STRATEGY 1. CHUNKING
It is easier to memorize information when you
break it up into small chunks. This is called chunking. You may not realize it,
but you use chunking often, like when you memorize your friend's telephone
number, a locker combination, or your social security number. It's easier to
remember long numbers when you "chunk" them into groups of threes,
fours and fives. That's because most people can only remember about three, four
or five bits of information at a time.
Here are suggestions on how you can use
"chunking" to remember information as well as numbers.
• Chunk vocabulary words by grouping them by
parts of speech or other attributes.
• Chunk history by time periods or events.
• Chunk foreign language by grouping words
into categories like household items or occupations.
• If there is no pattern to the information
you need to study, just group the items into three, four or five at a time, and
that will help a lot.
STRATEGY 2. UNDERSTANDING
Before you begin trying to memorize something,
try to understand it. A good way to do this is by making a connection between
what you are learning and what you have experienced. The better you can relate
the new information to what you already know, the easier it is to learn. For
example, before attempting to memorize events of European history, find the
places on a globe (or world map) and see where they are relative to one another
and also relative to where you live.
STRATEGY 3. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
These tools help you see things you are trying
to learn. They help organize information. There are many different types of
graphic organizers. You can even design them yourself.
• the Venn Diagram for comparing and
contrasting
• a Web for the main topic and details
• the Cause and Effect Design with the event
in the middle box, the causes listed in the left boxes and the effects listed
in the right boxes. (The effects and the causes are connected to the event by
lines.)
• the Cycle Organizer consists of shapes drawn
in a cyclic pattern with words in each shape to represent things or events that
go in cycles. For example, the water cycle.
STRATEGY 4. VISUALIZATION
To visualize means to see an image in your
head without actually looking at it. Visualization can help you learn almost
anything. Here is an example. Let's say the topic is the water cycle. Create a
mental image of a cloud. Picture it growing. Now see, and "feel" its
heavy cold rain. See the rain hitting the ground, then flowing toward streams
and rivers toward the ocean. Now "see" the hot sun hitting and
evaporating the water and forming clouds…. Get the picture? If you can
visualize parts of the water cycle, the boring diagram becomes meaningful and
remember-able. In general, if you have trouble visualizing material, try
drawing maps, charts, graphs, or pictures.
STRATEGY 5. ASSOCIATION
Another learning strategy is to associate, or
"connect," each word or event with a person, place, thing, feeling,
or situation. For example, you may connect what you are trying to learn with
someone you know, or with a movie character or scene. When you have to learn
vocabulary words, just write the new words, write the definitions next to them,
and then write a person, thing, event, movie, or any strong association to help
you remember the meaning of each word. For example, "My altruistic Aunt
Alice gives great gifts." (Altruistic means generous.)
STRATEGY 6. RHYMING
We all used rhyming in the ABC song to learn
the alphabet. And the rhyme "I before E, except after C, or when it sounds
like A as in neighbor or weigh." This is also a great strategy even when
learning the times tables. For example, 7 and 7 went down the line to capture
number 49; 8 and 4 made some stew and gave it to 32. (Rhymes don't have to make
sense!)
STRATEGY 7. TALKING
Here's a strategy that's easy and fun to use,
especially if you like to talk! Just talk about the information you have to
learn. Tell Grandpa, Mom, a friend, or your dog what you have to learn! Do you
want to learn history? Then talk history — discuss, debate, argue. Think of a
person who may have lived during a major historical event and pretend to be
that person. Now talk about the important events: who was involved, when it
happened, where it took place, what happened, and why? If you're learning a
language, then speak it at the dinner table. It doesn't matter if others know
what you are saying; you do, so you'll learn.
STRATEGY 8. STORYTELLING
Storytelling is a great way to help you
remember information in any subject. Write a story by focusing on the key
points of what you're learning and arranging them in a logical sequence. It can
even be a song or rhyme that tells the story. And there's a bonus: each event
in the story triggers your memory of the next event, so you'll remember even
more.
