synthesis writing activities

Whenever you report to a friend the things several other friends have said about a film or CD you engage in synthesis.  People synthesize information naturally to help other see the connections between things they learn;  for example, you have probably stored up a mental data bank of the various things you've heard about particular professors.  If your data bank contains several negative comments, you might synthesize that information and use it to help you decide not to take a class from that particular professor.  Synthesis is related to but not the same as classification, division, or comparison and contrast.  Instead of attending to categories or finding similarities and differences, synthesizing sources is a matter of pulling them together into some kind of harmony.  Synthesis searches for links between materials for the purpose of constructing a thesis or theory.

The basic research report (described below as a background synthesis) is very common in the business world.  Whether one is proposing to open a new store or expand a product line, the report that must inevitably be written will synthesize information and arrange it by topic rather than by source.  Whether you want to present information on child rearing to a new mother, or details about your town to a new resident, you'll find yourself synthesizing too. And just as in college, the quality and usefulness of your synthesis will depend on your accuracy and organization.

In the process of writing his or her background synthesis, the student explored the sources in a new way and become an expert on the topic.  Only when one has reached this degree of expertise is one ready to formulate a thesis.  Frequently writers of background synthesis papers develop a thesis before they have finished.  In the previous example, the student might notice that no two colleges seem to agree on what constitutes "co-curricular," and decide to research this question in more depth, perhaps examining trends in higher education and offering an argument about what this newest trend seems to reveal.  [ More information on developing a research thesis .] 

On the other hand, all research papers are also synthesis papers in that they combine the information you have found in ways that help readers to see that information and the topic in question in a new way.  A research paper with a weak thesis (such as: "media images of women help to shape women's sense of how they should look") will organize its findings to show how this is so without having to spend much time discussing other arguments (in this case, other things that also help to shape women's sense of how they should look).  A paper with a strong thesis (such as "the media is the single most important factor in shaping women's sense of how they should look") will spend more time discussing arguments that it rejects (in this case, each paragraph will show how the media is more influential than other factors in that particular aspect of women's sense of how they should look"). 

[See also thesis-driven research papers .] [See also " Preparing to Write the Synthesis Essay ," " Writing the Synthesis Essa y ," and " Revision . "]

Because each discipline has specific rules and expectations, you should consult your professor or a guide book for that specific discipline if you are asked to write a review of the literature and aren't sure how to do it.

[See also " Preparing to Write the Synthesis Essay ," " Writing the Synthesis Essa y," and " Revision ."]

Regardless of whether you are synthesizing information from prose sources, from laboratory data, or from tables and graphs, your preparation for the synthesis will very likely involve comparison . It may involve analysis , as well, along with classification, and division as you work on your organization. 

Sometimes the wording of your assignment will direct you to what sorts of themes or traits you should look for in your synthesis.  At other times, though, you may be assigned two or more sources and told to synthesize them.  In such cases you need to formulate your own purpose, and develop your own perspectives and interpretations.  A systematic preliminary comparison will help. Begin by summarizing briefly the points, themes, or traits that the texts have in common (you might find summary-outline notes useful here).  Explore different ways to organize the information depending on what you find or what you want to demonstrate ( see above ).  You might find it helpful to make several different outlines or plans before you decide which to use.  As the most important aspect of a synthesis is its organization, you can't spend too long on this aspect of your paper!

A synthesis essay should be organized so that others can understand the sources and evaluate your comprehension of them and their presentation of specific data, themes, etc. The following format works well: 

The introduction (usually one paragraph)     1.    Contains a one-sentence statement that sums up the focus of your synthesis.     2.    Also introduces the texts to be synthesized:             (i)  Gives the title of each source (following the citation guidelines of whatever style                     sheet you are using);               (ii)  Provides the name of each author;             (ii)  Sometimes also provides pertinent background information about the authors,                    about the texts to be summarized, or about the general topic from which the                    texts are drawn. 

The body of a synthesis essay: This should be organized by theme, point, similarity, or aspect of the topic.  Your organization will be determined by the assignment or by the patterns you see in the material you are synthesizing.  The organization is the most important part of a synthesis, so try out more than one format.     Be sure that each paragraph :     1.     Begins with a sentence or phrase that informs readers of the topic of the paragraph;     2.     Includes information from more than one source;     3.     Clearly indicates which material comes from which source using lead in phrases and             in-text citations.  [Beware of plagiarism:  Accidental plagiarism most often occurs             when students are synthesizing sources and do not indicate where the synthesis              ends and their own comments begin or vice verse.]     4.    Shows the similarities or differences between the different sources in ways that make             the paper as informative as possible;     5.    Represents the texts fairly--even if that seems to weaken the paper! Look upon             yourself as a synthesizing machine;  you are simply repeating what the source says,             in fewer words and in your own words.  But the fact that you are using your own              words does not mean that you are in anyway changing what the source says. 

Conclusion. When you have finished your paper, write a conclusion reminding readers of the most significant themes you have found and the ways they connect to the overall topic.  You may also want to suggest further research or comment on things that it was not possible for you to discuss in the paper. If you are writing a background synthesis, in some cases it may be appropriate for you to offer an interpretation of the material or take a position (thesis).  Check this option with your instructor before you write the final draft of your paper. 

• What do you like best about your peer's synthesis? (Why? How might he or she do more of it?);
• Is it clear what is being synthesized? (i.e.: Did your peer list the source(s), and cite it/them correctly?);
• Is it always clear which source your peer is talking about at any given moment? (Mark any places where it is not clear);
• Is the thesis of each original text clear in the synthesis? (Write out what you think each thesis is);
• If you have read the same sources,
• did you identify the same theses as your peer? (If not, how do they differ?);
• did your peer miss any key points from his or her synthesis? (If so, what are they?);
• did your peer include any of his own opinions in his or her synthesis? (If so, what are they?);
• Where there any points in the synthesis where you were lost because a transition was missing or material seems to have been omitted?  (If so, where and how might it be fixed?);
• What is the organizational structure of the synthesis essay? (It might help to draw a plan/diagram);
• Does this structure work?  (If not, how might your peer revise it?);
• How is each paragraph structured?  (It might help to draw a plan/diagram);
• Is this method effective?  (If not, how should your peer revise?);
• Was there a mechanical, grammatical, or spelling error that annoyed you as you read the paper?  (If so, how could the author fix it?  Did you notice this error occurring more than once?)  Do not comment on every typographical or other error you see.  It is a waste of time to carefully edit a paper before it is revised!
• What other advice do you have for the author of this paper?

• U.S. Locations
• UMGC Europe
• Learn Online
• Find Answers
• 855-655-8682
• Current Students

Online Guide to Writing and Research

Thinking strategies and writing patterns, explore more of umgc.

• Online Guide to Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing

One of the basic academic writing activities is researching your topic and what others have said about it. Your goal should be to draw thoughts, observations, and claims about your topic from your research. We call this process of drawing from multiple sources “ synthesis .” Click on the accordion items below for more information.

Definition, Use, and Sample Synthesis

Synthesis defined.

Synthesis Emerges from Analysis

Synthesis emerges from analytical activities we discussed on the previous page: comparative analysis and analysis for cause and effect . For example, to communicate where scholars agree and where they disagree, one must analyze their work for similarities and differences. Also crucial for understanding scholarly discourse is understanding how a particular work of scholarship shapes the scholarship of others, causing them to head in new directions.

When Should Synthesis Be Used?

When to Use Synthesis

Many college assignments require synthesis. A literature review, for example, requires that you make explanatory claims regarding a body of research. These should go beyond summary (mere description) to provide helpful characterizations that aid in understanding. Literature reviews can stand on their own, but often they are a part of a research paper, and research papers are where you will probably use synthesis most often.

The purpose of a research paper is to derive meaning from a body of information collected through research. It is your job, as the writer, to communicate that meaning to your readers. Doing this requires that you develop an informed and educated opinion of what your research suggests about your subject. Communicating this opinion requires synthesis.

Sample Synthesis

In 1655, an embassy of Dutch Jews led by Rabbi Menassah ben Israel traveled to London to meet with the Commonwealth’s new Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. The informal “Readmission” of Jews—who had been expelled from England by royal edict in 1290—resulting from the Whitehall conference was once hailed as a high point in the history of toleration. Yet in recent years, scholars have increasingly challenged the progressive nature of this event, both in its substance and its motivation (Kaplan 2007; Katznelson 2010; Walsham 2006) . “Toleration” in this case, as in many others, did not entail religious freedom or civic equality; Jews in England were granted legal residency and permitted to worship privately, but citizenship, public worship, and the printing of anything that “opposeth the Christian religion” remained off the cards. As for its motivation, Edward Whalley’s twofold argument was representative: the Jews “will bring in much wealth into this Commonwealth: and where wee both pray for theyre conversion and beleeve it shal be, I knowe not why wee shold deny the means” (Marshall 2006, 381–82) 

(Bejan, 2015, p. 1103).

