Monday, January 21, 2013

What is Plagiarism?


According to the New Oxford American Dictionary:



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Now that Mrs. Yollis' class is learning to research using the World Book Encyclopedia Online generously purchased from the PFC, it is important for everyone to understand how to share learning without just copying.


It is wrong to copy and paste! 


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How to share learning without becoming a plagiarist is tricky.

Step 1:   Read the passage completely.

Step 2:   Take notes on the interesting parts.
                  (IMPORTANT - Only write facts. Do not copy sentences.)

Example:
  • California
  • largest population
  • 33,871,648 people

Step 3:    Use the facts to compose your own sentences.
                   Now is a good time to add your opinion as you share.


Here are my own sentences using my California facts:

I was surprised to learn that my state, California, has the largest population of all fifty states. There are approximately  34 million California citizens. 


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Next week, our school will have National Geographic's
Giant Traveling Map of Asia. Use World Book Online to
 research some information about the Asian continent. 


How big is Asia in square miles?
What is the population?
How many countries? 
Pick an Asian country to learn about.
What are the highest and lowest points on the
 continent?
What languages are spoken?
What bodies of water border Asia?
What animals are found in Asia?


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What would you like to learn about Asia? 

What did you learn about Asia from World Book?

Remember, to put the facts in your own words!





36 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Aashi and I figured out that India's capital is New Delhi and Israel's capital is Jerusalem.

    Asia has lots and lots of states and countries. But Chloe's favorite country is Israel, and Aashi's favorite country is India.

    Sincerely,
    A♣shi and Chl♥e

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs Yollis,

    Shayna wasn't really surprised when she found out that the highest elevation of Asia was 29,035 ft.

    Keira was also not surprised when she saw that the lowest elevation was 1,385 ft.

    We also know that the coastline is 80,205 ft.

    What is the neighboring oceans of Asia are?

    Warmly,
    Keira and Shayna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Keira and Shayna,

      We are very impressed with your comment!

      You have some great facts about the highest and lowest points in Asia. However, we're not sure your fact about the lowest elevation is correct.

      We'd also like to know the names of the highest and lowest points.

      We look forward to your replies!

      Sincerely,
      The Third Graders :-)

      Delete
  3. Dear Mrs Yollis,

    Our countries are Vietnam and Pakistan. The population of Vietnam is 91,535,000. The capital of Vietnam is Hanoi. The average female in Vietnam will live up to 76 years. Pakistan's population is 186,297,000. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. The government of Pakistani Federal Republic. The unit of money is Pakistani Ruppe.

    What is the population of New york?

    Warmly,

    Bryce and Peter

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    We went on world book online and it said that India has a bigger population than Iran. The population of India is 1,291,307,000 and Iran has 77,386,000.

    Do you know the population of Texas?

    Ali and Daniel

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Heather and Nate searched it all of these facts on Word Book Online Kids. Here is a link to it:

    Word Book Online Kids

    Heather's country Heather picked that is in Asia is China. Here are the facts Heather picked out. In China, there is a place called Beijing (bay-jihng). Another word for Beijing is Peking (pee-KIHNG). In Beijing, there is the biggest library in China.

    Nate's country is comparing Nepal and Russia. Russia is huge and Nepal compared to Russia is tiny. Nepal's capital is Kathmandu and Russia's is Moscow.

    Thoughtfully,
    Heather and Nate

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I have a fact for you. Did you know that our Country's population is 321,137,000, and Japan's population is 126,118,000? I also learned that Japan's Capital is Tokyo. Can you tell me what the Capital of China is?

    Warmly,
    Katelyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Katelyn,

      Yes, I can tell you the capital of China. The capital is Beijing. I think Heather spoke about it above. Beijing has approximately 20 million people living in it!

      Would you want to live in Beijing, China?

      Your proud teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
    2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      I would not want to live in Beijing, yet it sounds wonderful. I would want to live in Tokyo, Japan. But I would miss my friends, and my teachers including you . Also did you know that the highest elevation in Japan is Mout Fuji.

      Your Asia loving pupil,
      Katelyn

      Delete
  7. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    I found a fact about Asia on world book kids. Asia covers one third of the world's land!

    Sincerely,
    Sean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Sean,

      Asia's land mass is one third? Wow! Let's look at one third tomorrow with the magnets.

      Which continent is the smallest?

