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Teacher Laura Mullaney (Kerrick Elementary, Louisville, KY.) leads her fourth-grade students in a whole class lesson on the meaning of synthesizing in reading. Then, she scaffolds specific comprehension thought processes her students need to synthesize what they have read.

Being able to synthesize what they read extends the literal meaning enabling the reader to make inferences, comparisons, and decisions about a text's overall meaning.

In the small group, Laura first helps students establish prior knowledge, examine text features, and read a chunked amount of text. She assesses comprehension as they read. The students combine these strategies as they read and share what they have synthesized.

This video was originally part of a multimedia professional development resource, Literacy Without Limits, produced by KET in 2007 in collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Education.

Literacy Without Limits

What characteristics of highly effective teaching and learning do you observe?

Kentucky Department of Education: Characteristics of Highly Effective Teaching and Learning