12 Activity 2: Memory Methods for Different Learning Styles

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Objectives:

Students will be able to

• Use different methods of memorizing information
• Discover and implement memory methods that work well with their learning style

Materials

1. Assignments and activities from Unit 1
2. True Colors personality test results

Activity

Part 1:  Review Learning Styles

Recall what you learned about yourself in Unit 1.

• What is your learning style?
• How do you best process information?
• What is your True Color, and what does it say about you?

Unit 5 shows us how the process of creating short-term and long-term memories works. The creation of memories also depends on how you learn best.

Part 2: Different Techniques for Different Learning Styles

Find your learning style and review the memory method. How can you apply it to material you are currently learning?

• Musical, Rhythmic, and Harmonic
  Put the material you need to learn in a song. In the episode of the show Cheers in which Coach helps Sam study for his class, Coach creates an Albanian facts song. Those of us who saw the show back in the 1980s have retained facts about Albania for over thirty years with little effort.
• Visual-Spatial
  Stick your notes to the wall so you can organize them visually. You may have trouble remembering how to structure an outline in writing class. Try creating a tree diagram that shows how every main point connects back to the thesis statement.
  Use color-coding to help you sort information in your notes.
  You can use visual cues in the classroom or even on your body. Have you ever used the knuckle mnemonic to remember which months have 31 days? Try cues like that to help you recall other types of material.
• Verbal-Linguistic
  Acronyms are a useful way to remember lists of information. For example, you can remember the coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) with the acronym FANBOYS.
  You can also create an acrostic sentence. Many people use My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles to remember the planets of the solar system in order (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).
• Logical-Mathematical
  Chunking information helps you use your memory to its full potential. You already use this when you memorize phone numbers. Instead of memorizing ten digits (8005556748), we naturally break it into sections (800-555-6748). If you have to memorize a list of vocabulary words, find ways to break the list into chunks that fit together, like similar meanings, similar sounds, or parts of speech. Memorize each chunk on its own until you have mastered it, and then finally put all the chunks together.
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
  Just dance! As you memorize a list of terms, vocabulary words, or facts, do the steps of a popular dance (or a dance you just made up). Just as your body remembers the movements you need to make, it will associate facts with dance steps.
• Interpersonal
  Interpersonal learners can use any of the study group activities from this book to help study. One technique you might try is to make a chain. One person begins by stating a concept. This example will use the steps of photosynthesis. The next person in the circle states the first step in photosynthesis (absorption of light). The third person adds step 2 (electron transport leading to the reduction of NADP+ to NADPH). After the last step has been stated, the next person in order states a new concept to study.
  You can also do this to recall information. For example, if your class is studying Moby-Dick, your group might recall facts about Queequeg in this way (from the South Seas, left home to travel, first person Ishmael meets in the novel, etc).
• Naturalist
  Creating a memory palace is a great way to incorporate nature into memorization.
  1. Imagine a walk you are familiar with, such as your route to school or a hike you enjoy. You should be able to visualize specific objects or landmarks throughout the walk. Write down a list of the items on the walk (for example, park entrance, path, the big tree on the left, the bench, etc.)
  2. Imagine yourself walking through the space.
  3. Now assign each of the items you have to memorize to the objects in the landscape. Let’s say you need to memorize elements of poetry. Visualize yourself walking through the park.
     • Step one is the park entrance. Assign the term alliteration to step one.
     • Step two is the path. Assign the term assonance to step 2.
     • Step three is the big tree on the left. Assign the term imagery to step three.
  4. Continue through your list of terms. This technique takes practice at first, but your love of nature will help reinforce the memorized list in your mind.