Fifth Grade · Reading · week 13

Synthesis: combine without copying

Combine information from multiple sources into an original paragraph written in the student own words, without copying phrasing.

Synthesis means blending information from more than one source into ONE new piece of writing that is entirely in your own words. This is different from copying a sentence from a source, and different from just summarizing one source at a time -- synthesis weaves ideas together.

The trick to synthesizing without copying: read your sources, then put them away and write from memory. If you can only write your paragraph while looking directly at the source, you are probably about to copy it. Writing from what you remember forces your own words to come out.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Physically cover or close the source before they start writing their synthesized sentence -- make the "put it away" step concrete.
  • If a sentence sounds suspiciously like the source, ask them to explain the idea to you out loud first, then write down what they just said.
  • Celebrate when their sentence structure looks nothing like either source but the IDEAS are all still accurate -- that is a real synthesis win.
  • This connects directly to Week 11 three-source research -- use that same research question here if helpful.
Talk about it:
  • What was hardest about writing without looking at your sources?
  • How can you tell the difference between synthesizing and accidentally copying?
  • Why does research writing require your own words instead of the source exact words?

Mastery looks like: They write an accurate synthesized paragraph from two or more sources with no copied phrasing, verified by explaining the ideas aloud first.

Common stumbles: Changing only a few small words from the source, light copying, while keeping its sentence structure -- this still counts as copying.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Essay & Thesis PlannerShape a thesis and outline an intro, body, and conclusion.try →Paragraph BuilderStack a paragraph: topic sentence, details, closing.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Reading for this learner.
← Back to todayAll coursesYear planner