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Use Rhymes, Rhythm and Mnemonic Devices to Memorize

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Study Skills & Tools All Ages Strategy

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Working Memory Verbal Memory Visual Memory

Use Rhymes, Rhythm and Mnemonic Devices to Memorize

If your student has a lot to memorize, the information isn't sticking with flashcards and they have good verbal memory

How To Apply It!

  1. Using rhymes is an incredibly helpful tool to aid in learning and memorization.
  2. Setting vocabulary terms and definitions to rhymes or even songs will make them easier to remember.
  3. The process of making up the rhymes means that you are actively thinking about the word and its definition, making it much more likely that you will remember the definition.
  4. While it might feel silly, have fun collaborating with your friends to make up rhymes together as you study . Saying and repeating the rhymes out loud to each other will provide even more reinforcement for solidifying the words in memory.
  5. There are several sites that focus on music and rhythm to help students remember information, the most popular of which is Flocabulary.
  6. Mnemonics is a fancy word for a simple term that uses the first letter of each word in the list to remember larger amounts of more complex information. By starting with the first letter of each, it is easier to remember the full term because you have the starting letter and you are grouping related items in a set order. Here are few popular mnemonics:
  7. a) Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach to remember the biology classifications of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
  8. b) The names of the Great Lakes use HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior.
  9. c) For self-advocacy skills, Mindprint likes DEAR MAN.
  10. d) For research skills, Mindprint likes RAVEN.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

Rhymes help in retention because they are often interesting, sometimes funny, and have rhythm. They tend to be easier or more enjoyable to speak aloud than full sentences, and research on memory demonstrates that we are more likely to remember when we both see and speak the information. Mnemonics work because a student can remember a single word which makes recall of groups of words easier.