      Sincerely,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
  8. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    My two countries are Zimbabwe and India. Zimbabwe's area is 150,872 square miles, and India's area is 1,222,584 square miles. The population of Zimbabwe is 13,594,000, and in India there are 1,291,307,000 people. The money that Zimbabwe and India use are the United States Dollar and the Indian Rupee. The capital of Zimbabwe is Harare (Hu-rair), and India's capital is New Delhi (Noo Del-ee). Zimbabwe is tiny compared to India.

    Your Country Detective,
    Bennett

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Country Detective,

      India and Zimbabwe are interesting countries on two different continents. On what continent is Zimbabwe?

      I loved your pronunciation key!

      Which country in Asia are you going to stand on when we get the map on Monday?

      Your geography-loving teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
  9. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I have actually seen some of the animals from Asia at the LA Zoo. They include elephants, tigers, snow leopards and orangutans. I saw the tigers when they were tiny and had blue eyes, but now they are as big as their mother.

    Have you seen any animals from Asia?

    Sincerely,
    Nate

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Nate,

      Yes, I have seen Asian animals at the Los Angeles Zoo! You were there when the tiger cubs were young? I wonder how much they weighed then and how much they weigh now?

      There are two kinds of elephants, Asian elephants and African elephants. (Notice I only capitalized the first word and not the word elephant? Elephant is a common noun.) How can you tell the difference between the two species of elephants?

      Your animal-loving teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
    2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      An African elephant's ears are shaped like the African continent. I leaned this in the book Weird But True. Asian elephants have much smaller ears than African elephants.

      I don't know how much the baby tigers weighed, but I do know they had blue eyes.

      Have you seen any baby animals at the zoo?

      Your animal-loving student,
      Nate

      Delete
  10. Dear Mrs Y♥llis,

    Here are a few facts about Asia. Beijing (bay-jihng) is the capital of China. I compared Japan and China. The population of Japan is 126,118,000. That is a lot, but Japan still does not have as many people as China. China has 1,375,709,000 people. Japan's highest elevation is Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji is 12,388 feet above sea level.

    What is the money unit in China?

    Warmly,
    Jenna♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Jenna,

      Nice work with the pronunciation key!

      So Japan has 126 million and China has over a billion. Wow! Notice how I rounded the bigger numbers to the nearest million or billion? We'll talk about why that makes it easier to remember.

      What is the currency of China? Maybe you can find out. Let's see how it compares to the U.S. dollar.

      Your interested teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      Delete
  11. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I went on World Book Online, and I was surprised to learn that Asia has the largest population, and Asia also is the largest continent.

    North America has 562,074,000 people and Asia has 4,354,899,000 people.

    4,354,899,000 Asian citizens
    - 562,074,000 American citizens

    equals- 3,792,825,000

    Asia has 3,792,825,000 more people than North America.

    Does India have a bigger population than Asia?

    Sincerely,
    Abbey

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I went on World Book Kids and compared Japan to Cambodia. Japan is 145,927 square miles. Cambodia is 69,898 square miles. I also found out the population of Cambodia is 15,025,000 and Japan's population is 126,118,000, which is over 8 times the number of people!

    Have you ever been to Japan?

    Sincerely,
    Collin

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I found this on world book kids. This is the number of independent countries. Australia has 1, and Asia has 50. Which country is the smallest in Asia?

    Sincerely,
    Parsa

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs.Yollis,
    When I went on World Book online, I researched facts about Asia. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world and it is located in Asia. Two countries in Asia, Russia and China, have a president as Head of State. China has a larger armed forces than Russia. Asia and Africa are surrounded by oceans. They both have the Indian Ocean as a neighboring ocean. After my research on Asia, I was surprised about what I learned.
    Cheers,
    Kiernan

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    The Asian countries that I compared were North Korea and South Korea. The information that I found was surprising. North Korea is a larger country with 46,540 square miles and South Korea is only 38,570 square miles. However, North Korea's population is 24,753,000 and South Korea's population is almost double that amount at 48,945,000. Where do they fit all of those people in South Korea?

    I wonder why North Korea is a bigger country with a smaller population. Can anyone find out why?

    Sincerely,
    Mallory

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I compared Asia to North America. Apparently Asia covers 17,027,000 square miles, and North America covers 9,354,000 square miles. Asia has 7,673,000 more square miles than North America. Asia's population is 4,354,899,000, and North America's population is 562,074,000. Asia has 3,892,825,000 more people than North America. I am surprised how many people they have living in Asia. I found out these facts by researching on world book kids.