The author of the above passage, Teresa Bejan, has synthesized the work of a number of other scholars (Kaplan, Katznelson, Walsham, and Marshall) to situate her argument.  Note how not all of these scholars are directly quoted, but they are cited because their work forms the basis of Bejan's work.

Key Takeaways

• Synthesizing allows you to carry an argument or stance you adopt within a paper in your own words, based on conclusions you have come to about the topic.
• Synthesizing contributes to confidence about your stance and topic.

Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783 This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . © 2022 UMGC. All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more about how we use cookies by reading our  Privacy Policy .

• MyU : For Students, Faculty, and Staff

Writing Across the Curriculum

• Research & Assessment
• Writing Plans
• WEC Liaisons
• Academic Units
• Engage with WEC
• Teaching Resources
• Teaching Consultations
• Faculty Writing Resources

Writing with Sources: Early-Semester Activities to Promote Synthesis

While students in nearly every upper-division course will be asked to analyze and synthesize information, the meaning of these terms changes with instructional contexts. They may analyze scholarly arguments to make an assertion about the state of knowledge or create a new research question. Students may also analyze results from experimental tests to draw accurate conclusions from measurement, while in another course, they may be tasked with analyzing multiple policies or practices and then designing their own. Given the range of ways synthesis can work in writing, this blog post focuses on strategies for creating explicit description of what synthesis means, and offers some early semester assignments to help prepare students for this complex work. In this post, construction metaphors (“building” or “making” language) provide a helpful vocabulary for writing assignments that promote synthesis.

Preparing the ground

Synthesis assignments fall broadly in two groups: explanatory synthesis, where multiple sources are used to create a comprehensive description, and argumentative synthesis, where students are asked to advance a claim based on reasons and evidence. Clarifying your assignment's purpose and audience can help focus students on their writing task. Consider what you notice about writing in your field that succeeds in creating synthesis.

• Do you prefer broad connections to core issues in the field, or narrowly focused writing that engages key distinctions between core concepts?
• Does synthesis imply comprehensive coverage of a range of resources, or could it be achieved by using a few sources well?
• Should material come from academic and scholarly sources, or what else might be fair game?
• Does synthesis imply reviewing differing ideas impartially, or should evaluation and criticism be a part of the work?
• Should synthesis stick to the most cited and widely read resources, or include less common perspectives and sources?

As an early assignment, ask students to write brief topic proposals or topic justification assignments that identify the topic, its relevance to the course, and some preliminary thoughts on potential questions about or connections between concepts and ideas. Emphasizing the role of connections among sources is critical here; not merely accumulating resources from multiple sources but seeing and describing their interrelationships.

Gathering materials: Pre-fab or made from scratch?

Students can think and write synthetically using resources selected by their instructors or by conducting their own searches for information. In cases where the task is unfamiliar, starting with shared resources can help students focus on concepts, themes, or issues without adding the challenge of selecting relevant resources. More advanced students may prefer the opportunity to follow their specialized interests and explore a wider literature.

Early assignments with shared resources

Reading responses can be an effective early-semester assignment for engaging with course resources. Faculty can help students understand the content of their reading by offering context (answering those 5 Ws questions) for individual selections, but ask students to think about why certain readings might be offered together or in sequence. Better assignments will move beyond comparison and contrast into connections and implications.

Source grids can also help students to draw connections between readings and resources. For example, in a nursing course, students are asked to produce summaries of course readings and organize them in a table that addresses the population studied, intervention, comparison, and outcome. EBSCO offers a nice summary of PICO questions here .

Early assignments for information-seeking

When students are asked to seek their own information or research their own topics, they will need to work harder to determine the relevance of information and criteria for attention and inclusion. Many instructors already assign online tutorials from the University libraries to help students navigate disciplinary databases and develop research questions. Subject librarians and department liaisons for your college, department, or program are excellent collaborators for designing such tasks .

Information-seeking assignments can include mind maps (using what students already know to suggest search terms), summaries of reference articles , or initial reference lists . In addition, process-oriented assignments like research logs can help students to show their work by documenting their search strategies (databases, keywords, and limiters used).

Additional Resources

Reading and Writing has just published a special issue (December 2022) under the title, Synthesis Tasks: Where reading and writing meet . Read the introduction from the editors .

Further Support

See the Teaching with Writing pages or teaching resources . As many of you know, our WAC program also hosts the popular Teaching with Writing event series. Each semester, this series offers free workshops and discussions. Visit us online and follow us on Twitter @UMNWriting .

Looking to change up writing assignments or grading strategies? Talk to us! We like thinking with faculty members, instructors, and TA/GIs about any and all matters related to teaching with writing in courses across the University curriculum. Got questions about writing assignments and activities, grading writing, providing feedback, or using digital tools? Contact us to schedule a phone, email, or face-to-face teaching consultation.

• Log in to post comments
• African American & African Studies
• Agronomy and Plant Genetics
• Animal Science
• Anthropology
• Applied Economics
• Art History
• Carlson School of Management
• Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
• Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering
• College of Biological Sciences
• Communication Studies
• Computer Science & Engineering
• Construction Management
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Dental Hygiene
• Apparel Design
• Graphic Design
• Product Design
• Retail Merchandising
• Earth Sciences
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management
• Family Social Science
• Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
• Food Science and Nutrition
• Geography, Environment and Society
• German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch
• Health Services Management
• Horticultural Science
• Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Information Technology Infrastructure
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medical Laboratory Sciences
• Mortuary Science
• Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development
• Political Science
• School of Architecture
• School of Kinesiology
• School of Public Health
• Spanish and Portuguese Studies
• Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
• Theatre Arts & Dance
• Youth Studies
• New Enrollments for Departments and Programs
• Legacy Program for Continuing Units
• Writing in Your Course Context
• Syllabus Matters
• Mid-Semester Feedback Strategies
• Designing Effective Writing Assignments
• Writing Assignment Checklist
• Scaffolding and Sequencing Writing Assignments
• Informal, Exploratory Writing Activities
• 5-Minute Revision Workshops
• Reflective Memos
• Conducting In-Class Writing Activities: Notes on Procedures
• Now what? Responding to Informal Writing
• Teaching Writing with Quantitative Data
• Commenting on Student Writing
• Supporting Multilingual Learners
• Teaching with Effective Models of Writing
• Peer Response Protocols and Procedures
• Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning
• Conferencing with Student Writers
• Designing Inclusive Writing Assigments
• Addressing a Range of Writing Abilities in Your Courses
• Effective Grading Strategies
• Designing and Using Rubrics
• Running a Grade-Norming Session
• Working with Teaching Assistants
• Managing the Paper Load
• Teaching Writing with Sources
• Preventing Plagiarism
• Grammar Matters
• What is ChatGPT and how does it work?
• Incorporating ChatGPT into Classes with Writing Assignments: Policies, Syllabus Statements, and Recommendations
• Restricting ChatGPT Use in Classes with Writing Assignments: Policies, Syllabus Statements, and Recommendations
• What do we mean by "writing"?
• How can I teach writing effectively in an online course?
• What are the attributes of a "writing-intensive" course at the University of Minnesota?
• How can I talk with students about the use of artificial intelligence tools in their writing?
• How can I support inclusive participation on team-based writing projects?
• How can I design and assess reflective writing assignments?
• How can I use prewritten comments to give timely and thorough feedback on student writing?
• How can I use online discussion forums to support and engage students?
• How can I use and integrate the university libraries and academic librarians to support writing in my courses?
• How can I support students during the writing process?
• How can I use writing to help students develop self-regulated learning habits?
• Submit your own question
• Short Course: Teaching with Writing Online
• Five-Day Faculty Seminar
• Past Summer Hunker Participants
• Resources for Scholarly Writers
• Consultation Request
• Faculty Writing Groups
• Further Writing Resources

• Walden University
• Faculty Portal

Using Evidence: Synthesis

Synthesis video playlist.

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

Basics of Synthesis

As you incorporate published writing into your own writing, you should aim for synthesis of the material.

