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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 11 of 20

Research Skills

Primary sources, credibility and citations

What your child practices

Children practice primary and secondary sources, conflicts of interest, focused searches, checking AI answers and online images, quoting, paraphrasing and citing.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7W6; 7W7 · primary and secondary sources, focused searches, quoting and citing

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Check credibility: what are the author’s qualifications? Is there a conflict of interest?
  2. Keep a research log of questions, sources and findings.
  3. Quote and paraphrase carefully, check AI answers and list all sources on a works cited page.

Example: An article reviewing a product was written by the company that sells it. What is this? The writer gains if you buy. That makes the review less fair. Answer: conflict of interest

Research Skills in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 11 of 20 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Roots & Word Parts and before Framing the Message.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is the purpose of a works cited page?

    • to summarize the report
    • to give your opinion
    • to list key words
    • to list the full details of sources used

  2. Question 2

    Why might an image found online not be what it claims to be?

    • images are primary sources
    • images are always captioned correctly
    • images never change
    • it could be edited, AI-made or from a different event

  3. Question 3

    A chatbot answers your history question with a date. What is the best next step?

    • change the date
    • verify the date in a reliable source
    • use it without checking
    • ask the chatbot if it is sure and stop there

  4. Question 4

    Which sentence correctly credits a source in a report?

    • The park has over 200 bird species, I think.
    • Everybody knows the park has birds.
    • Some people say there are birds.
    • According to the National Park Service, the park has over 200 bird species.

  5. Question 5

    When should you quote instead of paraphrase?

    • when the exact words are important or powerful
    • when you forgot the source
    • always
    • never

  6. Question 6

    Which source is most useful to learn how a town council voted?

    • a comic about the town
    • an ad for a local store
    • the council's official meeting minutes
    • a rumor on social media

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