Chapter 7, The Power to Transform, was jam-packed with wonderful explanations and ideas. It related the reading power of transforming to the power to synthesize. (This was helpful for me because I had previously read Strategies that Work and it discusses this same concept.) The power to transform refers to the idea that books can have an impact on how we think about ourselves and the world around us. Gear explains that she chose the word transform because she felt younger students might be more familiar with the word and its meaning than the word synthesize.
I found Gear’s comparison of summarizing versus synthesizing very informative. She explains that summarizing is like two-dimensional reading and it makes information from the text smaller. The power to synthesize on the other hand is 3 dimensional in that the key points from the text, plus the reader's thinking, are used to create a new thought or idea. She goes on to stress the importance of teaching students the power to transform in order to create critical thinkers.
I found Gear’s comparison of summarizing versus synthesizing very informative. She explains that summarizing is like two-dimensional reading and it makes information from the text smaller. The power to synthesize on the other hand is 3 dimensional in that the key points from the text, plus the reader's thinking, are used to create a new thought or idea. She goes on to stress the importance of teaching students the power to transform in order to create critical thinkers.