Strategies for Writing Synthesis to Learn: A Case Study Among Sixth-Grade Social Studies Students

Writing instruction that emphasizes strategy use helps students become better writers, especially when tackling difficult writing tasks, such as writing from sources or writing syntheses. Strategic writing instruction also supports student learning in content areas like social studies. This project examined whether Strategies for Writing Synthesis to Learn (SWSL), a mode of strategic writing instruction developed by researchers in Spain, would be effective in a new context. It also sought to understand how SWSL was perceived by students and teachers. A mixed-methods case study was used to explore both quantitative (e.g., student growth) data and qualitative (e.g., student and teacher perceptions) data. Eleven sixth-grade students and their teacher shared their test results and perspectives following a 15-day social studies unit, with texts, tests, and scripts adapted from the original Spanish instruction. The unit highlighted texts about Ancient China and emphasized strategic writing skills, including outlining, self-regulation, and paraphrasing. After SWSL, students wrote better quality syntheses and knew more about a social studies topic. The researcher also found that students and teachers valued SWSL and believed that SWSL helped students of varied abilities.