Synthesizing requires critical reading and thinking in order to compare different material, highlighting similarities, differences, and connections. When writers synthesize successfully, they present new ideas based on interpretations of other evidence or arguments. You can also think of synthesis as an extension of—or a more complicated form of—analysis. One main difference is that synthesis involves multiple sources, while analysis often focuses on one source.

Conceptually, it can be helpful to think about synthesis existing at both the local (or paragraph) level and the global (or paper) level.

Local Synthesis

Local synthesis occurs at the paragraph level when writers connect individual pieces of evidence from multiple sources to support a paragraph’s main idea and advance a paper’s thesis statement. A common example in academic writing is a scholarly paragraph that includes a main idea, evidence from multiple sources, and analysis of those multiple sources together.

Global Synthesis

Global synthesis occurs at the paper (or, sometimes, section) level when writers connect ideas across paragraphs or sections to create a new narrative whole. A literature review , which can either stand alone or be a section/chapter within a capstone, is a common example of a place where global synthesis is necessary. However, in almost all academic writing, global synthesis is created by and sometimes referred to as good cohesion and flow.

Synthesis in Literature Reviews

While any types of scholarly writing can include synthesis, it is most often discussed in the context of literature reviews. Visit our literature review pages for more information about synthesis in literature reviews.

Related Webinars

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

• Previous Page: Analysis
• Next Page: Citing Sources Properly
• Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

• Academic Residencies
• Academic Skills
• Career Planning and Development
• Customer Care Team
• Field Experience
• Military Services
• Student Success Advising
• Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

• Center for Social Change
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
• Office of Degree Acceleration
• Office of Research and Doctoral Services
• Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

• Doctoral Writing Assessment
• Form & Style Review
• Quick Answers
• ScholarWorks
• SKIL Courses and Workshops
• Walden Bookstore
• Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
• Student Safety/Title IX
• Legal & Consumer Information
• Website Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Accessibility
• Accreditation
• State Authorization
• Net Price Calculator
• Contact Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com Walden University is certified to operate by SCHEV © 2024 Walden University LLC. All rights reserved.

Check Out the New Website Shop!

Novels & Picture Books

Anchor Charts

• Comprehension

3 Tips for Teaching Synthesis

By Mary Montero

Share This Post:

• Facebook Share
• Twitter Share
• Pinterest Share
• Email Share

During a planning session one day, I was reviewing the standards for my upcoming unit. I read one of the standards to a teacher next to me: “How exactly do we teach students to ‘synthesize information to create a new understanding’?” I knew what the word synthesize meant, but I needed an authentic, easy-to-understand way to convey its meaning to my students. Here are my best three tips for teaching synthesis to your upper elementary students.

What exactly is synthesis and why do we teach it? 

Synthesizing is the process of combining sources to create a shared meaning. It’s a fancy word for something you actually do quite often. When a big news story comes out you might read about it in an article, hear about it from a friend, and watch a story about it on the news. You then combine different sources of information to create meaning. That is synthesizing information.

This can be a challenging skill for students. Synthesizing or combining sources requires students to compare and contrast, make connections across texts and genres, have stellar reading comprehension, take notes and pick out key details, and more. However, challenging doesn’t have to mean impossible! With plenty of practice, students can master combining sources and synthesizing the information within them.

Here are my favorite ways to help students master synthesizing.

#1 create a synthesis statement.

If your students are new to synthesis, consider starting small. Find two sources about a topic. Sources can be articles, videos, pictures, or diagrams. Make sure you find a super high-interest topic for this one! For example, students could watch a video about how candy corn is made and then read about the history of candy corn. After viewing both sources, they will craft a synthesis. To help students, you can provide them one of the following sentence frames:

• I learned that….
• The information helped me learn that…
• After reading, I understand…

At this point, I encourage them to highlight information they learned from ONE source in one color and the other source in a different color.

#2 Create a Synthesis from Multiple, Varied Sources

Once students understand the basics of synthesis, you can push and challenge their knowledge further. One way to do this is through several sources on a similar topic. Students will combine the information from several sources to create one new meaning. This is a more challenging task for students, so don’t worry if your students don’t master it the first time.

To make practicing combining sources easier, I created several nonfiction synthesis activities for students . In this resource, students are given 5 high-quality sources to read and make a synthesis from. Sources vary from social media posts, quotes, diagrams, encyclopedia entries, timelines, newspaper articles, etc. This resource also includes guided questions and tasks to help students with their synthesis.

This resource is planned to help guide your students through the process of synthesis. Each synthesis activity focuses on a different topic: bridges, education rights, photosynthesis, and the Titanic. You can have access to all of these topics through Nonfiction Synthesizing and Combining Multiple Sources bundle.

#3 Research a Topic

A very common way to practice synthesis in school is through research projects. Naturally, research projects require students to view many sources and combine the information they learn to answer a research question. The great part about research is that it can be as involved or as simple as you want it to be. For beginner students, you may want to give them a research question. For students with more research practice, they can create their own.

Before diving into research, be sure to explain to students where they can find a variety of (good) sources. Define what a “good” source is (though this is covered extensively in the Nonfiction Synthesizing and Combining Multiple Sources bundle !). After students have collected their research, they will then draft a paragraph or essay. Their topic sentence and writing will be created from their synthesis of their sources!

Related Skills

Synthesis can be a tough skill, but with enough practice, your students will begin to show mastery. If you want more tips on helping your students become successful synthesizers, check out these blog posts on comparing passages , writing summaries for texts , or analyzing firsthand and secondhand accounts (all skills needed fo r synthesizing!).

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

You might also like…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

©2023 Teaching With a Mountain View . All Rights Reserved | Designed by Ashley Hughes

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Lost your password?

Review Cart

No products in the cart.

How to Synthesize Written Information from Multiple Sources

Shona McCombes

Content Manager

B.A., English Literature, University of Glasgow

Shona McCombes is the content manager at Scribbr, Netherlands.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

On This Page:

When you write a literature review or essay, you have to go beyond just summarizing the articles you’ve read – you need to synthesize the literature to show how it all fits together (and how your own research fits in).

Synthesizing simply means combining. Instead of summarizing the main points of each source in turn, you put together the ideas and findings of multiple sources in order to make an overall point.

At the most basic level, this involves looking for similarities and differences between your sources. Your synthesis should show the reader where the sources overlap and where they diverge.

Unsynthesized Example

Franz (2008) studied undergraduate online students. He looked at 17 females and 18 males and found that none of them liked APA. According to Franz, the evidence suggested that all students are reluctant to learn citations style. Perez (2010) also studies undergraduate students. She looked at 42 females and 50 males and found that males were significantly more inclined to use citation software ( p < .05). Findings suggest that females might graduate sooner. Goldstein (2012) looked at British undergraduates. Among a sample of 50, all females, all confident in their abilities to cite and were eager to write their dissertations.

Synthesized Example

Studies of undergraduate students reveal conflicting conclusions regarding relationships between advanced scholarly study and citation efficacy. Although Franz (2008) found that no participants enjoyed learning citation style, Goldstein (2012) determined in a larger study that all participants watched felt comfortable citing sources, suggesting that variables among participant and control group populations must be examined more closely. Although Perez (2010) expanded on Franz’s original study with a larger, more diverse sample…

Step 1: Organize your sources

After collecting the relevant literature, you’ve got a lot of information to work through, and no clear idea of how it all fits together.

Before you can start writing, you need to organize your notes in a way that allows you to see the relationships between sources.

One way to begin synthesizing the literature is to put your notes into a table. Depending on your topic and the type of literature you’re dealing with, there are a couple of different ways you can organize this.

Summary table

A summary table collates the key points of each source under consistent headings. This is a good approach if your sources tend to have a similar structure – for instance, if they’re all empirical papers.

Each row in the table lists one source, and each column identifies a specific part of the source. You can decide which headings to include based on what’s most relevant to the literature you’re dealing with.

For example, you might include columns for things like aims, methods, variables, population, sample size, and conclusion.

For each study, you briefly summarize each of these aspects. You can also include columns for your own evaluation and analysis.

The summary table gives you a quick overview of the key points of each source. This allows you to group sources by relevant similarities, as well as noticing important differences or contradictions in their findings.

Synthesis matrix

A synthesis matrix is useful when your sources are more varied in their purpose and structure – for example, when you’re dealing with books and essays making various different arguments about a topic.

Each column in the table lists one source. Each row is labeled with a specific concept, topic or theme that recurs across all or most of the sources.

Then, for each source, you summarize the main points or arguments related to the theme.

