Learning to Synthesize Through a Hands-On Activity

At Whiting Lane Elementary School, in West Hartford, Connecticut, a commitment to student-centered learning drives all instructional decisions. Principal Karen Kukish says teachers put a lot of effort into preparing and organizing their lesson plans in ways that will address the needs of their diverse population of learners, balancing high expectations with tailored supports for each child. For challenging academic tasks, teachers often deliver instruction through different modalities to engage more learners. For example, teacher Gloria Torres facilitated a hands-on workshop for her 3rd graders to help them practice synthesizing information from multiple sources.

For a recent geography project, students had selected a region in the United States to research. To prepare for an informational writing task, they were asked to synthesize their paraphrased notes from two different sources, in order to create a cohesive narrative. Torres typed up their handwritten notes, cut them into strips that each contained a researched fact, and distributed them in bags to pairs of students, along with a printed list of transition words and a piece of construction paper.

During the activity, students discussed different possibilities of grouping the facts, moving and manipulating the strips of information, and eventually arranging them in a logical order. This tactile approach helped them understand how different details fit together. Once they were satisfied with the order, they glued down the strips, and chose transition words from the handout to make sure the final product flowed smoothly. In addition to fostering critical thinking and organization skills, the exercise encouraged collaboration and peer feedback. Students talked through the placement of information—from fun facts to historical details—with their partner, to ensure coherence in their presentations.

Making a complex task like synthesizing information from multiple sources tangible reinforces students’ understanding, and makes their higher-level thinking visible to themselves, their peers, and their teacher.

“What I love about it is that there's more than one right answer, right? If you can organize it in the way that your mind thought, ‘this is how it should be organized, and you added some transition words, then it will flow.” says Torres. “I also think it allows them to retain the information a little bit better, because when you're actually touching it, talking about it, it's in there more—those pathways are being made.”

For more strategies that can help elementary students learn to synthesize information, check out Laura Lee’s short article for Edutopia, “Teaching Young Students How to Use Multiple Sources.”

Editor’s note: This summary was written with support from Edutopia’s custom AI tool, which prioritizes information from our archive of educational content.