The Caterpillar and Polliwog by Jack Kent seems like such a simple book, but I have been shocked over the years of using this book at how many kids don’t know what a polliwog is! As they read the book, it’s fun to watch kids’ thinking evolve and eventually realize that polliwog is another name for a tadpole. I like how many of the poems feature figurative language that causes kids have to synthesize as they figure out what he poem is about in the first place! The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury has some amazing poetry for making mental images. Be sure to check out all the book list suggestions for reading comprehension strategies as well as our Reading Comprehension Strategies Series, which SHOWS you an comprehension strategy lesson in action! They plummet into a scorching brown pool with a terrible thud. The book, written from the point of view of the ants, describes the terrifying day that these two 'bad ants' have.

That’s because we seldom use one comprehension strategy in a vacuum. Two ants, on the other hand, are having so much fun with the crystals that theyve decided to stay behind instead of going back to their ant tunnel. While these books are great for teaching synthesizing, some have already been mentioned in our other book lists for modeling comprehension strategies with kids. And these books for teaching synthesizing are perfect for helping kids see how their thinking changes as they read. You may think one thing based off the cover or first few pages/chapters but as you read on, you realize that what you originally thought might not be correct and you need to change your thinking a bit. Simply put, synthesis just means your thinking changes as you read and add more information from the text. Synthesizing is one of those comprehension strategies that may seem a little abstract. Teaching synthesizing? Here are some great books for teaching synthesis that can help you model and practice it with your kids or students.

Two bad ants book