The purposes of the table is to identify the common points that connect the sources, as well as identifying points where they diverge or disagree.

Step 2: Outline your structure

Now you should have a clear overview of the main connections and differences between the sources you’ve read. Next, you need to decide how you’ll group them together and the order in which you’ll discuss them.

For shorter papers, your outline can just identify the focus of each paragraph; for longer papers, you might want to divide it into sections with headings.

There are a few different approaches you can take to help you structure your synthesis.

If your sources cover a broad time period, and you found patterns in how researchers approached the topic over time, you can organize your discussion chronologically .

That doesn’t mean you just summarize each paper in chronological order; instead, you should group articles into time periods and identify what they have in common, as well as signalling important turning points or developments in the literature.

If the literature covers various different topics, you can organize it thematically .

That means that each paragraph or section focuses on a specific theme and explains how that theme is approached in the literature.

Source Used with Permission: The Chicago School

If you’re drawing on literature from various different fields or they use a wide variety of research methods, you can organize your sources methodologically .

That means grouping together studies based on the type of research they did and discussing the findings that emerged from each method.

If your topic involves a debate between different schools of thought, you can organize it theoretically .

That means comparing the different theories that have been developed and grouping together papers based on the position or perspective they take on the topic, as well as evaluating which arguments are most convincing.

Step 3: Write paragraphs with topic sentences

What sets a synthesis apart from a summary is that it combines various sources. The easiest way to think about this is that each paragraph should discuss a few different sources, and you should be able to condense the overall point of the paragraph into one sentence.

This is called a topic sentence , and it usually appears at the start of the paragraph. The topic sentence signals what the whole paragraph is about; every sentence in the paragraph should be clearly related to it.

A topic sentence can be a simple summary of the paragraph’s content:

“Early research on [x] focused heavily on [y].”

For an effective synthesis, you can use topic sentences to link back to the previous paragraph, highlighting a point of debate or critique:

“Several scholars have pointed out the flaws in this approach.” “While recent research has attempted to address the problem, many of these studies have methodological flaws that limit their validity.”

By using topic sentences, you can ensure that your paragraphs are coherent and clearly show the connections between the articles you are discussing.

As you write your paragraphs, avoid quoting directly from sources: use your own words to explain the commonalities and differences that you found in the literature.

Don’t try to cover every single point from every single source – the key to synthesizing is to extract the most important and relevant information and combine it to give your reader an overall picture of the state of knowledge on your topic.

Step 4: Revise, edit and proofread

Like any other piece of academic writing, synthesizing literature doesn’t happen all in one go – it involves redrafting, revising, editing and proofreading your work.

Checklist for Synthesis

•   Do I introduce the paragraph with a clear, focused topic sentence?
•   Do I discuss more than one source in the paragraph?
•   Do I mention only the most relevant findings, rather than describing every part of the studies?
•   Do I discuss the similarities or differences between the sources, rather than summarizing each source in turn?
•   Do I put the findings or arguments of the sources in my own words?
•   Is the paragraph organized around a single idea?
•   Is the paragraph directly relevant to my research question or topic?
•   Is there a logical transition from this paragraph to the next one?

Further Information

How to Synthesise: a Step-by-Step Approach

Help…I”ve Been Asked to Synthesize!

Learn how to Synthesise (combine information from sources)

How to write a Psychology Essay

Module 8: Analysis and Synthesis

Synthesis in practice, learning objectives.

• Demonstrate strategies for synthesis

Professors frequently expect you to interpret, make inferences, and otherwise synthesize—bring ideas together to make something new or find a new way of looking at something old. (It might help to think of synthesis as the opposite of analysis. To synthesize is to combine; to analyze is to break down.)

Getting Better at Synthesis

To get an A on essays and papers in many courses, such as literature and history, what you write in reaction to the work of others should use synthesis to create new meaning or to show a deeper understanding of what you learned.

To do so, it helps to look for connections and patterns. One way to synthesize when writing an argument essay, paper, or other project is to look for themes among your sources. So try categorizing ideas by topic rather than by source—making associations across and between sources.

Synthesis can seem difficult, particularly if you are used to analyzing others’ points but not used to making your own. Like most things, however, it gets easier with practice. So don’t be hard on yourself if it seems difficult at first.

EXAMPLE:  Synthesis in an Argument

In the movie, a successful young screenwriter named Gil is visiting Paris with his girlfriend and her parents, who are more politically conservative than he is. Inexplicably, every midnight he time-travels back to the 1920’s Paris, a time period he’s always found fascinating, especially because of the writers and painters—Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso—with whom he’s now on a first-name basis. Gil is enchanted and always wants to stay in this fantastical past. But every morning, he’s back in the real present—feeling out of sync with his girlfriend and her parents.

For your essay, you’ve tried to come up with a narrower topic, but so far nothing seems right. Suddenly, you start paying more attention to the girlfriend’s parents’ dialogue about politics, which amount to such phrases as “we have to go back to…,” “it was a better time,” “Americans used to be able to…” and “the way it used to be.”

And then it clicks with you that the girlfriend’s parents are like Gil—longing for a different time, whether real or imagined. That kind of idea generation, where you find the connection and theme across related elements of the movie, is synthesis.

You decide to write your essay to answer the research question: How is the motivation of Gil’s girlfriend’s parents similar to Gil’s? Your thesis becomes “Despite seeming to be very different, Gil and his girlfriend’s parents are similarly motivated, and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris’s message about nostalgia can be applied to all of them.”

Of course, you’ll have to try to convince your readers that your thesis is valid, and you may or not be successful,—but that’s true with all theses. And your professor will be glad to see the synthesis.

Synthesizing From Multiple Sources

Below are some questions that highlight ways in which the act of synthesizing brings together ideas and generates new knowledge.

How do the sources speak to your specific argument or research question?

Your argument or research question is the main unifying element in your project.  Keep this in the forefront of your mind when you write about your sources.  Explain how, specifically, each source supports your central claim/s or suggests possible answers to your question.  For example:  Does the source provide essential background information or a definitional foundation for your argument or inquiry? Does it present numerical data that supports one of your points or helps you answer a question you have posed?  Does it present a theory that might be applied to some aspect of your project?  Does it present a recognized expert’s insights on your topic?

How do the sources speak to each other? 

Sometimes you will find explicit dialogue between sources (for example, Source A refutes Source B by name), and sometimes you will need to bring your sources into dialogue (for example, Source A does not mention Source B, but you observe that the two are advancing similar or dissimilar arguments).  Attending to  interrelationships among sources  is at the heart of the task of synthesis.

Figure 1 . A strong argument will utilize many different sources to support itself. Synthesizing by identifying interrelationships among these sources will help to strengthen your paper.

Begin by asking: What are the points of agreement?  Where are there disagreements?

But be aware that you are unlikely to find your sources in pure positions of “for” vs. “against.”  You are more likely to find agreement in some areas and disagreement in other areas.  You may also find agreement but for different reasons—such as different underlying values and priorities, or different methods of inquiry.

Where are there, or aren’t there, information gaps?

Where is the available information unreliable (for example, it might be difficult to trace back to primary sources), or limited, (for example, based on just a few case studies, or on just one geographical area), or difficult for non-specialists to access (for example, written in specialist language, or tucked away in a physical archive)?

Does your inquiry contain sub-questions that may not at present be answerable, or that may not be answerable without additional primary research—for example, laboratory studies, direct observation, interviews with witnesses or participants, etc.?

Or, alternatively, is there a great deal of reliable, accessible information that addresses your question or speaks to your argument or inquiry?

In considering these questions, you are engaged in synthesis: you are conducting an overview assessment of the field of available information and in this way generating composite knowledge.

Remember, synthesis is about pulling together information from a range of sources in order to answer a question or construct an argument. It is something you will be called upon to do in a wide variety of academic, professional, and personal contexts. Being able to dive into an ocean of information and surface with meaningful conclusions is an essential skill.

Synthesis in Literature Reviews

One place synthesis is usually required is in literature reviews for honors’ theses, master’s theses, and Ph.D. dissertations. In all those cases, literature reviews are intended to contribute more than annotated bibliographies do and to be arguments for the research conducted for the theses or dissertations. If you are writing an honors thesis, master’s thesis, or Ph.D. dissertation, you will find more help with  Susan Imel’s Writing a Literature Review .

