Integrating Sources

Teachers of writing know that source integration is a weakness for most of our students. Young writers misrepresent what authors say, incorrectly interpret data, leave out citation information, inaccurately assign credit, and move away from a source without offering commentary.

Not only do students need to learn how to successfully integrate sources into the flow of ideas, they must also learn how to use sources responsibly and effectively. The sources they choose must be appropriate, relevant, and acceptable to the academic community for which they are writing.

Take a few minutes to explore the different teaching and learning tools on this page. The "Literacy TA Process" and "School-wide" sections provide important details about how to teach the strategy. And the "Strategy Slides" can be used to learn more about "Integrating Sources" and/or to teach students about the strategy. Once you are familiar with the content, think about how you might use the different elements provided on this page to enhance literacy instruction.

Assessing the Skill

When assessing students' ability to integrate sources, teachers could...

• ask students to complete the "Integrating Sources Templates" located under the Handout Bar. 
• evaluate how students are introducing and talking about sources.
• assign a formal paper where students are required to incorporate a number of sources into the flow of ideas. 
• use the assessment tool below to monitor and evaluate students' knowledge of "Integrating Sources."
• ask students to reflect on what they know about "Integrating Sources." Then, allow students to share their ideas with the whole class.

Assessing Content Knowledge

Once we have taught students how to use source material accurately and responsibly, we should evaluate how this skill improves their understanding of critical course concepts. When assessing students' knowledge of the content, teachers could...

• craft short answer prompts that ask students to articulate--in writing--the main ideas in a text.
• assign take-home or in-class writing tasks that require students to integrate source material into their papers.  
• ask students to use source material to summarize, argue, or challenge an idea central to the course objectives. 

Developing a Writing Purpose

When explicitly teaching students how to integrate sources, we want to have a purpose in mind. The first question teachers should ask is: "What do my students already know about this skill and what do they still need to learn?" The answer to this question will help direct our instructional decisions.

We also want to identify the types of sources used in our content areas and teach students how to integrate those sources that are accepted and valued by the discipline. The table below highlights some of the most common sources used in four core areas.

We should plan to teach how to integrate and write about the sources commonly used in our disciplines in order to better prepare our students for college and their careers.

Pacing and Supporting the Lesson

For most of our students, integrating sources is a challenge. They don't know how to accurately and responsibly incorporate sources into the flow of ideas.

Pick a place to start. We recommend explicitly teaching students how to introduce various types of sources. Once students develop some proficiency with introducing sources, we can teach them the difference between directly quoting a source and paraphrasing ideas in a text. After a month or so of practice, students will be able to introduce sources and directly quote or paraphrase source material.

Now they are ready for a new skill: writing about the sources they use. This will be the most challenging phase for our students. They will need us to model how writers use and talk about sources.  During this phase, we should also teach students how to represent information visually (using graphs and charts), and teach them how to interpret and explain information that has been presented visually.

Teaching students how to integrate sources takes time; there are a number of skills that must be learned in order to integrate sources efffectively. Students will learn this skill if they are given multiple opportunities each week to intergrate sources into the flow of ideas.

Learning the Skill

When teaching students how to integrate sources we should...

• define "source material" so that they understand how to identify in a text and how to use it in their own writing.
• explain how and why writers use sources. There is a list of reasons why writers use source material on the fourth Strategy Slide.
• talk about how sources are used across content areas. There is a list of sources available under "Developing a Writing Purpose."
• begin with introducing sources. Teach students how to accurately quote and cite source material.
• Provide sentence starters so that students have some language they can use to effectively introduce sources. Sentence templates are available under the Handout Bar.
• Coach students along the way, giving them feedback and suggestions.

Developing the Skill

As students develop their ability to work with sources, consider using the following strategies.

• Increase the amount of time students spend working with sources.
• Have students directly quote and paraphrase what sources say.
• Ask students to work together to identify the various types of sources used in the texts they read.
• Use the "Integrating Sources" handout to help students learn how to effectively integrate sources.
• Have students memorize the four steps to integrating a source.

Mastering the Skill

Mastery of any skill takes time, lots of practice, and a solid understanding of the strategy. Consider applying some of the following approaches when developing students' mastery of "Integrating Sources."

• Students should be able to write about sources without templates or sentence starters.
• Expect your students writing to be more critical and analytical.
• Have students evaluate the credibility of source material.
• Have students work in groups as they select source material appropriate for a specific writing task.
• Students should effectively incorporate a number of sources as part of a single writing task. 
• Ask students to explore ways sources are used in writing across the content areas.
• Have students reflect on their learning process and share their processes with the class.

