Synthesizing is very
closely linked to determining importance. As we determine what is most
important about the text, we begin to interweave our own thoughts
about the text. For students to synthesize, they reflect on the text,
combine new information with their own knowledge, and create new ideas
and opinions about the text. Synthesizing is very much like putting
together a puzzle so we see the whole picture. When we synthesize we
get a complete picture of what the author want us to know and
understand. Through synthesis a student gains personal understanding
of the text.
When a student
synthesizes text, he define his beliefs and defends his thinking with
evidence, generating individual insights about the text.
Image reposted from One Extra Degree Blog
Spot
Questions
to Reveal Thinking:
-
Now
that you've combined your thinking, background knowledge, and a
summary of the text, how did it help you to understand the text?
Did you create new ideas about what you read?
Language
for Synthesizing Text:
-
I
think the text is about (form an opinion) . . .
-
My thinking changed after I read . . .
-
After reading ______, now I think . . .
-
The author's
purpose for writing the text was _______, because . . .
Books for
Teaching Synthesizing:
-
Mr. Peabody's Apples by
Madonna
-
Leah's Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich
-
Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
-
All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
-
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
-
The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting
-
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
-
Someday a Tree by Eve Bunting
-
A Day's Work by Eve Bunting
-
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
-
Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe
-
Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
-
The Royal Bee by Frances Park & Ginger Park
-
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
-
William's Doll by Charlotte Zolotow
-
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
-
Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen
-
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
-
Gettin' Through Thursday by Melrose Cooper
-
Greyling by Jane Yolen
-
The Memory String by Eve Bunting
