1. Mnemonics By: Group Six Christopher, Kari, Kristie, & Mara

2. 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

3. 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 list- oriented 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.

4. Concreting Information to Memory  Chunking  Making a connecting to one’s senses  Activate Emotions  Time For Reflection  Natural Memory Recall

5. 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.

6. 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 long- term 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.

7. 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.

8. 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=X- xl7_hdWZo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X- xl7_hdWZo  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NROegsM qNc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NROegsM qNc

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 12 Resources cont. Tracy, K. (n.d.). How Do We Help Our Students Recall Information? Retrieved November 14, 2009, from 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