STRATEGY 9. WRITING SENTENCES
Do you remember learning the silly sentence
"Every good boy does fine" from music class? We used this to remember
the notes. You may also have used the sentence "My Very Excellent Mom Just
Served Us Nine Pizzas" to remember the planets. (Oops, change the sentence
because Pluto is no longer considered a planet). This strategy can even help us
learn those extra troublesome spelling words. Just make up a sentence using
words that begin with the letters. So, to learn "aardvark," you may
make up a nonsense sentence like: Aardvarks Always Run Down Very Angry Rowdy
Kids.
STRATEGY 10. ACRONYMS
An acronym is a word made up from the first
letters of a list of words. Here's how it works. You take the list of words or
facts that you want to remember and put them in an order so that the first
letters of each word, or the first syllables, spell a real word or a made-up
word.
How do you memorize the names of the five Great Lakes? Easy, just remember "HOMES."
H=Huron, O=Ontario, M=Michigan,
E=Erie, and S=Superior. While this strategy won't help you
understand the information, it at least helps you to memorize it. It's easy and
fun, and you'll probably remember the information forever. You may be
interested in knowing that our company name is an acronym. STRONG stands for:
Self-esteem, Trust, Responsibility, Options, Needs, Goals.
STRATEGY 11. REHEARSING
When you want to remember information, you
have to practice it, or else it fades. So, just as actors need to rehearse in
order to remember their lines, students need to rehearse to remember what they
are learning. Here are some helpful hints on "rehearsing" whatever
information you need to learn for homework or tests:
Rehearse for short practice periods (perhaps
30 to 60 minutes) and then take a short ten-minute break to call a friend, have
a snack, or shoot some hoops.
- Use a multisensory approach every time you
rehearse: say it, write it, read it, draw it, sing it – do whatever it takes.
Just before going to sleep, review
everything you will need to know for the next day or for the upcoming test.
It's amazing how much more you'll remember if you rehearse the night before.
- Review in the morning while brushing your
teeth, eating breakfast or sitting on the bus.
STRATEGY 12. PLAYING GAMES
Playing games is a great way to memorize
information. You see, as you play the game you are learning the material and
practicing it over and over again. Games can help you remember facts, formulas,
definitions, events or any other information you're trying to learn. Here is an
example.
Play Memory, alone or with others, using decks
of cards you make from ordinary index cards you cut in half. Create pairs by
writing the same number on each of two cards, 1 and 1, 2 and 2, etc. Write the
numbers tiny so they will not interfere with play. On each pair, write a
question on one card and the answer on the other card. For example,
"2x7=" is on one card and "14" is on its pair, or
"Where did the Pilgrims land?" is on one card and "Plymouth, Massachusetts"
is on its pair. Then shuffle all the cards and play Memory with yourself or
with a friend. If you're alone, see how fast you can match up all the pairs. You'll
be able to check yourself by making sure the small numbers are the same. Have
Fun!
For the Tough Ones: for the pairs that are
really hard to remember, make a string "clothes line" between two
places on a wall. Hang the pairs next to each other with spring type clothes
pins. So, for example, if circle formulas get you down, every time you walk
into your room you'll see "C=" and "2*pi*r" and
"A=" and "pi*r squared" next to each other. Pretty soon
you'll remember the info.
Another example is the many commercially
available games to make learning to read easier and fun. A good example is, by
using any of the twenty STRONG Learning Phonics Games, children in grades 1-6
can learn important phonics rules while playing popular card games: Go Fish,
War, Memory, or Old Maid.
We hope you find that some of these techniques
and strategies make it easier for you and your children to remember important
things. We also hope that these strategies will help make school days and home
nights a whole lot better.
(Originally published at the StrongLearning
website and reprinted with permission of the authors, Linda Bress Silbert,
Ph.D. and Alvin J. Silbert, Ed.D.)
