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ELD Paraphrasing:
Name________________
What is paraphrasing? Paraphrasing is when you express the meaning of
(the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different words,
especially to achieve greater clarity.
Example of the above definition: Paraphrasing is the process of changing the
sentence structure and or vocabulary of a piece of writing or a lecture, speech or
some other oral format to clearly explain it in your own words.
Why practice paraphrasing? Why on Earth would we waste time
paraphrasing when it would be so much easier to just copy text? Here are three
reasons why paraphrasing will ensure your academic success.
1. Paraphrasing is the best way for a student to learn and practice complex
sentence structure. No other exercise teaches a student how to change the
structure of a sentence better than paraphrasing, therefore, it is also the
best method for improving basic grammar skills.
2. Paraphrasing is essential in the learning process of academic subjects.
When students take notes from lectures or text books, they are often
required to write reports or essays based on the information they received
in class. Paraphrasing academic information helps to commit it to a
student’s memory so that it will be fresh on their minds when they are
taking a test or even years later.
3. In western universities plagiarism is a very serious offense of university
rules. If a student uses the copy and paste method to write an academic
report they will be dismissed from school. Students must learn how to
paraphrase if they want to stay in school.
 There are six methods to paraphrasing, below are exercises for
students to practice each method:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Paraphrase with Synonyms
Paraphrase by changing active to passive
Paraphrase by changing nouns to verbs
Paraphrase with conjunctions
Paraphrase with clauses
Paraphrase with word definitions
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Paraphrasing Home work:
Name_________________________
Directions: Now read a short biography about Albert Einstein and paraphrase
the text by changing the paragraph structure and using the 6 above methods.
Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist, although most
people probably know him as the most intelligent person who ever
lived. His name has become part of many languages when we want
to say someone is a genius, as in the phrase, “She’s a real Einstein”.
He must have been pretty brainy to discover the Theory of Relativity
and the equation E=mc2.
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In 1999, ‘Time’ magazine named Einstein as the Person of the
Century. No one could have guessed this would happen when he
was at school. He was extremely interested in science but hated the
system of learning by heart. He said it destroyed learning and
creativity. He had already done many experiments, but failed the
entrance exams to a technical college.
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He didn’t let this setback stop him. When he was 16, he
performed his famous experiment of imagining traveling alongside a
beam of light. He eventually graduated from university, in 1900,
with a degree in physics. Twelve years later he was a university
professor and in 1921, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics. He went
on to publish over 300 scientific papers.
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Einstein is the only scientist to become a cult figure, a
household name, and part of everyday culture. He once joked that
when people stopped him in the street, he always replied: "Pardon
me, sorry! Always I am mistaken for Professor Einstein.” Today, he
is seen as the typical mad, absent-minded professor, who just
happened to change our world.
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