School Wide

In order to make a strategy transferable through a department and across a school, the name of the strategy must stay the same and it must be implemented and talked about in the same way. Although reading purposes may change from class to class, unit to unit, the work behind a strategy must be predictable and consistent for our students. When a set of effective literacy strategies are implemented throughout the school day, students gain a deep knowledge of how to use the strategy, when to use it, and most importantly, why to use it. The goal for school-wide literacy, therefore, is to develop students' mastery of a select set of strategies so that they can independently and strategically employ them in rigorous academic and professional environments.

English Description

Integrating source material into original papers is a requirement in the English class. Whether students are analyzing literature, summarizing an author's argument, or writing a research paper, they will be expected to incorporate sources into the flow of ideas. Although the types of sources used in the English class will vary greatly, the most common sources found in English papers include:

• lines of fiction.
• lines of poetry.
• direct quotations from expository texts.
• summarized and paraphrased information from fiction and non-fiction texts.
• data from primary and secondary research.

Students must learn how to incorporate these types of sources into papers as well as other visual sources like graphs and charts in order to write proficiently in the English class. Student writers must learn how to effectively introduce a source, directly quote or paraphrase source information, accurately cite the source using MLA guidelines, and logically show how the source relates to the ideas in the paper.  

Math Description

In middle and high school math classes, students aren't expected to write compositions of any type. Here, arithmetic is the focus. However, as students move on to college, they will be expected to write about and visually represent the math they learned in school. Students who are interested in the sciences (like engineering, mathematics, life science, or physical science) will be expected to integrate all sorts of numbers, graphs, and charts into the papers they write. Students should learn how to insert graphs and diagrams into a chunk of text and refer to the visual without interrupting the flow of ideas.

Students should also learn how to create a variety of visuals using programs like Microsoft Office Excel, Google Presentation, iWork Numbers, and online tools like Create a Graph. It is important to note that students shouldn't be required to write full-length papers in the math class, but we should teach students how to write about and visually represent what the numbers mean. Students will need to learn how to create and write about the following sources.

• graphs
• diagrams
• charts

Science Description

In the science classroom, students typically write lab reports, science articles, and case studies. In all three of these writing types, students are expected to incorporte sources into the flow of ideas. The most common sources found in science writing include:

• observations during an experiment.
• descriptions.
• data (usually in the form or charts and graphs).
• diagrams.
• expert research.
• summary of various theories, hypotheses, and known experiemnts.

Students should learn how to create a variety of visuals using programs like Microsoft Office Excel, Google Presentation, iWork Numbers, and online tools like Create a Graph. Student writers must learn how to effectively introduce a source, directly quote or paraphrase source information, correctly insert and reference a visual in their texts, accurately cite sources using APA guidelines, and logically show how the source relates to the ideas in the paper. 

Social Science Description

In social science, students commonly write argument analysis papers, book reviews, and research papers. In all three of these writing types, students are expected to incorporte sources into the flow of ideas. The most common sources found in social science papers include:

• directly quoted or paraphrased material from primary and secondary texts.
• interviews and testimonies.
• data (usually in the form or charts and graphs).
• maps.
• photographs.

Students should learn how to create a variety of visuals using programs like Microsoft Office Excel, Google Presentation, iWork Numbers, and online tools like Create a Graph. Student writers must learn how to effectively introduce a source, directly quote or paraphrase source information, correctly insert and reference a visual in their texts, accurately cite sources using APA guidelines, and logically show how the source relates to the ideas in the paper. 

Standardized Exams Description

Integrating source material into original papers is a requirement of most essay questions on standardized exams. Whether students are analyzing literature, summarizing an author's argument, or writing an original argument, they will be expected to incorporate sources into the flow of ideas. Although the types of sources will vary from question to question, the most common sources students use in timed writing essays include:

• details from a historical event.
• lines of fiction (if available).
• lines of poetry (if available).
• direct quotations from expository texts (if available).
• summary from fiction and non-fiction texts.
• personal observations.

Students must learn how to incorporate these types of sources into papers in order to produce clear, well-sopported writing. Student writers must learn how to effectively introduce a source, directly quote or paraphrase source information, accurately cite the source using MLA guidelines, and logically show how the source relates to the ideas in the paper.