Signal Phrases — Five Ways to Attribute a Source In-Text

Teacher reads two spreads from Voice of Freedom. Children listen for how Weatherford attributes Fannie Lou Hamer's words.

• Read with rhythmic biographical cadence
• Pause at each attribution
• Name the signal-phrase pattern used

Today you meet the 5 signal-phrase patterns. Every fact from a source needs a signal phrase — without one, the fact looks like the writer's own, which is plagiarism. The 5 patterns from MG-5: PATTERN 1 — 'According to ___, ___.' (Example: 'According to Patricia McKissack, Sojourner was sold four times.') PATTERN 2 — 'In her book ___, ___ writes that ___.' (Example: 'In her book Voice of Freedom, Carole Boston Weatherford writes that Hamer organized voter registration.') PATTERN 3 — '___ explains that ___.' (Example: 'Sandra Markle explains that captive breeding saved the tamarin.') PATTERN 4 — '___ notes that ___.' (Example: 'Duncan Tonatiuh notes that Posada used zinc-etching.') PATTERN 5 — '___ describes ___ as ___.' (Example: 'Pinkney describes the sit-ins as the spark of a movement.') VARIETY MATTERS — don't use the same pattern in every paragraph. Watch teacher revise three paragraphs from the sample Sojourner report to vary signal phrases.

• Notice the varied phrases keep the reader engaged. Every fact still attributes to McKissack — but the phrasing changes.

  model BEFORE (all PATTERN 1): 'According to McKissack, Sojourner was sold four times. / According to McKissack, she spoke Dutch. / According to McKissack, she escaped slavery in 1826.' AFTER (varied): 'According to McKissack, Sojourner was sold four times before age nine. / In her biography Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?, McKissack notes that Sojourner spoke Dutch as a child. / McKissack describes the year of her escape, 1826, as a turning point in her life.'

  prompt Teacher revises 3 paragraphs to vary signal phrases.

• What 5 signal-phrase patterns can you name?
• Why does variety matter — what happens when every paragraph uses the same pattern?

M-4-S-RES-07-A Chart Physical / non-image

Reproduction of MG-5 at 11x17: 5 horizontal rows, each with a pattern label and a fully worked example sentence. Signal phrases highlighted yellow; source names underlined. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-5 Chart

Signal-phrase anchor for in-text attribution: 5 signal-phrase patterns with worked examples. PATTERN 1: 'According to ___, ___.' Example: 'According to Patricia McKissack, Sojourner was sold four times before age nine.' PATTERN 2: 'In her book ___, ___ writes that ___.' Example: 'In her book Voice of Freedom, Carole Boston Weatherford writes that Fannie Lou Hamer organized voter registration in Mississippi.' PATTERN 3: '___ explains that ___.' Example: 'Sandra Markle explains that the golden lion tamarin population has grown thanks to captive breeding.' PATTERN 4: '___ notes that ___.' Example: 'Duncan Tonatiuh notes that Posada made his calaveras using zinc-etching techniques.' PATTERN 5: '___ describes ___ as ___.' Example: 'Andrea Davis Pinkney describes the Greensboro sit-ins as the spark of a movement.' Bottom rule: 'Every fact from a source needs a signal phrase. Vary your phrases — don't use the same one every paragraph.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Take your body paragraph 1 from lesson 6. Identify the signal phrase. Now revise body paragraphs 2 and 3 to use TWO DIFFERENT signal-phrase patterns from the list of 5.

  scaffold Signal-phrase card deck at desk; partner reads aloud all 3 paragraphs to check variety
• Highlight every signal phrase in your essay in yellow. Count the patterns used.

  scaffold Signal-phrase highlighter pen

M-4-S-WR-07-B Illustration

Reference image of a Grade-4 research draft showing 3 body paragraphs each with a different signal phrase highlighted yellow and the pattern number labeled in margin (PATTERN 1, PATTERN 3, PATTERN 5). Print-ready 8.5x11.

• Highlight every signal phrase in your 3 body paragraphs. Count: how many DIFFERENT patterns?
• Move status-tile to DRAFT.

• Star your most natural-sounding signal phrase.
• Predict: tomorrow we meet figurative language deepening.

• Read a kid-friendly news article at home. Find one signal phrase. Bring on a sticky note.