    Sincerely,
    Savannah

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    My country is China. I have some facts about it:

    The flag of China is very different from our flag. There are no stripes, no blue, no white, but there is red and stars. It does not have fifty stars. In fact, there are only five. The background is red. The stars are yellow. There is one big star, so the others are little. The flag background is red because it means communist.

    China's highest elevation is 29,035 feet above sea level. The name is of course Mount Everest. China's lowest elevation is 505 feet below sea level and the name is Turpan Pendi.

    I was surprised to see that the population for China is 1,275,000 and it was the world's largest country in population.

    Beijing (bay-jihng) is China's capital. In atlas, on the capitals, there is a star with a circle. I also have some facts about Beijing:

    Beijing has another name. It is Peking (pee-KIHNG).

    In the early 1400's, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty decided to move China’s capital from Nanjing to Beijing. That's all I know about Beijing, but here is a fact about me. I've been to Beijing! :-D

    Do you know anything about Beijing or China?

    Thoughtfully,
    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I found some facts about Malaysia. One of them is that Malaysia's population is 30,000,000. Another fact is the money in Malaysia is called ringgit, and the life expectancy for the males are 72 years and the life expectancy for the females are 77 years.

    I wonder what the life expectation is in America?

    Sincerely,
    Parsa

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I was fascinated to learn that Mongolia has 3,000,000 citizens living there.

    The money they use in Mongolia is called Tugrik.

    The lowest elevation in Mongolia is Hoh Nurr. It's 1,700 feet above sea level!

    A famous place in Mongolia is Khongor Sand Lake.

    Would you ever want to go to Mongolia, Asia?
    Do you know any other facts about Mongolia?

    Sincerely,
    Abbey

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I found two facts about Cambodia on World Book Kids. They speak French and English. I found interesting cities. Two of them are Chhamar and Bokor.
    I wonder if my grandma went to these two cities?

    Sincerely,
    Sean

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I found some facts about Israel:

    I was not surprised that Israel was found in 1948, and now a home for Jews all over the world.

    Some amazing places to visit at your trip are, holy Beer Sheva, The salty Dead Sea, The historic Hazor Acre, Masada, Megido, The hot Neger desert, Via Dolorsa in the capital, Jeruseluem.

    Dose anyone have more facts about Israel?

    Sincerely,
    Mallory

    ReplyDelete
  22. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Japan is an amazing country. The square area is approximately 146 thousand square miles.

    The United States has a president, yet Japan has an emperor. The Capital of Japan is Tokyo.

    The highest elevation is Mt. Fuji. Their main language is Japanese.

    Sincerely,
    Katelyn

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    My country in Asia is Tibet. Did you know that it is often called Roof of the World? I am going to find out why.

    Also, men and women wear long robes with long sleeves and a high collar. Lhasa is Tibet's capital. Tibet's population is around 3,002,200.

    I would like to know what people eat in Tibet?

    Your student,
    Grace

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Taiwan's armed forces are two hundred and ninety thousand. Japan's armed forces are two hundred thirty thousand three hundred. One of Taiwan's famous places is Taipei 101. It is a skyscraper.

    From,
    Ryan and Kiernan

    ReplyDelete
  25. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I am surprised that Indonesia has 17,500 islands. The population is 250 million people. North America has 600 million people so North America has 350 million more people. Indonesia is an archipelago.

    Do you know anybody from Indonesia?

    Warmly,
    Savannah

    ReplyDelete
  26. Peter Jr and Peter SrJanuary 27, 2013 at 6:54 PM

    Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    My dad and I compared the countries of Cambodia & Laos. They both have hot climates with long rainy seasons. Cambodia's rainy season runs from May through November, and the rainy season in Laos stretches from November until March. Although they both have their own official language, English & French are spoken in both countries. We thought it was interesting that men & women both live longer in Laos.

    Have you ever been to either of these countries in Asia?

    I can't wait for that giant map to arrive at school!

    Sincerely,

    Peter Jr & Peter Sr

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dear Mrs Yollis,

    I read your post on plagiarizing, and I thought it was great! I'm so excited about the giant map of Asia! I'm guessing your the one who got it like last year. I'm excited because Asia is my home continent. Now I will be able to visit it without getting airsick!:-)

    Are any of your students from Asia?
    Are any from Korea?

    Sincerely,
    Former student, Acacia

    ReplyDelete
  28. Mrs.Yollis and class,
    Our teacher taught us about plagerism by hanging up artwork in the hallway and switching the names, to show us how bad it feels when someone else takes credit for your work.
    Andreia from www.learningin21.edublogs.org

    ReplyDelete

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