Handouts developed for Strategies

1. APA Citation Workshop – O – Rama: This is a fun exercise to get students to start
thinking about brainstorming and about how to use outside sources in their papers.
2. Shark VS. Bear: This is another activity; it works well following Workshop – O – Rama.
It is designed to help students think about what types of questions to ask themselves as
they prepare to write a paper. It also addresses organization.
3. A Quick Reference Guide to Citing the Most Common Types of Sources: I give this
handout with every workshop I do in Strategies classes. It is simply a how-to guide for
APA formatting.
4. How to Avoid Plagiarism: I usually include this with the Quick Reference Guide. Here,
I lay out what exactly plagiarism is and what students must do to give credit to their
sources when they write.
5. Plagiarism activity: This activity is simply meant to give students a chance to practice
the skills they learned in the Plagiarism workshop
6. Conquering a Confusing Assignment: This is a very short handout with a few tips about
how to read an assignment in order to figure out what exactly an instructor wants the
student to accomplish.
7. Proofreading 101: This handout gives students some easy steps they can take in order to
catch the most common mistakes when proofreading their papers.

These handouts are developed in such a way that I can combine them in order to create a
workshop that meets the specific needs of your students. I am also very willing to modify
any of these handouts or create new handouts if you have specific composition concerns you
would like me to address with your students.

*Note: The formatting of each of these handouts has been changed for presentation
purposes. Handouts that I use in workshops usually have graphics and more spacing. I
have condensed the material here.
 APA Citation Workshop – O – Rama

1. How to survive an alien invasion

2. How to dance and still look cool
3. How to start (and win) a food fight

Our Mission: as a class, we are going to brainstorm about topic number _____. We are also
going to incorporate two outside sources and cite them using APA style formatting. Sources are
listed on the back of this paper.

Your Mission: as a group, brainstorm some answers to the following questions.

What resources (tools, materials, contacts, plans, etc.) would you need?

What steps (in order) would you need to take to put this plan into action?

What would be the benefit of learning this skill?

What precautions would you suggest to limit the risks of this plan?

Outside Sources:
1. How to survive an alien invasion
• Bill Pullman, Blasted on the 4th of July: My encounter with Aliens copyright
1997, published in New York by Classified Books Inc.
“If you plan to infect their defense shields with a virus, make sure to practice your
maneuvers and flight plan in advance with a handy dandy crop-dusting plane.” From
page 67 of book
• Area51.gov website, webpage “How to get out alive” written by American
Survivors of Alien Visitations, last updated on 12/15/2003; information retrieved
on 1/10/2009, web address www.area51.gov/getoutalive
“Aliens are actually very kind and sensible individuals, except for the fact that they want
to take over the world, suck the brains out of humans, and decimate the ecosystem.”

2. How to dance and still look cool

• Kevin Federline, PoPo Wow!: Dancin’ with K-Fed copyright 2004, published
in Atlanta by Spears Publishing
“Nothing adds to your image as a dancer better than the undershirt you wore
yesterday.” From page 10 of book
• Travolta.com website, webpage “What every dancer should know” written
by John Travolta, last updated on 02/13/1997; information retrieved on
1/10/2009, web address www.travolta.com/whattoknow
“Although there are many ways to improve your dancer image, the real foundation of
any good dancer is a good polyester suit.”
 3. How to start (and win) a food fight
• Jenny Craig, The People’s Cheesecake: baked goods as weapons copyright
2001, published in Denver by Krusty Publishing Inc.
“You gotta consider the velocity of your cheesecake when launching it into the air.
Toppings like cherries or chocolate may be attractive, but can cause wind resistance.”
From page 110 of book
• Milkmoneybully.com, webpage “Making the most of a food fight” written by
Food Fighters Anonymous, updated on 1/4/2008; information retrieved on
1/10/2009, web address www.milkmoneybully.com/foodfight101
“Studies have shown that dumping an entire lunch tray is 15% more effective than
throwing any single item from said tray.”

