Brain GamesMemorizing Strategies

The Brain

The Brain is the central control of the body, but it is also the control area of learning and memory.

Hippocampus: Helps evaluate explicit learning, organizes memories and sends them to permanent placement for long-term storage. This is achieved through personal connections, repetition, and has meaning.

Neocortex: In charge of higher order thinking This is where reading, planning, analyzing, synthesizing, and decision making occur. This is where explicit memories are permanently stored once the hippocampus graduates the information.

The Learning Trip

Learning to Memorizing

Information arrives in long-term memory when:The information is received correctlyThe information is reviewed correctlyThe information is retrieved correctly

Present information in different ways – visually, auditorily, and kinesthetically.

Provide opportunities to make information meaningful for themselves – activate prior knowledge.

Encourage students to share personal experience that connects to the lesson. (Morning Meeting – review lessons from the day before)

Elaborative Review

Rote memorization is though repetition – the multiplication table, the alphabet

Elaborative Review: helps students elaborate on a topic in such a way it enhances the student’s understanding, meaning, relevance, and retention of that information.

Allow students to have time to process the information through discussion. This process of information includes paraphrasing, reorganizing, questioning, and summarizing, in whole group or small groups.

Review often to ensure the learning path is easier to travel each time.

Best Times for Review

10-24-7: Distributed practice is a process of review where review is done 10 minutes after the lesson is taught and the activity has been completed. Then the teacher reviews again 24 hours later to ensure the information is still intact. Finally the information is reviewed again a week later to ensure the information is in the long term memory.

According to German Psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus – information learned is forgotten about 1 hour after learning.

Review over time increases the amount of recall – so information transfers from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Best Time to Review

Research has shown that people generally remember information in the beginning and the end, but remember the middle least.

The beginning has a grabber, but by the middle the novelty wears off. The middle time is the settling time the brain needs to absorb the information. By the end, the settling time has allowed the brain to process the beginning information and the brain is ready for something new again.

Anticipation triggers excitement, which triggers adrenaline flow, which is necessary for memory. The increase in oxygen to the brain enhances attention.

Settling time is about 10 to 20 minutes after something new is taught. So practice should occur 10 minutes after new learning. Allow students to practice for 3 to 10 minutes after introducing something new.

Ways to Review: Closure

Door Pass: At the end of a lesson have students write a summary of what they learned, or ask a question about something they are still unsure of, or write how the topic relates to their life, or write 3 facts about what they learned.

3-2-1: Write 3 new facts, 2 questions that they have, and one sentence that uses their name and the concept taught to show they understood what was taught.

Quick Draw: Draw a picture of what they learned, important information, what they think the main character looks like, or anything that illustrates they understood the topic.

Simile Summary: Challenge students to describe how a concept they just learned is similar to another concept they learned, and explain why.

Ways to Review

Memory works best when the body and emotions are involved:

• Role-play, have students get up and move in active activities like graphing themselves, simulations, dramatizations, scavenger hunt to find items.

• Give student’s the opportunity to give feedback – thumbs up = they understand, thumbs down = they are not sure.

• Super Sleuth Activity

Mnemonics:

• Breaks down information so the brain can remember the big picture in small chunks.

• The Department of Education concluded that Mnemonics help students remember information faster and retain it longer.

Mind Mapping: Mel Levine

Represent the main topic – pictorially or symbolically in center of page.

Related topics in spokes around the page.

Use color – the more colorful and unique the more likely the brain will remember it.

Print key words or phrases – the brain remembers bold print.

Represent ideas with symbols – personalize the concept while translating it into a concrete representation.

Use arrows, underline, or highlight important ideas.

Cluster or group similar facts related to the main topic.

Review Games

Question Spinner: Questioning emphasizes important information.

Game Rubric: Students analyze their learning and the cooperation within the group.

Think-Pair-Check: Students answer 10 questions, 5 per partner, partner’s then check each others answers and explain why the answer may be wrong.

Looping Game: I have…Who has…

Plus/Minus Game: Students divide in 2 teams. Roll the dice and if they answer the teachers review question right the number rolled on the dice is added to the score…if it’s answered wrong, the number is subtracted.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Question Starter

Knowledge Who…what…where…when…?Which one…? Can you list…? Can you select…?

Comprehension

How would you classify…? What is the main idea…?How would you compare/contrast…?

Application How would you solve…? What would result if…?What approach would you use to…?

Analysis How would you categorize…? What is the theme of…?What evidence can you find…?

Synthesis Can you think of an original way to…?What change would you make to solve…?

Evaluation What is your opinion of…? Would it be better if…?What information would you use to support the view…?

Footnotes:

Memorizing Strategies & Other Brain Based Activities, By: LeAnn NickelsenScholastic 2004