D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Creating Complex Texts

Research: Gathering, Summarizing and Verifying Information

D1.3 A2.1 A2.3 A3.1About 50 minutes

Learning goals

I can gather and record relevant information from several sources.
I can summarize information in my own words.
I can verify that sources are reliable by checking who made them, when, why, and whether other sources agree.
I can record the creator and source of any information, images or sounds I use.

Words to know

relevant
Connected to your topic and useful for your purpose.

summarize
To tell the main ideas of a text briefly, in your own words.

paraphrase
To restate one idea or sentence in your own words, at about the same length.

verify
To check that something is true or trustworthy.

reliable
Able to be trusted to give correct information.

cross-check
To compare information in two or more sources to see if they agree.

citation
A short record of a source: who made it, the title, where it was found and the date.

plagiarism
Using someone else's words, pictures or ideas as if they were your own.

Remember from Grade 5

In Grade 5 you gathered information from multiple sources, checked if they were reliable with four questions (Who made it? When? Why? Where else does it say so?), and gave credit for words, pictures, music and sounds.

In Grade 6 you'll add two big skills:

Summarize what you learn, briefly and in your own words.
Verify sources more carefully, especially online, by cross-checking facts in other reliable sources.

Step 1: Gather what's relevant

Start with a research question, like How do snowshoe hares survive winter? Keep only information that helps answer it. Skip interesting facts that are off-topic.

Step 2: Summarize

A summary gives the main ideas in far fewer words and in your own words:

Read a section all the way through.
Cover it up.
Write the main idea in one or two sentences, with key words only.
Uncover it and check: did I get it right? Did I copy any phrases? (Put exact words in quotation marks and credit them.)

Step 3: Verify

Who made it? An expert, a scientist, a government agency, a museum, or a community organization speaking about itself? Or someone anonymous?
When? Is it recent enough for your topic?
Why? To inform, or to sell, or to make you click?
Cross-check: do two or more other reliable sources say the same thing? If not, be careful.

Step 4: Record

For every source, write the creator, title, where you found it (website name or publisher), and date (published or viewed).

A snowshoe hare with white winter fur, black-tipped ears and big furry hind feet, sitting in snow beside a spruce tree. — A snowshoe hare in its white winter coat. If your research question is "How do snowshoe hares survive winter?", which details in this photo would you want to find facts about? AI-generated image

Gather from several sources, cross-check whether they agree, then write a summary in your own words.

Source	Who? When? Why?	Verdict
A provincial government web page on safe ice thickness	A government agency, updated recently, to inform and keep people safe	Reliable. Still cross-check with another official source.
A video titled You won't BELIEVE this winter hack!	Unknown creator, made to get clicks	Not reliable for facts. Look for an expert source.
A book about Inuit art written by an Inuit artist, from the library	A person who knows the topic from experience and study; published	Reliable for this topic, and it shares an Inuit perspective.
A sneaker company ad saying its shoes make you jump higher	A company, made to sell	Not reliable for facts; it's persuasive.

Judging sources with who, when and why, then deciding.

Worked example

Let's summarize a paragraph

Source paragraph (written for practice): Snowshoe hares are well suited to life in snowy forests. In fall, their brown fur is gradually replaced by white fur, which helps them blend in with the snow. Their large back feet spread their weight, so they can move across deep snow without sinking far. These features help them escape from predators such as lynx.

Read it all. Cover it.
Key words only: brown to white fur, blend in, big back feet, don't sink, escape lynx.
Write the summary in your own words: Snowshoe hares survive snowy winters by turning white to hide and by using their wide back feet to run on top of the snow away from predators.
Check: 56 words became 27. No phrases were copied. The main ideas are all there.

A summary keeps the main ideas, uses far fewer words, and is in your own words.

A summary keeps the main ideas and drops the rest: 56 words became 27, all in the writer's own words.

Worked example

Let's verify a surprising claim

You read on a social media post: Maple syrup is made from the leaves of maple trees.

