Have you ever heard the saying that there is my truth, your truth, and somewhere in the middle, the real truth? Pinpointing the truth is the reason why I always find myself wanting to ask people to prove what they say. Let’s acknowledge this truth. We frequently don’t know if we can believe what we read. We always must question if we are reading, watching, or listening to a credible source.

Our students need to learn how to be their own fact-checkers and reject fake news. (Lesley Farmer wrote an informative post about it.) Being fact-checkers will enable our students to make informed decisions; whether these decisions relate to health issues, politics, or everyday consumer decisions. One way to help our students to be fact-checkers is to teach and require them to cite their sources. Perhaps they would be less inclined to accept incorrect information if they did.

There is no doubt that teaching students to cite information, regardless of their ages, can be difficult. Sometimes convincing adults to cite sources can be challenging. By the time students reach college, citing sources is a critical skill to practice. It can mean the difference between passing and failing a course.

Do we want our students to get “culture shock” when they start college? I want to argue that students need to start citing their sources in elementary school so that the skill becomes second nature. There is too much misinformation floating around today. Misinformation fuels misconceptions and hate.

Here are a few resources to help students learn how to cite sources properly. You can decide if the resource fits the skill level of your students. However, please, don’t assume that elementary students are not ready to cite sources. The skill is more important than ever. Students need to be mindful of where they are getting their information and how to support the statements that they make.

Use these resources to help you teach your students. Check these websites before using them to determine if they fit with your school policies. Some of them have ads.

Games

• The Citation Game: http://www.citationgame.org/
• University of Washington Citation Game: http://depts.washington.edu/trio/quest/citation/apa_mla_citation_game/index.htm

Tutorials

• APA Style Tutorial: https://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial
• MLA tutorial: https://library.hunter.cuny.edu/tutorials/mla/mla_tutorial.html
• NoodleTools Show Me Information Literacy Modules: https://www.noodletools.com/showme/
• The Cite Is Right: https://youtu.be/pSQH9OTOLBs?list=UUEPF4jwGCrE7bsTtxewuNOw

Citation Generators

• BibMe: http://www.bibme.org/#
• Cite4Me: https://cite4me.org/bibliography/
• Cite This for Me: http://www.citethisforme.com/us/citation-generator
• Citefast: https://www.citefast.com/?s=APA
• CloudCite: https://cloudcite.net/
• EasyBib: http://www.easybib.com/style
• Citation Machine: http://www.citationmachine.net/
• Noodle Tools: https://www.noodletools.com/free/

Author: Daniella Smith

Daniella Smith, PhD. is a former school and public librarian. She is currently the Hazel Harvey Peace Professor in Children’s Library Services at the University of North Texas.

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Categories: Blog Topics, Professional Development, Student Engagement/ Teaching Models

Tags: citations, citing sources, credible sources, Fake news, school libraries