PYP Research: Note Taking & Paraphrasing

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is when you put something into your own words. It shows that you understand a topic really well.

Why do we paraphrase?

We paraphrase to show that we understand a topic really well, and it is a way of being academically honest. If we use another person's exact words and we don't put them in quotation marks then we are plagiarizing. 

To be successful at paraphrasing: 

1. Read the information/text carefully to make sure that you really understand it.

2. Next, close the book (or taco your computer) and try to write a couple of sentences that explain the big idea.

3.Then, go back to the original text and check your sentences against the original. Do they say the same thing but in a different way?

Tips 

• Don't try to paraphrase more than a paragraph at a time
• Reword - Using a thesaurus can help you replace vocabulary with synonyms. Remember, you can't do this with names, places or dates
• Imagine you had to explain the text to someone younger than yourself. What would you say?
• Recheck to make sure that your ideas match those of the original author
• Don't forget that you still need to cite your source