Activity: Using the sources for topic number _____, choose where each source would best fit
into your paper. Why is this the best place for the source? Which examples from the “Quick
Reference Guide” handout would you use to figure out how to do an in-text and a reference list
citation for each of these sources?

After we have looked at the “Quick Reference Guide” handout, attempt to create an in-text and
a reference list citation for each of these sources. You can use the space on the back of the
“What should I write about” handout to do this.

APA style citations for the sources used in the APA workshop

1. How to survive an alien invasion:

Pullman, B. (1997). Blasted on the 4th of July: My encounter with Aliens. New York:
Classified Books Inc.
In-text: (Pullman, 1997, p.67).

American Survivors of Alien Visitations. (2003). Area51.gov. How to get out alive.
Retrieved January 10, 2009 from www.area51.gov/getoutalive.
In-text: (www.area51.gov/getoutalive).

**Notice that when you have an organization taking credit for a website, they are listed first in
the citation. If an individual was named as author, they would be listed first. If no one takes
credit, list the name of the website first.

2. How to dance and still look cool:

Federline, K. (2004). PoPo Wow!: Dancin’ with K-Fed. Atlanta: Spears Publishing.
In-text: (Fererline, 2004, p. 10).

Travolta, J. (1997). Travolta.com. What every dancer should know. Retrieved January
10, 2009 from www.travolta.com/whattoknow.
In-text: (www.travolta.com/whattoknow).

3. How to start (and win) a food fight

 Craig, J. (2001). The People’s Cheesecake: baked goods as weapons. Denver: Krusty
Publishing Inc.
In-text: (Craig, 2001, p. 110).

Food Fighters Anonymous. (2008). Milkmoneybully.com. Making the most of a food

fight. Retrieved January 10, 2009 from www.milkmoneybully.com/foodfight101.
In-text: (www.milkmoneybully.com).

Entries should be in alphabetical order. Examples are not in alphabetical order.

In-text citations should not be italicized; they are here simply to make them easily
distinguishable from reference list citations.

Some APA style guides tell you to use author in in-text citation for a website, this is not
wrong – either is acceptable.
 Shark vs. Bear

Who would win in a fight between a shark and a bear?

Your Mission: In a group of four or five, list four questions (in order) that you would need
to answer in order to figure out which animal would win the fight.

(*Hint: Look at the previous activity to get an idea of what types of questions to ask. You
want to ask questions that will take you a couple of sentences to answer – NO YES/NO
QUESTOINS.)

1.
2.
3.
4.
 A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO CITATIONS FOR SOME OF THE MOST
COMMON TYPES OF SOURCES

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: unless otherwise noted, these come at the end of the sentence or section
where you include a quote, summary, or paraphrase.

1. Direct quote: “direct quotes need quotation marks around them” (author’s last name,
year of publication, page #). Example: (Smith, 2001, p. 35).
2. Paraphrase or summary where author’s name is not given in the sentence: this
citation will look very similar to the citation for a direct quote (author’s last name, year of
publication, page #). Example: (Smith, 2001, p.35).
3. Paraphrase or summary where author’s name is given in the sentence: If you give
the author’s name in the sentence, you do not need to include it again in your in-text
citation. (year of publication, page #). Example: (2001, p. 35). Some instructors may
ask you to include this information directly after you mention the author’s name. If this
is the case, the formatting is exactly the same, you just put the citation within the
sentence instead of at the end of the sentence. Example: According to Smith (2001, p.
35) some people are wary of the Twinkie because of its unbelievably long shelf life.
4. Group as author: If an entire group is recognized as the author of a particular source,
use the group name just as you would use an individual’s name. (group name, year of
publication, page #). (Americans for the Appreciation of Snack-foods, 1999, p.56)
5. Unknown or unidentified author: If you can’t find an author or a group listed for a
source, you will use the title of the source instead of a person’s or a group’s name.
(“When Twinkies Go Bad,” 1999).
6. Article from an Online journal or database: treat this just like you would a printed
source. Your in-text citation should include the last name of the author, the year of
publication, and a page number. Some articles will not have page numbers. If you can’t
find a page number, include ¶ followed by a paragraph number. (Johnson, 2003, ¶ 13).
7. Website: When you make an in-text citation for a website, use the last name of the
author. If you cannot locate an author, you want to give the basic address for the website
in parentheses. For example, if your website address is
www.twinkiesaresupernatural.com/09809809345, you do not need to include the /098…
Instead, your in-text citation will look like this (www.twinkiesaresupernatural.com).

