TeachersFirst's Copyright and Fair Use Resources
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This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers, parents, and students understand concepts of copyright and Fair Use. This collection includes instructional activities about copyright and collections/tools to use images, music, and texts legally, either through Fair Use or Creative Commons licensing. Use these resources to model and teach ethical use of electronic media or to find copyright-safe raw materials for student projects. Be sure to share these resources with students for them to access any time they have a project to do.
Explore our entire collection of resources tagged copyright, creative commons, and/or plagiarism.
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Quetext Plagiarism Checker - Quetext
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), editing (76), evaluating sources (15), plagiarism (30), writing (294)
In the Classroom
Although the free portion of this site is somewhat limited, it is worth bookmarking and sharing for use by you and your students. Be sure to include a link on your class website for students to use at home. Demonstrate to students how to upload their writing to check for plagiarism as part of your ongoing lessons in intellectual honesty. If their work is longer than 500 words, upload a small portion that needs to be checked instead of the whole project. Often when students are researching and writing a report, they find it difficult to put information in their own words. Ask students to attach their report results to their writing as part of the writing assignment. Encourage them to share reports that indicate plagiarism, with an online bulletin board like Dotstorming, < a href="/single.cfm?id=16997">reviewed here, where other students can comment and help them reword the writing. Then, have them discuss steps to take to avoid it happening in the future. Ask students to create video commercials modifying their learning and informing viewers on different aspects of plagiarism. Use a tool such as Powtoon, reviewed here. Share their videos using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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PlagiarismSearch.com - PlagiarismSearch.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), evaluating sources (15), plagiarism (30), writing (294)
In the Classroom
Although the free portion of this site is limited, it is worth bookmarking and sharing for use by you and your students. Be sure to include a link on your class website for students to use at home. Demonstrate to students how to upload their writing to check for plagiarism as part of your ongoing lessons in intellectual honesty. If their work is longer than 300 words, upload a small portion that needs to be checked instead of the whole project. Often when students are researching and writing a report, they find it difficult to put information in their own words. Ask students to attach their report to writing as part of the writing assignment. Encourage them to share reports that indicate plagiarism, with an online bulletin board like Dotstorming, < a href="/single.cfm?id=16997">reviewed here, where other students can comment and help them reword the writing. Then, have them discuss steps to take to avoid it happening in the future. Ask students to create video commercials informing viewers on different aspects of plagiarism. Use a tool such as Powtoon, reviewed here. Share their videos using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fair Dealing Decision Tool - Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), digital citizenship (71), ethics (21), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
Include this site as part of your digital citizenship lessons. Explore together what is the acceptable use, and what is not. Enhance classroom technology use by having students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as PicLits, reviewed here, or transform class tech use with a multimedia poster using Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or Adobe Spark for K-12, reviewed here, to demonstrate the acceptable use of published work. Be sure to include a link to this tool on your class web page for student use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resource Guides - Learning Commons - The University of British Columbia - Vancouver Campus
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): citations (33), copyright (43), creative commons (21), digital citizenship (71), plagiarism (30), Research (50)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard as you share individual topics with students, then create a link on your class website for students to access information at any time. Divide topics among groups of students and enhance or transform classroom technology use and student learning by having each group create a simple or multimedia infographic (depending on teacher requirements or student ability) and share their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Create a class wiki with resources for using and crediting online tools. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cite This For Me - RefME Ltd. (2015)
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Share with students as a resource for saving and organizing web material. The Webclipper feature allows students to highlight the key information from a page so that a few days down the road they're not wondering why they bookmarked a web page. The bibliography tools help students properly format their Works Cited pages. Use this tool to help keep your students (or even yourself) organized! Make sure you teach plagiarism lessons about paraphrasing and proper citation of sources, so students use this tool properly! You may want to start with a review of plagiarism and copyright law by using Gaming Against Plagiarism (GAP), reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WhoIs HostingThis: Ultimate Student Copyright Guide - Quality Nonsense, Ltd.
