A study of discourse synthesis (readers/writers composing new texts by selecting, organizing, and connecting content from source texts) examined the performance of accomplished and less accomplished readers in the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades on a report-writing task. Over a 3-day period 60 English/language arts students wrote informational reports composed of content they selected from 3 source texts (encyclopedia articles on a single topic) as well as content they added. Text analyses revealed patterns associated with both grade level and reading ability in selecting and connecting content, since the older students and the accomplished readers included larger proportions of intertextually important content from the source texts and provided more connectivity for their readers. Analyses also revealed patterns associated with reading ability in the nature of the text structures that students used to organize clusters of content. Moreover, differences between readers were manifested on measures of task management as well as on text features, with the accomplished readers developing more elaborate written plans and spending more time on the task. The study extended research into writing as well as research into reading by focusing on a hybrid, reading-to-write task that involves both constructive processes. (Five tables of data and 6 figures are included, and 81 references are attached.) (Author/SR)