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At , 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 third 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 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 organizational skills, the exercise encouraged collaboration and peer feedback. Students talked through the placement of information鈥攆rom fun facts to historical details鈥攚ith their partner to ensure coherence in their presentations.

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

鈥淲hat I love about it is that there鈥檚 more than one right answer, right? If you can organize it in the way that your mind thought, 鈥楾his is how it should be organized,鈥� and you added some transition words, then it will flow,鈥� says Torres. 鈥淚 also think it allows them to retain the information a little bit better, because when you鈥檙e actually touching it, talking about it, it鈥檚 in there more鈥攖hose pathways are being made.鈥�

For more strategies that can help elementary students learn how to synthesize information,check out Laura Lee鈥檚 short article for 麻豆传媒入口, 鈥�Teaching Young Students How to Use Multiple Sources.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: This summary was written with support from 麻豆传媒入口鈥檚 custom AI tool, which prioritizes information from our archive of educational content.