Memory Skills and Retention

In Writing lesson plan reflection and final thoughts from ScarbroughLearning for Life, Jennifer Scarbrough states,

“However, I didn’t learn as many strategies for memory skills and retention as I would have liked.”

So I decided to list some strategies that she might be able to use in the classroom.

Acrostic (or sentence) – Make up a sentence in which the first letter of each word is part of or represents the initial of what you want to remember. (ex. For math order of operations – Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. – Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication or Division, Addition or Subtraction.

Acronym – An acronym is a word that is made up by taking the first letters of all the key words or ideas you need to remember and creating a new word out of them. (ex. ROY G. BIV – colors of the spectrum)

Rhymes and alliteration – Rhymes, alliteration (a repeating sound or syllable), and even jokes are a memorable way to remember more mundane facts and figures.

Chunking – Chunking breaks a long list of numbers or other types of information into smaller, more manageable chunks. ( like remembering phone numbers)

The Number/Rhyme Technique  – This allows you to remember ordered lists. Start with a standard word that rhymes with the number (we recommend 1 – Bun, 2 – Shoe, 3 – Tree, 4 – Door, 5 – Hive, 6 – Bricks, 7 – Heaven, 8 – Gate, 9 – Line, 10 – Hen). Then create an image that associates each with the thing you're trying to remember. Such as a grocery list:  1- banana; 2 – bread (you would picture a banana in a bun and bread in a shoe)

Review - Practice explaining the ideas to someone else in your own words.

Rehearse information you’ve already learned. Review what you’ve learned the same day you learn it or reading your notes out loud.

Group things by likenesses. (My grocery list is broken into produce, meat, dairy, canned food)

Create a Song – Students remember the ABC because of the song. Some children learned the books of the Bible by singing a song.

Create a Dance – have your body tell the story or show the facts to others.

Do you have any other suggestions? Please share.