REFERENCE LIST CITATIONS: your reference list citations should be in alphabetical order.
You need to include a reference list citation for every source you use.

1. Book by one author: When you cite a book by one author, you need to include the
author’s last name, followed by his/her first initial and a period. Second, you need the
year of publication in parentheses. Next, include the name of the book, followed by a
period. Finally, write out the city or state where the book was released, colon, and the
name of the publishing company. Example: Johnson, S. (2004). Why Can’t
Kangaroos Compete in the Olympics and Other Questions You
Will Probably Never Ask. Los Angeles: Odd Ideas Publishing Company.
2. Book by two or more authors: When you cite a book by two or more authors, you will
follow the citation format above with one small difference. List each author’s last name,
comma, first initial. Include an & in front of the last author you list. Example:
Johnson, S.,
Kirk, D., & Allen, A. (2005). If Penguins Could Fly, They Would.
Los Angeles: Odd Ideas Publishing Company.
3. Book by a Group or Corporation: When citing a publication by a group, use the
group’s name instead of an individual’s name. Everything else stays the same. Example:

Americans Dedicated to Twinkie Preservation. (2000). Things You

Should Know About Twinkies. New York: How The Cookie
Crumbles Press.
4. Edited Volume: If you are working with a book that has an editor instead of an author,
list the editor as you would an author and then include (Ed.) after the editor’s name.
Example: Smart,
S. (Ed.). (1980). Essays about Penguins. New York: Odd Ideas
Publishing Company.
5. Article or chapter in an edited book: If you want to cite just one article or chapter in a
book that is a collection of writings from many different authors, you want to use the last
name, first initial of the author of the chapter or article you are citing. Include the
publication date next, just like you would in any citation. Follow this with the title of the
article or chapter you are using. Next, write the word “In” and then include the first
initial and last name of the editor of the edition and Ed. in parentheses. Follow this
information with the name of the book, then the page numbers for the chapter in
parentheses. Finally, include the place of publication, colon, and the name of the
publication company. Example: Flight, J. (1980). What I thought about when I
thought about Penguins. In S. Smart (Ed.), Essays about Penguins.
(pp. 45-76). New York: Odd Ideas Publishing Company
6. Online Article from a Database: When you find a source on a database, like ProQuest
or EbscoHost, you are using an online article from a database. To cite this, you use the
last name, comma, the first initial of the author. (year). Next comes the title of the
article. After the title of the article comes the title of the publication where the article
initially appeared, followed by a comma and then the volume number and, in parentheses
after this, the issue number. After this, you include another comma and the page number.
Next, write the word “Retrieved” and the date, year when you FOUND the source.
Finally, write the word “from” and the name of the database. It is important to note that
in this citation you actually include information about when the article was published
AND when you found the article. This is because online sources often change so it
matters when you found the information. Example:
Smith, J. (2004). Why Choose Wheat Thins. Snack Foods
Quarterly, 102(3), pp. 34-54. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from
ProQuest database.

