How to support memory skills in the classroom
Group/individual focus
Teach:
- mind map connections between concept and its most important features
- retrieval of word through bold images/symbols of main features/use of icons
- recall for an event or activity through recreating personal and environmental context
- first/then approaches to maximise sequential recall.
Activities to enhance children's ability to store and retrieve facts:
- reduce memory load by using answer cards: adult asks questions and child holds up appropriate answer card
- support ordering, reordering, categorising, summarising by the use of notes taken on post-its which can be physically moved and grouped
- use a work station to cut out distractions
- give a limited number of alternative answers for child to choose.
Classroom management
Supporting memory by the way information is given:
- discuss how to learn: what makes it easy, what makes it difficult; help children develop different types of strategies that work for them
- simulations: dramatised action and dialogue to portray particular situations/events
- use photographs to prompt memories of events and visits
- use animated voice and gesture in addition to visual prompts
- refer to visual displays in classrooms when talking about a topic
- touch, point, pick up the object you are talking about
- make links with previous experience/knowledge by:
- asking children to write/draw/brainstorm with a partner, 'all you know about...' as an opening activity
- making these links explicit
- explaining how they fit into the overall topics.
- make the relevance of what they are learning expliclit
- build in plenty of opportunities to re-visit, practise and rehearse new skills and concepts
- praise the correct pars of a given answer and explain how this leads to the full answer.