Putting written information in your own words What is Paraphrasing? Putting written information in your own words

Paraphrasing Why is it important? 1. Keeps you from plagiarizing. 2. Effective way to take notes. 3. Helps you understand the information better.

4 Steps Underline the words that must be kept. Find the words that would completely change the meaning if you changed them. Circle the words that could be replaced with synonyms. Use a thesaurus to help find synonyms for these words. Rearrange the order of the words in the sentence. If the sentence is long, consider making 2 new sentences. Check the paraphrased sentence for meaning. Make sure the new sentence makes sense.

Original Text Even when the weather is snowy and cold, songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active and can be seen at birdfeeders. Here is a sentence we are going to work with to learn the steps to paraphrasing. (Read)

Comparison Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when the weather is snowy and cold, songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active and can be seen at birdfeeders. Song birds like chickadees and cardinals are active even in winter weather. They can be viewed at birdfeeders.

How are the two similar? Which words were kept the same? Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when the weather is snowy and cold, songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active and can be seen at birdfeeders. Songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active even in winter weather. They can be viewed at birdfeeders.

How are the two different How are the two different? We use different words to express the same ideas. Say the same thing in a slightly different way. Words replaced with synonyms. Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when the weather is snowy and cold, songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active and can be seen at birdfeeders. Song birds like chickadees and cardinals are active even in winter weather. They can be viewed at birdfeeders.

Comparison – What parts are rearranged? Original Text 1 Paraphrased Text Even when the weather is snowy and cold, songbirds like chickadees and cardinals are active and can be seen at birdfeeders. Song birds like chickadees and cardinals are active even in winter weather. They can be viewed at birdfeeders.

What do you think? Accurate? Why or why not? Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when winter weather is cold, rhododendron leaves stay green. Rhododendron leaves stay green because of the cold.

What do you think? Accurate? Why or why not? Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when winter weather is cold, rhododendron leaves stay green. Leaves stay green in the winter.

What do you think? Accurate? Why or why not? Original Text Paraphrased Text Even when winter weather is cold, rhododendron leaves stay green. Rhododendron leaves are still green in chilly weather.

A strategy for paraphrasing One way to paraphrase is to visualize (imagine a picture in your head) what the sentence is saying, and then create a new sentence to describe your mental image.

What do we do to paraphrase? Keep the main words (underline) – words that cannot be changed. 2. Use synonyms (circle) – replace words that could be changed. Rearrange the sentence ( ) – change the order. Check both sentences - make sure that they mean the same. Also: New version does not need to be shorter. Can make 2 sentences if the original is long enough.