Note-taking STEP 1: Read entire section FIRST!

Think about what you’ve read, what you already know, & how to say it another way. Note-taking STEP 2:

Shrink it down to a fraction of its original size; use abbreviations, bullets, phrases, etc. Note-taking STEP 3:

Re-word or PARAPHRASE only main ideas, important facts, keywords, etc. Note-taking STEP 4:

Plagiarism is: The act of stealing the ideas and/or work of someone else and passing them off as your own. The act of committing “literary theft.”

Plagiarism =

Paraphrasing is: The act of restating a passage, text, or work AND giving the meaning in another form (your own words).

Paraphrasing =

Here’s a small excerpt of the article “Ancient Egypt” from World Book Encyclopedia…

Example #1: “The best known achievements of the ancient Egyptians are the pyramids they built for their rulers. These gigantic stone structures— marvels of architectural and engineering skills—have been preserved by the dry climate for about 4500 years.”

Without taking notes, I paraphrased like this.

The greatest achievements of the ancient Egyptians are the pyramids they built for their rulers. These gigantic stone structures are marvels of architectural and engineering skill and have been preserved by the dry climate for about 4500 years.

That was

All I did was make 3 tiny changes:

That’s pretty much the same thing as changing the word “the” to the word “a” and calling it paraphrasing!

But if I take notes like this… Ancient Egyptians → known for pyramids P = huge stone tombs for their rulers Still standing after 4500 years b/c of Egypt’s dry climate …I can paraphrase like this:

Ancient Egyptians accomplished many amazing things. They are most well-known for building huge stone tombs known as pyramids. Pyramids that they built over 4500 years ago are still standing because of their excellent construction and the country’s dry climate.

MUCH BETTER This attempt at paraphrasing was MUCH BETTER because I restated the facts from the encylopedia in another way. It sounds more like me and less like an encyclopedia.

Here’s another excerpt of the article “Ancient Egypt” from World Book Encyclopedia…

“The mighty Nile River was the lifeblood of ancient Egypt. The fertile soil enabled farmers to raise a huge supply of food. The Nile also provided water for irrigation and was Egypt’s main transportation route.” Example #2:

Without taking notes, I paraphrased like this.

Ancient Egypt’s lifeblood was the mighty Nile River. The fertile soil allowed farmers to raise a huge supply of food. It also provided water for irrigation and was Egypt’s main transportation route.

That was

All I did was flip-flop the order of the first sentence and use a couple of simple synonyms. That is STILL not paraphrasing!

Ancient Egypt’s lifeblood was the mighty Nile River. The fertile soil allowed farmers to raise a huge supply of food. It also provided water for irrigation and was Egypt’s main transportation route.

But if I take notes like this… Nile = Egypt’s “lifeblood” It provided: –Fertile soil = lots of food –Water for irrigation/farming –Transportation route …I can paraphrase like this:

Ancient Egypt was able to thrive so well because it is located near the “mighty Nile River.” This river made the soil very rich, so farmers were able to grow and sell a lot of food. The Nile was also important because it provided Egyptians with a transportation route and a way to irrigate farms.

This attempt at paraphrasing was MUCH BETTER because I did an even better job of restating the facts

Here’s one final excerpt of the article “Ancient Egypt” from World Book Encyclopedia…

The Egyptians also believed they would experience life after death in an afterlife and sometimes made elaborate preparations for death and burial. For example, the Egyptians mummified corpses to prevent the bodies from decaying and to preserve them for the afterlife. Example #3:

And here’s my final attempt at paraphrasing…

One of the things that was extremely important to Egyptian culture was the idea of an “afterlife.” Because they believed that they would experience life after death, it was not only very important to have highly detailed burial ceremonies, but also to preserve the bodies for the afterlife. They accomplished this through “mummification.”

This attempt is my best one yet because I think it’s pretty obvious that I thought about what I was reading before I wrote anything down. It says the same thing as the original but in a VERY different way!

Always REMEMBER my

You’ll be a successful “paraphraser” every time!

Slide Show Created By: Ms. Trapani Librarian Lawrence Road Middle School