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Spelling maven Marie Rippel’s newsletter in January reminds us that the goal of learning is to get information into long-term memory. Cramming only gets it as far as short-term memory, which soon is gone, gone, gone.
Marie remembers cramming the night before physics exams, “memorizing” [her quotes] formulas. “If my physics grade had been based on what I remembered months later, I probably would have received a D instead of an A,” she writes.
Short term memory is a system for temporarily storing information like where you parked your car. Long-term memory is the system that permanently stores and manages information for later use.
Rippel suggests that teachers (parents!) make sure the material that children need to know is really ending in long-term memory.
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Make it memorable
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Review it frequently
Her six strategies for reviewing key facts:
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Make sure he understands it.
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Make review a priority in your lesson plans.
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Review more frequently when facts are first taught.
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Review facts using the same words until they are completely memorized.
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Review using a variety of methods.
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Don’t retire a fact too soon.
Remember that this kind of learning happens best when it is multisensory. Let students repeat, see, feel and really grapple with the material. Let them look at charts and maps; let them demonstrate the procedures.
Make sure they repeat information so they can not only formulate the ideas but hear themselves say it. If you can explain it, you’re definitely on the way to never forgetting.
Rippel’s Web site at www.all-about-spelling.com offers information about teaching spelling. While much of the information is free, she has her teaching materials available for purchase; you can preview the material. Subscribe to her newsletter, and when you subscribe she will give you a downloadable spelling game free!
source: Marie Rippel’s newsletter from www.all-about-spelling.com , the January issue. And thanks to my colleague, Shay Donohue, for turning me on to it!
tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