Showing Synthesis

Some ways to demonstrate synthesis in your writing is to compare and contrast multiple sources. Below are some examples of sentence structures that demonstrate synthesis:

Synthesis that indicates agreement/support:

• Source A asserts that… Source B agrees when he or she states…
• According to both A & B…
• The combined conclusions of sources B & C seem to indicate that…
• The evidence shows that…
• Source B is correct that…
• Source C makes a convincing case when she argues…
• I agree with Source A’s conclusion that…

Synthesis that indicates disagreement/conflict:

• Source A asserts that…Yet Source B offers a different perspective by…
• Source C & B would likely disagree regarding…
• My view, however, contrary to what Source A has argued, is…
• I argue that X & Y are the best solution, though Source B offers a different option.
• In contrast, I would like to offer some objections to the opinions expressed by source C…
• While source A makes an intriguing argument, I would disagree…

What the above examples indicate is that synthesis is the careful weaving in of outside opinions in order to show your reader the many ideas and arguments on your topic and further assert your own. Notice, too, that the above examples are also  signal phrases : language that introduces outside source material to be either quoted or paraphrased, i.e., “contrary to what Source A has argued, source B maintains ___________ .”

Try It: Balancing Sources and Synthesis

Here’s a technique to quickly assess whether there is enough of your original thought in your essay or paper, as opposed to information from your sources: Highlight what you have included as quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from your sources. Next, highlight in another color what you have written yourself. Then take a look at the pages and decide whether there is enough of your own thinking in them.

For the mocked-up pages below, assume that the yellow-highlighted lines were written by the writer and the pink-highlighted lines are quotes, paraphrases, and summaries she pulled from her sources.

Which page most demonstrates the writer’s own ideas?

Source: Joy McGregor. “A Visual Approach: Teaching Synthesis,” School Library Monthly, Volume XXVII, Number 8/May-June 2011.

Answer: The Middle Sample.

The yellow-highlighted sections in the middle sample shows more contributions from the author than from quotes, paraphrases, and summaries of other sources.

signal phrase : a phrase that introduces outside sources material that will be quoted or paraphrased

• Synthesizing Your Research Findings. Authored by : Christine Photinos. Project : Composing Ourselves and Our World . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Synthesizing. Authored by : Melanie Gagich. Located at : https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/introduction-to-writing/chapter/8-1-synthesizing/ . Project : Introduction to Writing in College. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Synthesis of Your Own Ideas . Provided by : Ohio State University Libraries . Located at : https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/choosingsources/chapter/synthesis/ . Project : Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research by Teaching & Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of a stack of books. Authored by : Ulrike Leone. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/photos/books-book-stack-isolated-1931195/ . License : Other . License Terms : https://pixabay.com/service/terms/#license

How to Teach Synthesis Thinking in High School English

• Instructional and Assessment Strategies , Reading Instruction , Writing Instruction

Over the course of a school year, one of my goals is to move my sophomores toward synthesis thinking. CCSS.ELA.R.7 and R.9 require synthesis thinking. Bloom’s Taxonomy also moves students toward synthesis as a means of achieving creation. As we enter second semester, it’s about time for my students to begin making the move from analysis to synthesis. Here’s how I know students are ready to make the move:

• First, their writing is well organized. Students can structure a paragraph with very little scaffolding .
• Second, their writing is logical. Students provide appropriate background information and context.
• Third, their writing embeds and cites evidence smoothly. Students select evidence that supports their claims, embed evidence smoothly, and cite it correctly.
• Fourth, their writing is insightful and relevant. Students follow evidence with analysis that demonstrates the significance of the main idea.

Now, I have an awesome English I team that helps students focus on these four aspects of writing. This means that when students come to me as sophomores, they have a strong foundation in analytical thought. After a semester, we’re usually ready to move into synthesis thinking. And that’s what we’re talking about today.

This post this post may contain affiliate links .  Please read the  Terms of Use .

Choose Texts Thematically

In preparing to introduce students to synthesis thinking, it’s important to carefully select texts that touch on complementary subjects or topics. Here are some ideas for choosing texts that lend themselves to synthesis:

First, look for a shared symbol .

• For example, the poems “To Kill a Deer” by Carol Frost, “Deer Hunt” by Judson Jerome, and “Traveling through the Dark” by William Stafford all feature a common symbol. Because the deer symbol is concrete (and because I have a lot of students that look forward to hunting season), this text collection is a great place to begin.
• In addition to hunting, my students love basketball, so this collection of texts about basketball is a good opportunity for students to practice synthesizing, focusing on a shared symbol, setting, and love. The texts “Slam, Dunk, & Hook” by Yusef Komunyakaa, “Home Court” by Jose Olivarez, and “Privileged” by Kyle Korver allow students to practice synthesizing across genres and mediums.

Secondly, look for a similar subject or theme .

• First, poems about love are so common that they make a great place to start. Among my favorite love poems are “Old Love” by Pat Mora (read it here ), “Senior Discount” by Ali Liebegott (read it here ), and “Long Distance II” by Tony Harrison (read it here ). Of course, Shakespeare’s sonnets are also a great choice! All my favorite love poems are in this synthesis bundle !
• Additionally, “ T.S.A .” by Amit Majmudar and “ Gate A-4 ” by Naomi Shihab Nye share similar settings while providing commentary on racism, stereotyping, and racial profiling. These are texts that really cause my students to engage in powerful discussion. Check out my resources for teaching these two texts.
• Similarly, “To Live is an Act of Courage” by Jennifer Michael Hecht, “Courage” by Anne Sexton, and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley all focus on courage. While these texts are wildly different, their shared themes make them ideal texts for synthesis. Plus, with this text collection , students can also practice synthesizing across genres and mediums.

Thirdly, look for a shared historical or cultural perspective.

• For example, “Complaint of El Río Grande” by Richard Blanco (read it here ) and “Zapotec Crossers (or, Haiku I Write Post-PTSD Nightmares)” by Alan Pelanez (read it here ) share a similar historical context and symbol. These are tough, moving poems; nevertheless, they provide students with a rich subject for synthesis.
• Additionally, one of my favorite happy accidents in British literature is the naming of Cathy Moreland in Northanger Abbey and Cathy Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights . Reading excerpts from these passages alongside one another is a great way to synthesize within an historical period.
• Finally, “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar (read it here ) and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou (read it here ) share a common symbol and cultural perspective. While these poems were written lifetimes apart, they also make clear how heavily racism and white supremacy affect the US.

Fourthly, consider an in-depth author study to track an idea and its development across multiple texts.

• For example, Emily Dickinson’s poetry is full of her ideas about life and death. My favorite Dickinson poems are included in this 3-resource bundle . Like Dickinson, Edwin Arlington Robinson’s characters explore pain in all its forms. My students are always engaged in our classroom study of his most-famous works .
• Similarly, Gerard Manley Hopkins explores complementary ideas in his poems “ God’s Grandeur ” and “ Spring and Fall: to a Young Child .” Reading these poems side by side offers students the opportunity to synthesize ideas about nature, divinity, and humanity. Like Hopkins, William Cullen Bryant often explores the nature of the universe in his poetry.
• Additionally, Ralph Waldo Emerson is famous for fleshing out the theories of Transcendentalism across his life and in his literature. Reading excerpts from “ Nature ” and “ Self-Reliance ” helps students see an author working through the same thought processes they are working on.

Explicitly Introduce Synthesis

“Synthesis” is a tier-two vocabulary term. In different contents, the definition may vary. However, at its core, synthesis is always about creation regardless of content area. Students draw on a variety of sources and ideas to arrive at a new understanding.

To help students approach synthesis, I begin with some inquiry-based learning.

• First, I tell students we’re preparing to make the move from analytical writing to synthesis writing.
• Removing the labels, I show students this image that I found on Pinterest. Then, I ask students to think-pair-share to decide which image represents analysis and which represents synthesis.
• Next, I explicitly define the term “synthesis” before referencing the texts we have been reading. I model synthesis thinking with information from the texts we have been reading, often providing students with an example main idea or theme statement that I could only develop having read multiple texts.
• Depending on the amount of time we have, I might also show students an example of synthesis writing.

Develop Synthesis-Style Prompts

When approaching synthesis writing, students often want to compare and contrast texts. While compare/contrast may be a great way to begin analysis, synthesis resists purely binary thinking. For teachers, this means designing prompts that do not lend themselves purely to compare/contrast-style thinking. Here are some stems to help design synthesis-style writing prompts:

• What is the relationship between x and y?
• How would the authors/characters/speakers define x?
• Based on the texts, what would be the best approach for x?
• What solutions would you offer to the author/character/speakers?
• Having read the texts, what does successful x look like? What does failure look like?

