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More teaching resources: Find helpful resources on how to make a works cited page, annotated bibliography, and APA title page.

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