Synthesis = Mixed Nuts

STEPS:

1.  Read your review and highlight important information. (10 minutes)

BE SURE TO GET ALL OF THE KEY IDEAS AND ANY SENTENCES THAT EXPRESS AN IDEA PARTICULARLY WELL.

2.  Cut out the highlighted sentences.

3.  Share your work with your group.  Discuss what else you could use to support your thesis and which ideas from the reviews need ìfleshing out.î (10-15 minutes)

EVALUATE THE MATERIAL: WHATíS MISSING?

4.  One group member should type the additional support sentences, one should type the first and last sentences, one should add the ìflesh.î (10 minutes)

GIVE THE MATERIAL YOUR OWN VOICE: BLEND IN YOUR IDEAS, ìFLESH OUTî THE IDEAS IN THE REVIEWS, FOCUS ALL OF THE IDEAS. (DONíT FORGET TO DOCUMENT THE WORDS AND IDEAS OF OTHERS!)

5.  Print out your work and cut the sentences as you did for the review. (5 minutes)

6.  Organize all of the cutouts in a logical and fluid order. Glue the cutouts onto the plain paper to create your synthesized paragraph.

(5 minutes)

NOW, YOU HAVE MIXED NUTS, or SYNTHESIS!

    7. Reflect on your work.  How well did you synthesize?  What should you do differently next time?

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