7. Website: If your website has an individual or an organization identified as its author, start
your citation with this information. If not, start your citation with the title of the website.
In parentheses, indicate the year the website was last updated. If you are using
information from a homepage (the main page of the site) write the word “Homepage”
followed by a period. If you are using a page other than the homepage, try to identify a
title for the page and use this instead. Next, write the word “Retrieved” and the month,
 day, and year you FOUND the webpage, followed by a comma and the word “from” and,
finally, the entire web address. Example:
Smith, J. (2007). Ode to the Indestructible Twinkie. Website for the
American Snacker. Retrieved June 18, 2008, from
https://americansnacker.com

If the webpage you are citing is untitled and no author is identified, the
citation should look like this:
American Snackers Unite. (2007). Homepage. Retrieved June 18, 2008,
from http://americansnackersunite.com/0909349809820985

8. Interview: If you include information from an interview you conducted, you do not need
to include it in the Reference List, but you do need to identify your interviewee in your
paper. If, however, you use information from a published interview, you do need to
include it in your Reference List. List the last name, comma first initial of the
interviewer. (year, date of publication). In brackets, write the title of the interview or, if
there is none “interview with” and the name of the interviewee. List the title of the
source where you found the interview and the page numbers. Example: Mouse,
M. (2004). [Interview with Daffy Duck]. Disney Speak. pp. 34-36.

How to avoid PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism happens whenever a writer uses thoughts or words that are not his/her own and then
fails to give credit to the originator of the thought or words. In effect, plagiarism is stealing
because you are taking someone else’s work and not giving them any credit for it. It is very
important that you understand that almost all colleges and universities have severe punishments
in place for students who are caught plagiarizing. Ask your instructor about his/her plagiarism
policy.

Plagiarism can be very serious but luckily it is easy to avoid. GIVE CREDIT TO YOUR
SOURCE WHENEVER YOU USE SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEAS OR WORDS. You will use
citations in order to do this. At ITT, most instructors require their students to use APA (or
American Psychological Association) formatting for citations.

The first step to avoiding plagiarism is identifying when you need to cite a source. Remember
that EVERY TIME you use information that you had to get from someone or somewhere else,
you need to cite that person or source. There are two main ways to include information from a
source, and you need to cite whenever you use any of these two ways.
DIRECT QUOTE: A direct quote is when you use someone else’s exact words. Direct quotes
should be contained within quotation marks. Quotation marks are signals to your reader that what
you are saying came from somewhere else. You always need to cite when you include a direct
quote in your paper.

SUMMARY: A summary is a shortened account of information you found in a source. It is

someone else’s ideas recounted in your own words. You do not need quotation marks for a
summary. It is important that if you summarize a source, you use your own words in the
summary. If you use exact phrases or sentences from the source, you are using a direct quote.
You always need to cite when you include a summary in your paper. Your citation should come
at the end of your summary.

Now that you know when you need to give credit to a source, it’s time to look at how to give
credit to a source. Writers use citations in order to let readers know where they found information
they are including in a paper. Most likely, you will use APA style citations while at ITT.

There are two types of citations and you will need to use both of them each time you include
information from a source in your paper.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS: These citations come right after your direct quote, summary, or
paraphrase. You will include the last name of your source’s author, the date that your source was
published, and the page number(s) where you found the information you are including. Below is
an example of a direct quote followed by an in- text citation:

“Lollipop connoisseurs seem to prefer cherry flavored Dum-Dums instead of their root beer
flavored counterparts” (Smith, 2001, p. 35).

You need to include an in-text citation every time you include a direct quote, a summary, or a
paraphrase.

REFERENCE LIST CITATIONS: These citations come at the end of your paper. You will list
each reference list citation in alphabetical order on your reference list page. You will include
the last name of your source’s author, followed by a comma, their first initial, and then a period.
Next, you’ll include the year of publication in parentheses, followed by another period. Finally,
you will list the title of the source, a period, the state or city of publication, colon, and the name
of the publishing house. Below is an example of a reference list citation for the source we used
above:

Smith, J. (2001). America’s Love Affair with Sugar: an in-depth look at why we crave
candy. Los Angeles: I Love Candy Inc.