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): copyright (43), digital citizenship (71), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
This site is a must-share with students for all middle school and secondary teachers. Bookmark and save this site to use for discussion questions and factual information on plagiarism. As you use digital media, be sure to discuss copyright with students. Create a set of rules or reminders as a class to post in the classroom or on a class website or blog. Enhance or transform classroom technology use (depending on teacher requirements) by asking students, or small groups, to create a simple or multimedia infographic sharing their findings using Infogram, reviewed here. Share this site with parents at Back to School night for their use at home. Share a link to the site in a prominent place on your class website or blog for student reference at any time.Comments
Great resources about copyright and plagiarism for grades 6-12!Ladisha, VA, Grades: 9 - 12
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Teaching Digital Citizenship - Cable Impacts
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): copyright (43), cyberbullying (47), digital citizenship (71), media literacy (86), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
At the beginning of the year, use the lessons included as a basis for developing a school digital citizenship program or even use with your own class. Use at a parents' informational night to describe the type of lessons that help address responsible digital citizens. Post a link on your class website for parents to view at home. Create a school mission statement regarding technology use or rules for technology. When doing research projects, be sure to review.Comments
This is an articulate and smart program. The videos and materials support the three strands of digital citizenship: safety and security; literacy; and ethical and responsible use.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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P.org - iParadigms, LLC & TurnItIn LLC
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): citations (33), plagiarism (30), Research (50), summarizing (16)
In the Classroom
Meet your Common Core standards for nonfiction reading using the pages at this informative site! In addition, every student who creates a report, presentation, speech, or project, in any subject, needs to know this information. Consider dividing and presenting this site with a teacher in another curriculum, so students get the idea that this is information for EVERY class. Modify learning and consider presenting the information, questions, and quizzes using a tool such as GoClass, reviewed here, or The Answer Pad, reviewed here. With with these tools you can create questions or a scavenger hunt. Then you can quiz students on the information and have it all self-corrected. Moreover, using one of these programs will make this text heavy, but necessary material, much more tolerable for your students. You may want to challenge your gifted and musically inclined students to create a rap highlighting the important information they learned about plagiarism and citing sources. Have them teach the rap to the rest of the class. Or change learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Academic Help - Academic Help
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (130), descriptive writing (37), expository writing (33), letter writing (15), paragraph writing (13), persuasive writing (53)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this resource for use throughout the year. Share samples of writing on your interactive whiteboard with students, and explore different types of writing examples together. Be sure to include a link to Academic Help on your class website or blog for students to access from home. After they follow the advice on this site, transform classroom technology use and have students use Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Research Guide for Students - A Research Guide
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): expository writing (33), literature (223), persuasive writing (53), plagiarism (30), process writing (39), Research (50)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start a research project. With younger students, you may want the class to go through each step together before beginning the next step. However, let gifted students work ahead. The beauty of this site is that it is great for classroom differentiation for independent work. With older students, you may want to show them the different steps and have them start where they think they need help and share examples. Be sure to post a link to the site for students and parents to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cyber Safety - Internet Safety Tips - Open Colleges, Ltd
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): cyberbullying (47), internet safety (118), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
This site is an excellent resource for teaching and reinforcing online safety lessons. View on your interactive whiteboard as a class either in one session or several smaller sessions/lessons. Assign students to become experts on one safety concern and share an explanation about it with the class. Enhance or transform classroom technology use (depending on teacher requirements) by asking students to create a simple or multimedia infographic sharing what they learn using Venngage reviewed here. Be sure to share with parents at an Open House or through your classroom website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PleaseDon'tCheat - Copyright - New York Online
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), digital citizenship (71), ethics (21), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
This site is a must-have in the toolbox for all secondary teachers. Bookmark and save this site to use for discussion questions and factual information on plagiarism. Share the videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard. View a video each week and discuss contents. View specific videos addressing concerns that arise in your classroom. Share this site with parents at meet the teacher (Back to School) night for their use at home. Share a link to the site on a prominent place on your class website or blog for student reference at any time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Photo Pin - Photo Pin
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), creative commons (21), images (265), photography (140), search engines (55)
In the Classroom
Photo Pin is invaluable for students and teachers needing high quality photos for use on class blogs, wikis, or presentation sites. Be sure to remind students to use the attribution link along with the photo, especially when publishing on the web. Art students can use these images to create collages, design studies, and more, all with attribution of their sources. Use images as blog prompts or illustrations in student projects. Make sure students see you giving attribution, too! Find images of locations you are studying in world cultures or geography class. Find images to use in student online projects such as Bookemon, reviewed here, or Phrase.it, reviewed here. Keep this site as a reference link on your class web page for any time students are creating wikis, blogs, or electronic projects where they need images. They can find just the right picture with CC licensing, and you should require them to include the citation provided! Be sure that students understand rules for sharing appropriate and inappropriate images and copyright concerns.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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YouTube Copyright School - YouTube
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): copyright (43), multimedia (48), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study of plagiarism on writing projects or copyright in general. Use it in art or music classes when discussing the use of "derivative works" or performance rights on music. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference. To show what they have learned from this site, enhance or transform (depending on teacher requirements) class room technology use by challenging students to create an online infographic about copyright to share using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Comments
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Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs To Know - Rod Lucier
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): copyright (43)
In the Classroom
Be sure to share the link to this resource for teachers in the district. Place the link on your classroom computer or link to your blog, wiki, or site for access by students to understand the copyright law.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Creative Commons Search - Creative Common
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Teaching students to understand and respect copyright of digital information can be difficult and overwhelming. The first step in helping students understand digital copyright is to get them to explore the terms of use and copyright of a variety of information. Create a scavenger hunt for students to find the terms of service and/or copyright for common websites. Once they realize that not all information is "free" for them to use, introduce the Creative Commons website and the symbols that are used to describe how the content is licensed by the owner. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to demonstrate searching using the CC search site. Perform searches that yield results that show several different types of licenses. Discuss each type using scenarios of how the information can and cannot be used. As an extension activity for this site, students can create their own work and publish the work using a creative commons license. The work can be as simple as using a digital picture or as complex as creating their own derivative artwork, such as a collage or "photoshopped" image. It can be published on a commercial site such as flickr or on your school webpage. Make sure to follow any school guidelines before publishing student work. Perhaps you can create a class wiki of annotated creative images created by students with explanations of where they found the "parts" and how they created the original works from these parts. What a wonderful model to share with future students, as well. Teachers will also appreciate being able to find images you can freely use on class web pages and in online project samples, etc. (with attribution).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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21st Century Information Fluency - 21CIF
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): copyright (43), digital citizenship (71), plagiarism (30)
In the Classroom
This site is deep and robust and should be explored thoroughly before using it with students. As you approach a research project, plan to include some of these lessons as part of that project. Ideally, team with other teachers at your school/level to require consistent standards of research as taught through this site, but be sure you know which teachers and classes will help the students master them first! This is one to save in your favorites for repeat visits.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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