Who? An anonymous account. Not an expert.
Cross-check: look in two reliable sources, such as a library book about maple syrup and a provincial agriculture website.
Both say syrup is made by collecting sap from maple trees in early spring and boiling it until much of the water evaporates.
The claim about leaves does not match. Don't use it.

The claim is false. Cross-checking with reliable sources protected your writing from an error.

Funny but true

It takes about 40 litres of maple sap to boil down into just 1 litre of syrup. That's a great summary: all the sweet stuff, way less water!

Record as you go

Make a quick citation the moment you take notes from a source. It's much harder to find a source again later.

Example: Parks Canada. "Wood Buffalo National Park." Parks Canada website. Viewed October 12, 2026.

Also record the creator of any photo, diagram, song or sound you plan to use.

Hands-on activity

Three-source research card

You need: index cards (or paper cut into rectangles), a pencil, and a library or a computer with a grown-up's help.

Write a research question about a Canadian animal, place or invention.
Find three sources: for example, a library book, an encyclopedia, and an official website (such as a museum, a park or a government site).
On one card per source, write: creator, title, where found, date. Then answer Who? When? Why?
Read one section from each source and write a two-sentence summary in your own words.
Put a star next to any fact that two or more sources agree on. Those are your safest facts.
Share your best fact with your family and tell them how you verified it.

Your turn

What is the difference between a summary and a paraphrase?

Name the four questions for checking a source.

What does cross-check mean?

Summarize in one sentence: Beavers build dams across streams using sticks, mud and stones. The dams create ponds. In the ponds, beavers build lodges where they live, safe from many predators.

Which is relevant for the question How do bees make honey? A) Bees collect nectar from flowers. B) Some people are afraid of bees.

What four things should a citation include?

Why should you record sources as you go?

More practice: warm-up

What does verify mean?

Is an advertisement made mainly to inform or to sell?

What is plagiarism?

Should you credit a photo you didn't take?

Name one reliable kind of source for facts about a national park.

More practice: on your own

A website about a health topic was last updated many years ago. Why might that matter?

Turn this copied sentence into a paraphrase: The Rideau Canal is a historic waterway that connects Ottawa and Kingston.

Two sources disagree about a fact. What should you do?

You want to write about Métis jigging. Which source would add an important perspective: a dance website run by a Métis cultural organization, or a random blog by someone who saw it once?

A student's notes are full sentences copied from a book. Why is that a problem, and what's a better way?

Challenge

Summarize this paragraph in no more than 20 words: Canada's boreal forest stretches across much of the country. It is home to many animals, including moose, wolves and many kinds of birds. The trees store large amounts of carbon, which helps the climate. Many First Nations communities live in the boreal forest, and their knowledge helps care for it.

A post says Scientists say chocolate makes you smarter! with no link. Explain three steps to verify it.

Explain why taking someone's idea and rewording it still needs a credit.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which best describes a summary?

What does it mean to cross-check?

Which source is most reliable for facts about safe ice on lakes?

Which is plagiarism?

Which part of a citation tells who made the source?

Which information is relevant to How do maple trees make sap?

Two reliable sources agree on a fact, and one unknown blog disagrees. What is the best choice?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (D1.3): Grade 6 students gather and record relevant information from multiple sources, summarize it, verify the reliability of sources, and record the creator and source of content they use. This connects to Strand A: digital citizenship and ethical use of others' work (A2.1), evaluating information from varied perspectives (A2.3), and research across subjects (A3.1).

How to help at home:

When something surprising appears online, model checking it: Who posted this? Can we find it on a reliable site?
Visit the public library together; librarians are excellent research guides.
Practise the cover-and-tell summary: after reading a page, close the book and tell the main idea in a sentence.

Common difficulties:

Copying instead of summarizing. The cover-it-up method helps.
Trusting the first search result. Teach cross-checking.
Forgetting to record sources. Make the citation card first, before notes.

Please note: The sample paragraphs in this lesson were written for practice. Supervise internet searches.