Practice and Refine with Feedback

Because synthesis requires a different lens, students do not magically arrive at synthesis thinking or writing on the first try. Instead, synthesis, like most skills, requires cycles of practice and feedback.

It’s also important to note that synthesis and analysis are closely related. They complement one another. Before students can successfully synthesizes across texts, they must also be able to analyze texts. Analysis feeds synthesis, and synthesis leads to new analysis.

Working across different media is another great way to practice synthesis and analysis. CCSS.ELA.RL.7 explicitly challenges students to work across media and formats. Of course, teachers often practice this with film representations of literary works, but artwork can also be a great tool to help students synthesize.

Here are some options for visualizing synthesis:

• Artwork is a great opportunity for synthesis thinking. I’ve worked hard to compile famous pieces of artwork to accompany some of Shakespeare’s most-famous plays. Check out these resources for Visualizing Shakespeare !
• Secondly, “ Mercy ” by Rudy Francisco and “ Allowables ” by Nikki Giovanni share a similar subject and symbol. The context of these poems is so relevant, and the commentary on racism is so powerful. I cannot recommend these poems enough. Reading these poems alongside informational texts, news clippings, or artwork can help students appreciate the systemic nature of institutionalized racism. Check out my resources for helping students read and synthesize these texts.
• Similarly, “lady liberty” by Tato Laviera, “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, and “Three Liberties: Past, Present, Yet to Come” by Julia Alvarez all focus on the Statue of Liberty. Reading these texts alongside propaganda about immigration is a good way to help students synthesize across mediums. With this text collection , students work on synthesizing abstract ideas about freedom.

How do you help your students work on synthesis thinking? Let us know in the comments!

Read these posts next...

Professionalism: 1 Topic I’m No Longer Teaching in HS ELA

15 LGBTQ+ Titles To Make Your Classroom Library More Inclusive

6 Favorite Reading Strategies I Love for High School ELA

7 Powerful Speeches for Teaching Rhetorical Analysis in ELA

Let's Stay in Touch

Join Moore English

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• Synthesizing Sources | Examples & Synthesis Matrix

Synthesizing Sources | Examples & Synthesis Matrix

Published on July 4, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Synthesizing sources involves combining the work of other scholars to provide new insights. It’s a way of integrating sources that helps situate your work in relation to existing research.

Synthesizing sources involves more than just summarizing . You must emphasize how each source contributes to current debates, highlighting points of (dis)agreement and putting the sources in conversation with each other.

You might synthesize sources in your literature review to give an overview of the field or throughout your research paper when you want to position your work in relation to existing research.

Table of contents

Example of synthesizing sources, how to synthesize sources, synthesis matrix, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about synthesizing sources.

Let’s take a look at an example where sources are not properly synthesized, and then see what can be done to improve it.

This paragraph provides no context for the information and does not explain the relationships between the sources described. It also doesn’t analyze the sources or consider gaps in existing research.

Research on the barriers to second language acquisition has primarily focused on age-related difficulties. Building on Lenneberg’s (1967) theory of a critical period of language acquisition, Johnson and Newport (1988) tested Lenneberg’s idea in the context of second language acquisition. Their research seemed to confirm that young learners acquire a second language more easily than older learners. Recent research has considered other potential barriers to language acquisition. Schepens, van Hout, and van der Slik (2022) have revealed that the difficulties of learning a second language at an older age are compounded by dissimilarity between a learner’s first language and the language they aim to acquire. Further research needs to be carried out to determine whether the difficulty faced by adult monoglot speakers is also faced by adults who acquired a second language during the “critical period.”

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

To synthesize sources, group them around a specific theme or point of contention.

As you read sources, ask:

• What questions or ideas recur? Do the sources focus on the same points, or do they look at the issue from different angles?
• How does each source relate to others? Does it confirm or challenge the findings of past research?
• Where do the sources agree or disagree?

Once you have a clear idea of how each source positions itself, put them in conversation with each other. Analyze and interpret their points of agreement and disagreement. This displays the relationships among sources and creates a sense of coherence.

Consider both implicit and explicit (dis)agreements. Whether one source specifically refutes another or just happens to come to different conclusions without specifically engaging with it, you can mention it in your synthesis either way.

Synthesize your sources using:

• Topic sentences to introduce the relationship between the sources
• Signal phrases to attribute ideas to their authors
• Transition words and phrases to link together different ideas

To more easily determine the similarities and dissimilarities among your sources, you can create a visual representation of their main ideas with a synthesis matrix . This is a tool that you can use when researching and writing your paper, not a part of the final text.

In a synthesis matrix, each column represents one source, and each row represents a common theme or idea among the sources. In the relevant rows, fill in a short summary of how the source treats each theme or topic.

This helps you to clearly see the commonalities or points of divergence among your sources. You can then synthesize these sources in your work by explaining their relationship.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Synthesizing sources means comparing and contrasting the work of other scholars to provide new insights.

It involves analyzing and interpreting the points of agreement and disagreement among sources.

You might synthesize sources in your literature review to give an overview of the field of research or throughout your paper when you want to contribute something new to existing research.

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

Topic sentences help keep your writing focused and guide the reader through your argument.

In an essay or paper , each paragraph should focus on a single idea. By stating the main idea in the topic sentence, you clarify what the paragraph is about for both yourself and your reader.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Ryan, E. (2023, May 31). Synthesizing Sources | Examples & Synthesis Matrix. Scribbr. Retrieved July 10, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/synthesizing-sources/

Is this article helpful?

Eoghan Ryan

Other students also liked, signal phrases | definition, explanation & examples, how to write a literature review | guide, examples, & templates, how to find sources | scholarly articles, books, etc., get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

• Rating Count
• Price (Ascending)
• Price (Descending)
• Most Recent

Synthesis writing

Resource type.

AP Language Essay Writing Unit Rhetorical Analysis, Argument & Synthesis AP Lang

Title: Synthesis Essay Writing Unit: 14 Argument Essays for Engaged Learning

Synthesis and Argument Writing : Does a #hashtag create real social change?

American Dream Unit: Literature, Film Studies, Poetry, & Synthesis Essay Writing

Synthesizing Texts: Synthesis Reading and Writing Lesson - Digital

Synthesis and Argument Writing : Is True Love Fantasy or Destiny?

Synthesis and Argument Writing : Is it ever okay to fail?

Synthesis and Argument: Holiday Prompt for Essay Writing or Socratic Seminar

Writing Conclusions Unit | Summarizing | Synthesizing | Sentences & Paragraphs

AP Language & Composition - Mastering the Synthesis Essay Workshop Writing Unit

Synthesis and Argument Writing : What is Happiness and is it Important?

Thematic Unit: Immigration & The American Dream | Lit. & Synthesis Essay Writing

RESEARCH SYNTHESIS ESSAY Writing Introductory Lesson Handouts Google Classroom

Synthesis and Argument Writing : Are Creativity and Imagination Important?

Muckraking & Investigative Journalism Unit - Synthesis & Research Writing Unit

Distance Learning - The Synthesis Writing Process: College Ready Writing

Writing a Synthesis Essay; Thesis for Synthesis Paper PPT

Fairy Tales: Writing a Parody - Common Core/ Synthesis Activity

AP Language & Composition - Synthesis Essay Writing Practice & Remediation Unit

Synthesis Writing Unit: Should We Ban Plastic Straws? Digital Distance Learning

Synthesis Writing Units High School ELA Curriculum: Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction

Writing the Synthesis Essay for AP Lang: Sentence Frames

Writing Synthesis Lesson Bundle (Slides, Handout/Notes, & Practice WS) *DIGITAL*

• We're hiring
• Help & FAQ
• Privacy policy
• Student privacy
• Terms of service
• Tell us what you think

5 Fantastic Strategies for Synthesizing

by Erin | Nov 7, 2019 | Reading , Strategies

In order for a reader to be able to read and understand a text there is a great deal of work that they must do in their head. As shared in The Importance of Strategies , readers use a variety of strategic actions and strategies to process what they are reading.  Synthesizing is one of twelve strategic action we will explore in this Strategic Action Series . 

This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful. Visit my disclosure statement for more information. 

