Time Estimate

40 minutes

Objective

To give students experience quoting others in context.

Materials

“Quoting Others” handout

Computer Lab Option Materials

Word processing software

Procedure

1. Students will be given a short lesson in quoting others. Please see the Quoting Others handout for more information and feel free to elaborate on why the practice is both useful and necessary. If possible, stress that explaining a quotation is useful and frequently expected. (10 minutes)

2. Using one of the prompts on the handout, have students interview each other on a specific topic. Make sure to advise students to take notes on their interview. (5-10 minutes)

3. Then have students compose a short write-up of their interviews, taking care to include at least three quotations from their interview partner. Include a word limit (e.g., 200 words) on this activity so students do not feel compelled to write too much. (10 minutes)

4. Ask students to share their interviews by reading the interview that is about them, listening for accurate quotations and “acceptable” introductions. (10 minutes)

Computer Lab Option

Instead of writing the interview by hand, students can use a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. When students read their own interviews, they can include comments on the documents if the quotation was accurate and if they were accurately represented and explained.