Okay. I’ll admit it. I abhor the nit-picky rules about citing sources and making a works-cited page. The rules are tedious. They’re boring. And they’re nerve wracking.
So, if it is hard for adults (which I like to think I am), what must our children and teens think of it? After all, writing a report is hard enough without all the “extra” stuff about citing sources.
On top of that, the rules change! About a year after The Power in Your Hands was published, with its lessons on citing sources and documenting a report, the Modern Language Association changed their rules.
What is a student to do?
New, practical tutorials
To give you the latest rules for citing sources, I’ve created a new tutorial to replace those lessons in chapter 13 of The Power in Your Hands, “The Position Paper and Documentation.” You can download it here. >>
Are you using Jump In for your middle schoolers? We learned our lesson and didn’t even try to include that material in the second edition of the textbook. Instead, I wrote a digital tutorial, with links to it in the textbook. The free tutorial on citing sources for Jump In is on this page. >>
Even if you are not using Jump In or The Power in Your Hands, your students can use these FREE digital tutorials to learn how to cite sources and create a works-cited page for their reports.
Controversial
I’m going to say something here that some people might disagree with, but here goes. If this is your students’ first time writing a report, skip the citations and the works-cited page.
It is too hard to learn how to do the research and all the organization of taking notes on top of actually writing the report. Young, struggling writers need to focus on the research and actual writing without all the citations.
Then the next time they write a report, add in the citations and the works-cited page. Your student has had practice in writing a report and is ready to add in a new skill. One skill at a time will lead to success.
Yours for more vibrant writing and literature,
Copyright © 2020 by Sharon Watson
