As our students begin to gather stories and fragments of their person's life, it is much like putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - synthesis.

Go to http://jigzone.com and give the puzzle a try. How is this similar to collecting information about Matthew Flinders in order to come up with a picture of the man's character? How could this metaphor help your students understand what we mean by "making up your mind?"

Now take a look at The Biography Maker at http://fno.org and note how synthesis fits into the sequence of constructing a good biography. Once our students have reached the insight level, they must turn to effective communication, capturing the essence of the man or the woman in a few paragraphs or pages.

Synthesis continues as students work over their first drafts with the guidance of the Six Traits approach to writing.

© Jamie McKenzie, 2007, all rights reserved. No copies can be made or distributed in any format without the express written permission of the author.