Practice with Synthesis Statements
When writing synthesis statements:
1.
Review data. Color-code for similarities; doodle in the margins; create
categories.
2.
Synthesize data into one concise multi-layered statement.
3.
Add supportive evidence.
4.
Review and use the statement to write an application statement or a question
that will move your research and/or thinking forward.
Below are some examples of synthesized statements students wrote from their literature
reviews. What do you notice about these synthesis statements? How do they reflect
personal meaning making? What can you take away from these examples that may help
you in writing synthesis statements?
Example #1:
No one can predict a child’s mind. An author might plan a particular book but they can
not plan what children will connect to and learn from. As teachers it is important for us to
not force our perspectives of the author's purpose on the students but let them bring their
background knowledge to the story and come up with their own perspectives. If we do
this the story will come alive to them more. How can I learn to listen and respond more to
what readers are doing? (Rosenblatt, 2006; Gee, 2001; Heath, S.B., 2006; Smith, 1983)
Example #2:
Engaged reading has an effect on literacy development and success. Depth of
engagement depends on how capable the reader views himself to be and how relevant he
views the text he is reading. Community also plays a role in supporting engagement.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2014 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
Students who feel safe in their community and have strong relationships with teachers
and peers engage more dialogically with texts and also with each other over texts. Strong
reading communities promote engagement and engagement builds strong communities.
Engagement also increases in the absence of extrinsic motivators. To support reading
engagement, I need to provide ample and varied reading material, allow students to selfselect reading material, provide many opportunities for reading successes and allow time
for student generated conversations. I need to listen well to student conversations about
text to understand how to deepen each student’s text comprehension and in turn broaden
their worldviews. (Allington, R., 2002; Cambourne, B., 1995; Ivey, G. & Johnston, P.,
2012; Rosenblatt, L.M., 2006).
Example #3:
The rhetoric and legislation surrounding reading scores and proficiency have distracted
many from remembering that on the other side lie small children who know nothing of
federal funding and being “Left Behind.” These children do not relate to phonemes; they
relate to zombies and unicorns and the far-away places that reading can take them. All of
the things mentioned have their place in reading instruction. As a teacher my place will
be in between – buffering, so that the pressure to perform does not distract from
the engagement and participation that ensure the success in reading we are all looking
for. (Allington, R., 2002; Cambourne, B., 1995; Ivey, G. & Johnston, P., 2012)
References Cited
Allington, R. (2002). What I've learned about effective reading instruction from a decade
of studying exemplary elementary classroom teachers. Phi Delta Kappan 83 (10),
740-748.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2014 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning:
Twenty years of inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 49,
(3), 182-190.
Gee, J. P. (2001). Reading as Situated language: A sociocognitive perspective. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(8), 714-725.
Heath, S. B. (2006). The children of Trackton’s Children: Spoken and written language
in social change. In Ruddell, R. B. & Unrau, N. J. (Eds.). Theoretical Models and
Processes of Reading (5th ed., pp. 187-209). Newark, DE: International Reading
Association.
Ivey, G. & Johnston, P. (2012). Social construction of engagement. Presented at the
Literacy Research Association Conference. December, 2012.
Smith, F. (1983). Essays Into Literacy: Selected papers and some afterthoughts.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rosenblatt, L. M. (2006). The transactional theory of reading and writing. In Ruddell, R.
B. & Unrau, N. J. (Eds.). Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5th ed.,
pp. 1363-1398). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2014 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2014 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.