19 Practicing Paraphrasing and Direct Quoting
Melissa Ashman
Activity Guidelines
Suggested Course Level
Lower level undergraduate
Activity Purpose
- Students will practice reading a source document and then writing an appropriate paraphrase and an appropriate direct quote with correct APA formatting.
Materials Required
- Enough photocopies of a page from a source document (such as a textbook) for everyone in the class, along with information on the source of the material.
Activity Instructions
- Distribute the photocopy of the source document to all students.
- Partner students (or they can work individually).
- Ask each pair to read the source material and then write down a paraphrase of an idea of their choosing from that page, including the APA in-text citation.
- Circulate around the room to review student work and provide feedback. (This activity often takes a while for students to complete because of having to read the material, synthesize it, and then discuss/reach agreement with their partner about how to paraphrase and cite.)
- Ask each pair to read the source material and then write down a direct quote of their choosing from that page, including the APA in-text citation.
- Circulate around the room again to review student work and provide feedback.
- Note the common errors that are seen. During the debrief, list/show these errors and explain the corrections.
Debrief Questions / Activities
- What information do we include in the in-text citation for a paraphrase? For a direct quote?
- What are some differences between a direct quote and a paraphrase?
- Debrief the common errors and list/show the corrections.
Activity Variations
- Students can work individually or in partners.
Tags: research and documentation, hands-on, individual, small group, creating a product or document, reading, paraphrasing, direct quoting, APA format, reference list, in-text citations
