Tuesday, October 1, 2013

  Day 18-19: Synthesizing Sources

Students will be able to:

  • Understand definition of synthesis writing and where this skill is commonly used
  • Read two academic texts to identify a synthesis summary of two sources vs a non synthesized summary of two sources
  • Practice synthesis of three simple sources through use of chart to organize ideas

[15-20 min] Part I Synthesizing Sources
To begin our discussion on Source Synthesis, I would you to discuss the following questions in small groups with your classmates:

1) What does the term "Synthesis" mean?
2) Why might source synthesis be a necessary skill to learn for academic writing?
3) What do you find (or think might be) difficult or easy about this task?

Now, please refer to the HANDOUT titled Comparative Summaries (Swales & Feak, 2012, pg. 174-179). This handout discusses common graduate level homework and essay writing prompts that will require synthesizing sources. Also, we will take a look at two summaries written for a psychology exam and analyze them in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. 

[20-25 min] Part II: Synthesis Chart/Practice
Then we will go over this SYNTHESIS PPT, which will show us one method to synthesize sources into an organized paper. You will need this CHART in order to practice the end activities.

This “chart” concept will help us in synthesizing the articles we have read into paragraphs that hold one main idea.

[5-10 min] Part III: Discussion on Articles: What do I do next?


Homework: Read and take notes of Article #3. We will be working with that in class. You do not need to summarize this article. Come with notes from the reading.


Lesson Materials:
HANDOUT- Comparative Summaries (Swales & Feak, 2012, pg. 174-179) 
BLANK SYTHESIS CHART 


Supplemental Materials (I use in the next class):









Supplemental Materials:
[10 min] Part II Video/Fast Facts on Wal-Mart
Link to this Short Video on "The Walmart Effect"  (Fishman, 2006) can be found HERE.
16 Fast Facts on Wal-mart is located HERE.

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