Research strongly indicates that informational writing is a key factor in reading comprehension. We must actively demonstrate how to connect reading and writing skills. We believe that we can do more to connect these two fundamental skills. These skills need to be developed in all subject areas.

Teaching students how to make sense of what they read is crucial to comprehension. The ability to paraphrase, summarize, and synthesize what we read, hear, and view will help students make sense of the information they encounter. These skills are key components in Common Core Writing, Reading and Speaking and Listening Standards.

The first step in making sense of all types of information should involve the ability to restate the message. Students need to be encouraged to use their own words to express the meaning of the wide range of information that they read, hear, and view. When students use different words to restate information, they are proving that they truly understand a message. Moreover, paraphrasing is an essential skill for avoiding plagiarism.

Once students are comfortable with paraphrasing, they can move on to summarizing. Summarizing requires providing a brief overview of the essentials of a text. Summarizing involves analyzing information in a way that captures the main idea. Once again, students need to use their own words in a summary. Students must develop this ability to handle both print and digital information in all subject areas.

Synthesizing involves making connections. Students need to be able to connect and use all kinds of textual information from a wide variety of sources. The ability to synthesize can begin in the early grades. Whenever students make comparisons, when they make suggestions about solving a problem using their own experience and information found in a text, they are engaging in this skill. The ability to draw information from a wide variety of sources often leads to a new solution, a different perspective, a different view. This ability leads to a higher level of thinking.