Strategies Change Over Time

When young children begin reading, they may use very simple strategies like memorizing or remembering the words in a story and reciting them as they see the pictures. As they learn more about letters, words, and books, they will begin using strategies like:

• Pausing when something doesn’t make sense (self-monitoring)
• Looking at the picture, thinking about the sentence, and looking at the first letters to make sure what they have read “looks right,” “sounds right,” and “makes sense.” (cross-checking sources of information)
• Reread a word to read it correctly when they misread the word the first time. (self-correcting)

As young readers have more and more time to read and experience books, they develop their ability to use more sophisticated strategic actions as they read.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

It is important to note that readers use strategic actions simultaneously. Unfortunately, many children view them as separate actions or even as their goal of their reading. This may be the case if you’ve ever heard your child say, “This week I am inferring.”   This happens when strategies are talked about in isolation or if your child does most of their strategy work with worksheets. Even though we may attempt to strengthen a strategic action by talking about it in isolation, it is always important to remind your child that they use many strategic actions and strategies to understand what we are reading.

Here is an example shared by Fountas and Pinnell in Guided Reading (2e) 

• A child who is automatically solving words and monitoring his comprehension might realize it and pause to reread or search for more information. He might also search his background knowledge, make connections, and, by comparing present knowledge to new learning, synthesize new ideas

Even though these actions are listed in a sequence, many take place simultaneously. Our brains can work so quickly and can do such much.

Now let’s take a look at Synthesizing, a strategic action identified by Fountas and Pinnell ( Literacy Continuum , Expanded Edition, 2017).

Synthesizing

Readers are continually encountering new information and ideas from texts. It is important for them to incorporate new information they gain from the text with they already understand and know. Incorporating this new knowledge with their existing knowledge helps readers think deeper, understand more perspectives, and gain understanding of experiences that they cannot directly experience.

Check out the Reading Level Specific Posts  to see questions you can ask or prompts you can give to support your child’s use of this strategic action.

5 fantastic strategies to encourage synthesizing, 1. look for patterns with characters.

Great for Reading Levels H-M

Strategy Steps

• Look at the character in multiple parts of the text.
• Consider what actions, thoughts, or dialogue repeats across the text.
• Notice if there is a pattern.
• Use that pattern to name a trait.

You can prompt your child to think about the characters by asking the following questions:

• Can you describe the character in the beginning?
• Can you describe the character at this part of the story?
• What character trait could describe the character?
• How is the character behaving over and over?

2. Look for Repeating Words in Nonfiction

Great for Reading Levels A-M

• As you read, pay attention to words or phrases that you see over and over.
• Look at the images and other text features to see if the word or phrase is shown in those as well.
• Consider if there are any patterns in the images and text features.  
• When you find a pattern (repeating word or phrase or in images), ask yourself if it tells you about what the book is mostly about. 

You can prompt your child to look for patterns in nonfiction by asking the following questions:

• Is there a word that repeats on each page?
• What patterns do you notice in the images or text features?
• How do the images/text features support the words in the text?
• Do you notice a connection between the repeating word and the images/charts/graphs?
• What is this book mostly about?

3. Pay Attention to Unusual Behavior

Great for Reading Levels N and up

  Strategy Steps

• As you are reading, pay attention to how the character acts, talks, and responds to others.
• Notice when a character acts in an unusual way.
• Think about what the character is saying and/or doing in this particular scene that is different from past scenes.
• As you continue to read, pay attention to whether the character has changed or if their unusual behavior was temporary (like showing you a glimpse of another side of them).
• After reading, compare the time the character acted in an unusual way to their previous and latter behaviors to form an idea or theory about the character.

You can prompt your child to pay attention to a character’s behavior changes by asking the following questions:

• What’s unusual about the character’s behavior here?
• How is the character acting differently here?
• Do you think the character changed or do you think they are only behaving differently in this moment?

 4.  Going Beyond the Topic

Great for any Reading Levels M and up

• After reading, think about the main topic .

Example: In Face to Face with Lions the main topic is Lions.

• Think about what the author says about the main topic.
• Examine the kinds of words the author uses to describe the topic.
• Next ask yourself why you think the author wrote this particular book or what perspective does this author bring to this topic.
• Put together what you notice in the text and the answer to your question (step 4).

Example: Face to Face with Lions is about the importance of lions and how humans are impacting their survival.

You can prompt your child to synthesize elements of the text by asking the following questions:

• What’s the topic of this book?
• What’s this section mostly about?
• How does the author present this topic?
• What do you think the author is trying to say about this topic?

  5. Nonfiction Structures

Great for Reading Levels M and up

• Read through the text.
• Consider how the information is being presented and the overall structure.
• Think about the information you learned in the text.
• Make a main idea statement including the structure.

This strategy works if your child is familiar with nonfiction text structures:

• Description (main idea and details)
• Cause and Effect
• Compare/Contrast

You can prompt your child to identify the structure by asking the following questions:

• How is the information being presented?
• What’s the relationship between the information being presented?
• (Cause and Effect) Can you include both the cause and effect in your main idea statement?
• (Description) Can you include the theme or lesson learned in your main idea statement?

Check out these posts for more strategies to support strategic actions:

• Searching for and Using Information
• Monitoring and Self-correcting
• Solving words
• Maintaining Fluency
• Summarizing
• Making Connections  
• Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2017).  Guided reading: Responsive teaching across the grades . Heinemann.
• Pinnell, G. S., & Fountas, I. C. (2007). The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades K-8: Behaviors and Understandings to Notice, Teach, and Support.  Heinemann .
• Serravallo, J. (2015).  The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers  (Vol. 11). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Latest Posts

Latest posts by Erin ( see all )

• 10 Awesome Autumn Activities and 30 Books to Match - September 17, 2020
• 5 Outstanding Ways Grandparents can Engage with their Grandkids - September 12, 2020
• 8 Ways to Celebrate Read a Book Day - September 5, 2020

Please follow & like us :)

Recent Posts

• 10 Awesome Autumn Activities and 30 Books to Match
• 5 Outstanding Ways Grandparents can Engage with their Grandkids
• 8 Ways to Celebrate Read a Book Day
• 5 Reliable Routines for Families
• Best Early Chapter Books to Hook Readers
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• November 2018
• October 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• Adolescent Readers
• Early Reading
• High Frequency Words
• Phonemic Awareness
• Spelling Strategies
• Uncategorized
• Word Study and Spelling
• Young writers

Information Literacy Resource Bank

Synthesis activity.

This activity asks students to write a paragraph using information, evidence, or opinions from a selection of different sources. The aim is to help students develop their skills in synthesising information in order to support their arguments.

No comments.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Skip to main content

The SJT Clubs Are Now Open! Learn More Here!

Susan Jones Teaching

Teaching Resources

Synthesizing Activities for First and Second Grade

Susan Jones June 7, 2019 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate ads at no cost to you. See my disclosures for more information.

When we teach students to synthesize, we let them know that they are combining what they already know with new information they learn from the text. As we do this, our thinking changes and grows! It’s important to teach students not to just repeat back what they’re learning. Instead, we want our students to realize that they’re actually processing the new information through synthesis.

I wanted to share a few activities, book recommendations and ideas to help students practice synthesizing in first and second grade.

LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS:

When first teaching students about synthesizing, I really emphasize that we base our thoughts off what we know at the time. As we learn more information and gain more personal experiences in life, our thinking grows and changes.

This introductory activity relates to the binoculars metaphor and has students thinking about what they see in each photo.

We start with a zoomed in portion of the photo and share what we think the photo is. What is the subject here? What is happening in this photo? Why do you think that? Then, I let students know this was only a small portion of the bigger picture. So we take a step back and ask ourselves: What do we think is going on in the photo now? Has our thinking changed at all since the last picture? Why or why not? Lastly, we repeat those questions with the third and final photo. What new perspective have we gained by learning more information and seeing more of the big picture?

STICKY NOTE SYNTHESIZING:

Debbie Miller describes synthesis as ripples made by throwing a rock in a pond. The first circle is our initial thinking. As we read and learn more information, our thinking expands and grows bigger, like the ripples in a pond. Using this model, I like to model synthesizing a text using this type of interactive anchor chart. I simply stop throughout different portions of the text and write down my thoughts (and subsequent changing thoughts) on a sticky notes and model putting them in different areas of the ripple pond (or bullseye model). The innermost circle is reserved for my initial thoughts/predictions based on the beginning of the book. Throughout the middle of the story, I will stop and add more of my thoughts as they change or as I gain new information. At the end of the story I will clarify anything I’ve learned add that newly gained information to the last ring.

If you’re looking for some great books for synthesizing here are a few of my favorites (affiliate links):

STOP & SYNTHESIZE:

When I practice synthesizing with my students, I really let them know that this is when we are putting everything we’ve learned together. We are making inferences, we are using our schema, visualizing, etc. to gain a better understanding of what is happening in our stories. As we continue to read and use our skills, we synthesize and make sense of the story. Our thoughts change as we read more.

