Synthesis is about organizing the different pieces to create a mosaic, a meaning, a beauty, greater than the sum of each shiny piece. It is a complex process in which children, even the youngest, engage very naturally every day.

   At its best, synthesizing involves merging new information with existing knowledge to create an original idea, see a new perspective, or form a new line of thinking to achieve insight.

   This strategy allows a reader to step back from a text, and make a generalization, create an interpretation, draw a conclusion, develop an explanation. It is as if the reader pauses periodically, reflects, ponders about the meaning of a text, and then eventually exclaims, "Aha! I get it!"

   A reader who is expanding meaning by synthesizing is bringing together information derived from the text with background knowledge to develop a whole that is greater than the parts. The understandings that arise from synthesizing are new.

   There is a constant interaction between the person and the piece, and the particular meaning that is created represents a unique meeting of the two.