Transcript Group 6 - mnemonics - InstructionalAnalysisGroup6

Mnemonics
By: Group Six
Christopher, Kari, Kristie, & Mara
Definition of
Mnemonics
"Mnemonics is a memory enhancing instructional strategy
that involves teaching students to link new information that
is taught to information they already know.”
http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/mnemo
nics.asp
Background Information
 Episodic memories
 Centered on something that happens and can be
triggered by hearing a certain song or driving by
a certain place.
 Semantic memory
 Semantic memory is rote memorization and listoriented material. This memory requires constant
rehearsing over and over, such as multiplication
tables, and is quite unnatural for the brain. The
brain wants to rely on connection and searches
for that motivator to trigger memories.
Concreting Information to Memory
 Chunking
 Making a connecting to one’s senses
 Activate Emotions
 Time For Reflection
 Natural Memory Recall
Ways to Teach
 Chunking
 Recalling greater amounts of data by chunking allows
the brain to work at a more productive rate. Teaching our
students to chunk together information will not only allow
the brain to work in a meaningful manner, but will allow
the information to be stored in long-term memory.
 Embedding knowledge in long-term memory
 Make a connection with the students' senses. Tie the
knowledge in with something they can hear, see, smell,
taste, or feel. Make the information come to life.
Ways to Teach Cont.
 Activate their Emotions
 Get the students involved. Can you remember a time
when someone scared you? Or made you cry? Or made
you laugh? Invoke those emotions in your students
while teaching your lessons. Humor is a great tool to
use to spark interest and embed the information in longterm memory.


Provide Time for Reflection
Educators should provide ample time for students
to reflect with others then with themselves on the
information that was given.
Ways to Teach Cont.
 Natural Memory Recall
 Use students names in problems, show students how
they will benefit from this information, provide choices in
the students learning process, make natural connections
for the students with the knowledge, role play the
information or make up a song, change your location in
the room when teaching, and repeat the information in
ten minutes, the next day, then the next week. Showing
students their ability to store their information in a more
productive way will allow for less frustrations when it is
time to recall the information.
Location Method
 Connecting a memory to a picture and
location. Creating several different
neurological pathways to one memory.

If one neuro-pathway get broken another
will make it.

Watch the two YouTube video put out by
the BBC. They are VERY interesting and
worth your time.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxl7_hdWZo
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NROegsM
qNc
Examples of Mnemonics
 I teach my 6th graders to "Please Excuse My
Dear Aunt Sally" to remember the order of
mathematical operations: parenthesis,
exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract. Jean. MI
 I teach my third graders to think of the
sentence, "My Very Educated Mother Just
Sent Us Nine Pizzas" to help remember the
names of the planets in order from the Sun
outward. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). Kathy Bowen, Bakersfield, CA
Examples Continued
 This is one I learned in Junior High to remember the
colors of the rainbow. "Roy G.Biv" (red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, violet). I always check myself by it. Andrea, Orlando, FL
 RIDER is a mnemonic device that helps children to form
visual images as they read narrative text.

R- Read the first sentence. I – Make a picture in your
mind. D – Describe the picture you see. E –Evaluate if
your picture makes sense with the story thus far. R – If
your picture makes sense, read on. If your picture does
not make sense, reread and do it all again.
Resources
IdeaExchange: Mnemonics. (1999). Retrieved November 14, 2009, from
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3209&FullBreadCrumb=%3Ca+hr
ef%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.scholastic.com%2Fbrowse%2Fsearch%2F%3F
query%3Dmnemonic%26Ntt%3Dmnemonic%26Ntk%3DSCHL30_SI%26Ntx%3Dm
ode%2Bmatchallpartial%26y%3D0%26N%3D0%26x%3D0%26_N%3Dfff%22+clas
s%3D%22endecaAll%22%3EAll+Results%3C%2Fa%3E
Pitterman, C. (n.d.). Memory Boosters. Retrieved November 12, 2009, from
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1600&FullBreadCrumb=%3Ca+hr
ef%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.scholastic.com%2Fbrowse%2Fsearch%2F%3F
query%3Dmnemonic%26Ntt%3Dmnemonic%26Ntk%3DSCHL30_SI%26Ntx%3Dm
ode%2Bmatchallpartial%26y%3D0%26N%3D0%26x%3D0%26_N%3Dfff%22+clas
s%3D%22endecaAll%22%3EAll+Results%3C%2Fa%3E
Resources cont.
Tracy, K. (n.d.). How Do We Help Our Students Recall Information? Retrieved
November 14, 2009, from
12
http://teachers.net/gazette/JUL00/recall.html
Tracy, K. (n.d.). Tapping Into Memory in Time for Testing. Retrieved November
14, 2009, from http://teachers.net/gazette/MAY01/tracy.html