You can use any of the books I previously mentioned, but I also wrote 4 short stories with stopping points for students to stop and synthesize what they’ve learned so far:

All of these passages, activities, and recording sheets  (and much more)  are included in my  Comprehension Strategies that Stick  unit below:

Pin to remember:

You may also enjoy these posts...

Reader Interactions

July 1, 2019 at 2:57 am

I love this activity and will use this with my first graders this year. Love your blog! Thank you so much for your ideas!

September 23, 2019 at 10:42 pm

love your stuff

November 15, 2020 at 7:06 pm

January 23, 2022 at 9:54 pm

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Free CVC Word Mapping Mats

Sign up for my free email newsletter and receive these free CVC Word Mapping Mats to help with your next lesson plan!

Check out these popular reading resources!

We have loads of great reading resources over in the shop. Here are just a few I pulled together for you!

Blending Cards for a Phonics Blending Drill

Decodable Phonics Comprehension Passages (BUNDLE) | DIGITAL & PRINTABLE

Decodable Sentences: literacy intervention pages

Phonics Games for 1st Grade: Print, Play, LEARN!

Hello friends.

Welcome to Susan Jones Teaching. When it comes to the primary grades, learning *All Things* in the K-2 world has been my passion for many years! I just finished my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction and love sharing all the latest and greatest strategies I learn with you through this blog and my YouTube channel! I hope you'll enjoy learning along with me :)

More About Me

• Coffee Shop Teachers
• Free Samples

• Synthesis Writing in the English Classroom

What is Synthesis?

Choosing High-Interest Topics

Gather Multiple Sources

Stating a Clear Objective and Task

• SAMPLE OBJECTIVE: Students will synthesize multiple sources to write an argument paragraph that takes a stand and includes multiple perspectives.

Model Critical Reading

The Secondary English Coffee Shop

• 21st Century Learning
• active learning
• Anti-Racism
• artificial intelligence
• Back to school
• Banned Books Week
• Bell-Ringers
• Black History Month
• Book Recommendations
• characterization
• Classroom Community
• Classroom Library
• Classroom Management
• Collaboration
• College and Career Readiness
• common core
• Creative Writing
• Critical Thinking
• distance learning
• Diverse Books
• ELA Teachers
• End of the Year
• English Language Arts
• Espresso shots
• graphic novels
• High School English
• Independent Reading
• Informative Writing
• Interactive Notebooks
• Journal Prompts
• Lesson Planning
• literary elements
• Media Literacy
• Novel Study
• Organization
• peer editing
• personal narrative
• Picture Books
• Pop Culture
• Professional Development Resources
• Public Speaking & Drama
• Puzzles & Games
• Reading Strategies
• remote teaching
• Secondary Sara
• Shakespeare
• Short Stories
• Social Media
• St. Patrick's Day
• State Testing
• Substitute lessons
• Teacher Wellness
• Teaching Analysis
• teaching online
• teaching rhetorical analysis
• teaching writing
• Thanksgiving
• Using Photographs
• visual literacy
• Writing Prompts

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

• ►  May (1)
• ►  April (3)
• ►  March (3)
• ►  February (2)
• ►  January (4)
• ►  November (4)
• ►  October (2)
• ►  September (3)
• ►  August (4)
• ►  July (1)
• ►  May (3)
• ►  April (1)
• ►  March (2)
• ►  February (1)
• ►  January (5)
• ►  December (1)
• ►  November (3)
• ►  October (3)
• ►  August (3)
• ►  June (1)
• ►  May (2)
• ►  February (3)
• ►  January (2)
• ►  September (2)
• ►  August (2)
• ►  July (2)
• ►  June (3)
• ►  May (5)
• ►  March (4)
• ►  December (3)
• ►  August (5)
• ►  April (2)
• ►  February (4)
• ►  December (2)
• 9 Fun & Creative Halloween Activities for English ...
• Creative Halloween Ideas for ELA
• ►  September (5)
• ►  January (3)
• ►  October (4)
• ►  July (3)
• ►  June (4)
• ►  April (5)
• ►  February (5)
• ►  December (4)
• ►  October (5)
• ►  September (4)
• ►  June (2)
• ►  May (4)

Grab Our Button

© 2015 The Secondary English Coffee Shop . Ashleigh Template designed by Georgia Lou Studios All rights reserved. Customised by A Little Peace of Africa

Looking for The Read Aloud Library? 📖 LOGIN HERE

• Professional Development

Shop Resources

November 5, 2022

How to teach synthesizing: helpful books and lesson ideas.

An important component of reading comprehension is the ability to synthesize or draw from multiple sources to gain new information. If you teach reading strategies , chances are you’ve heard this term before, but what exactly does it mean for our young readers? And how can you help students learn this skill? Learning how to teach synthesizing in a way that young readers understand can be tricky.

Figuring out how to teach synthesizing is hard because it can feel like an abstract concept for our younger students. To keep it simple for them, I like to tell them that synthesizing is when your thinking changes while reading a book. You may think one thing based off the cover and first few pages of the book, but as you keep reading, you realize that what you originally thought might not be correct and you need to change your thinking.

Why Synthesizing is Important

In reading, we teach students to synthesize because we want them to develop a deep meaning of the text and truly understand what they are reading. Synthesizing requires students to use many skills while reading like their schema, what is happening in the story, growing knowledge of characters and events, and using new information they read.

Synthesizing is a key component of critical thinking, which is why it’s so important for students to be able to synthesize. It helps students think deeply about the information they’re learning. When students can synthesize while they read, it helps prepare them to synthesize in many other subject areas later.

Introducing Synthesizing

I like to first introduce synthesizing outside of reading. First, find a picture of something interesting. In my case, it was me bathing our dog outside. Show students one part of the picture (I showed my dog’s face) and ask them what’s happening in the picture. Then, I’d uncover a little bit more (me squatting down next to my dog) and ask students what they think is going on. Finally, I’d show the whole picture of me bathing my dog.

We’d discuss how their thinking changed as they got more and more information. At first students may have though that it was just a picture of my dog. Then, they thought it was me and my dog. Finally, they thought it was me giving my dog a bath. With background knowledge and more information, their thinking changed.

Books for Teaching Synthesizing

All of these books easily lend themselves to synthesizing and are engaging for kids. They are great for kindergarten through second grade readers.

• Cindy Ellen by Susan Lowell
• Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
• Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman
• The Princess and the Pizza by M.J. Auch and Mary Jane Auch
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Sentence Stems for Synthesizing

Equipping readers with the right vocabulary will help them learn better and faster. We want them to be able to talk about their thinking accurately, so we have to show them how to explicitly. Here is a simple set of sentence stems you can use to help your students talk about synthesizing:

• At first, I thought…
• Then, I thought…
• Now, I am thinking…

Taking the Guesswork Out of How to Teach Synthesizing

If you want to take all of the guesswork out of planning how to teach synthesizing, this is the resource for you! The Let’s Synthesize Interactive Read Aloud resource has 7 days of lesson plans with synthesizing reading activities that are perfect for the first grade or second grade classroom.

Inside you’ll find:

• Interactive Read Aloud & Reading Strategy Notes
• Example Teaching Schedule
• Reading Strategy Anchor Chart
• Reader’s Toolbox Strategy Tool
• *NEW* Each lesson has sticky notes for books, vocabulary cards, and a vocabulary activity page
• 7 Scripted Lesson Plans
• Digital Components: Digital Resource Guide and Links for digital anchor charts and assessment page

You can get your Let’s Synthesize resource HERE to be all set for teaching this important reading strategy.

Watch for the moments when your students “get it”. They’re some of my favorite ones! Once they do understand the concept of synthesizing, get ready to take them deeper into their thinking.

Happy Teaching,

• reading , read aloud , Literacy

EASILY PLAN YOUR K-2 READING SMALL GROUPS​

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This  FREE  guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

Hi, I'm Amanda

I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students  love  and that are  easy to implement  for teachers.  Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!

Reading CVCe Words | CVCe Worksheets for Science of Reading Centers

Reading Beginning Blends and Ending Blends Center

You may also enjoy....

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Read Aloud Library Login
• My Wishlist
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

©2021 MRS RICHARDSON'S CLASS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Site by ashley hughes.

Which type of professional development interests you?

Literacy training videos, online workshops.

What are you looking for?

Privacy overview.