This study examined the thinking processes students engage in while constructing graphic representations of textbook content. Twenty-eight students who either used graphic representations in a routine manner during social studies instruction or learned to construct graphic representations based on the rhetorical patterns used to organize textbook content produced think-aloud responses while constructing graphic representations. Responses indicated that both groups of students needed to restate text while writing, but knowledge of rhetorical patterns appeared to facilitate students' ability to discriminate between main ideas and details, understand relationships between ideas, and, generally, engage the text more deeply. Implications for instruction are discussed.