Here are some things to keep in mind when you create a reference list:

1. All of the sources you use need to be included on the list.

2. Your sources need to be in alphabetical order. Don’t worry about
grouping sources by type (magazine article, website, book) only worry
about putting them in alphabetical order according to the author’s last
name.
3. You only need to list each source once. Even if you quote a source ten
times in your paper, it should only appear once on your reference list.
 4. Notice that the second line of the above citation is indented. This is
called a hanging indent. Each line after the first in every reference list
citation should be indented. To do this, type out your citation and then
place your cursor at the beginning of your second line. Hit enter and
then hit tab. Do this for each line after your first.

Can you find the plagiarized information in this paper about plagiarism???

My teacher told our class to research the term plagiarism and see what we can learn about
it. I looked at a couple of different websites and finally found one that looked like it could be
helpful to me. On the website that I decided to use, it says that There are some actions that can
almost unquestionably be labeled plagiarism. Some of these include buying, stealing, or
borrowing a paper… The website goes on to mention several types of sources that must always be
cited when used in a paper. You have to cite things like words taken directly from sources like
magazines and books. You also have to cite diagrams, charts, and images when you copy them
from another source.
After researching plagiarism, I feel much better about what I need to do in order to give
credit to authors when I use their ideas in my own papers. I can see why it is important to let my
reader know where I get my information. After all, if I don’t cite my sources, how will my reader
know that I actually did the research and know what I’m talking about?

1. What information should this writer have included in order to avoid plagiarizing?

2. Find the direct quote and add quotation marks.

3. Find the summary and circle it.

4. Where do you think this writer should have included in-text citations? Mark these places
in the text.

5. Using your quick reference guide to citations, what do you think an in-text citation for
this website should look like?

6. Using your reference guide again, what do you think a reference list citation for this
website should look like?

7. Write out any questions you have about plagiarism or citing your sources.
Practice with transitions

When you use outside sources in your writing, it is important that you transition in and out of the
source you use. Phrases like “according to,” “_______ says,” or “In the article entitled _____, the
author _____ notes that,” are all good ways to transition into a quote or summary. It is a good
idea to follow quotes and summaries with your own words about the idea you just included. Try
restating a quote or including your own reaction to a summary.

Working with your group, write out a paragraph that uses either a direct quote or a summary from
the OWL website. As you do this, pay close attention to how you transition in and out of your
quote or your summary. Make sure you cite your source.

Want to know how to conquer a confusing assignment?

• Circle all requirements: length, number of outside sources, typed or hand written, font,
spacing, due date
• Make a list of the tools you need: articles, class notes, text books, Virtual Library
• Figure out the purpose: What does your instructor want you to learn from this
assignment? What skill are you practicing? If you understand the goal, it’s much easier
to understand the assignment.
• Rewrite the assignment using your own words: This helps you think through the
assignment and identify any questions you may have about what you are expected to do.
• Ask your instructor for clarification: If you are confused about something, others
probably are too.
Go ahead and ask.
 Proofreading 101

Here are some simple things you can do to make your paper the best in class!

Catching common problems:

1. Double check Microsoft Word’s corrections.
• Read your paper out loud to yourself to catch typos.
2. Check for verb tense agreement.
• past tense (Yesterday I went to the grocery store; Susan came with me.)

• present tense (I am sitting in class and taking notes.)

• future tense (Tomorrow I will go hiking and I will bring my dog with me.)

3. Look up words when you are not sure if you are using them correctly.
• Watch out for homonyms - words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Cents and sense are homonyms, so are accept and except.
4. Look for sentence fragments and run -on sentences.
• A fragment is an incomplete thought. (I can’t go with you because.)

• A run-on is two or more complete thoughts put together with no connector

words. (I really like daisies I also like lilies.)
5. Look for places where you can better explain your ideas.
• What types of questions might your reader ask? Think who, what, when, where,
why, and how.