Memory Techniques

Memory Techniques Acronyms, acrostics, charting, visual emphasis, visualization, association, word linking, story linking, rehearsal

Acrostics and Acronyms • Make a sentence • Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Addition, Subtraction) PEMDAS ROY G. BIV

Charting • Works well when you need to learn and compare characteristics.

Visual Emphasis • Highlight, circle, box, or color portions of information to emphasize the key parts or parts that are difficult for you to learn. • EX: Green plants combine WATER and CARBON DIOXIDE and ENERGY from sunlight TO MAKE FOOD.

Visualization of Textbook Pages • Close your eyes and form a picture of the textbook page in your mind. • Visualize the heading, bold face print, italics and general format of information to remind you of the sequence of ideas

Visualizing Vocabulary • Look at the word you are trying memorize • Is there a part that looks or sounds familiar to you? • What can you see when you think about this word? • Use that association to draw (or imagine) a silly picture • Then make your picture do something that directly relates to the meaning of the word • EX: Inclination (a liking or leaning toward) “inclined nation”

Using Association • When you need to memorize separate facts, find a way to associate them in a phrase, a sentence, a rhyme or a story • Hartford, Connecticut

Word Linking • Use word associations that link one idea to the next. • Inert elements on the Periodic Table: Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, Radon • Big balloon(Helium) holding a wildly colored sign (Neon) next to the state of Oregon (Argon), next to Superman holding kryptonite (Krypton) while fueling at Exxon (Xenon), then the pump gets zapped by a huge red ray gun (Radon)

Story Linking • If the information you need to learn is just too long, don’t try to learn it all at once. Break up the information to be learned into smaller chunks and then link them together in a story. • To memorize the 1st ten presidents… When Washington cut down the cherry tree, he also cut his Adams apple. Blood gushed all over his son Jeff (Jefferson). Jeff was Mad (Madison)at the Money (Monroe) fixing another Adams apple would cost…. Etc.

Memorizing By Rehearsal • Just as an actor rehearses her lines for a play until she knows them well enough to perform, a student rehearses information for a test until she knows it well enough to perform. • Rehearse information to be remembers using your strongest learning style!

Auditory Learners • You remember it better when you hear it: • Repeat the information to be memorized out loud • Use a tape recorder to listen later for reinforcement

Visual Learners • Remember better what you see • Read the information • Visual associations • Drawing pictures

Kinesthetic Learner • You remember better when you can do something • Jot down brief notes • Outlining, mind-mapping or 2 column notes • Drawing pictures • Use objects that symbolize the information

Combination Learners • Remember better by combining 2 or more of the strategies • Rehearse by choosing the combination of strategies that works best for you. • The content of the information will determine your strategies.

Memory Techniques