Sidmouth College

Believe • Inspire • Succeed

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeMnemonics

Mnemonics are memory devices that help

learners recall larger pieces of information,

especially in the form of lists like

characteristics, steps, stages, parts, phases, etc.

We knew back in 1967 from a study by Gerald

R. Miller that mnemonics increased recall. He

found that students who regularly used

mnemonic devices increased test scores up to

77%!

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeAcronyms:

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeMusic Mnemonics:

How many lyrics to songs do you remember?

How did you come to remember them?

Music can used to help students recall

important details to main ideas and many

learners have made songs out of information

when a list of items must be learned.

https://youtu.be/_BwKZEp2K_0

https://youtu.be/sjZIozGtE2c

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeOde or Rhymes

An Ode or Rhyme Mnemonic puts

information in the form of a poem.

Examples include:

A commonly used Rhyme Mnemonic for the

number of days in each month is:

I before e except after c

WAREHOUSEBROTHERMOPTEAMOBILESURFBOARDLIPSTICKWATERMIRRORWALLDESERTSNAKEWINDRAINBOWDIAMONDS

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeYour turn: Can you remember as many words as possible?

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth CollegeHow many did you remember?

You wake up to find yourself in a huge warehouse. The voice of big brother suddenly asks you to pick up the mop at the other end of the factory and to clean the whole factory floor. You work all morning but then you become tired so you sit down on a bench to have a cup of tea. As you drink your tea your mobile phone rings. You look at the screen and there is an advert of a girl carrying a surfboard. Suddenly she breaks through the screen, sits down beside you, puts on some lipstick, throws a glass of water into your face, smashes a mirror and then jumps through the factory wall. You follow her and discover that you are in the middle of an enormous desert. There is nothing to see other than a snake that slithers towards you. As it gets closer the wind begins to blow very strongly. You put your hand down to stroke the snake and it transforms into a rainbow and a bag of diamonds

Now read through the following story. Try to recount it to a friend or family member, or aloud to yourself (if no one else is around).

Believe Inspire SucceedSidmouth College

How many did you remember this time?

WAREHOUSEBROTHERMOPTEAMOBILESURFBOARDLIPSTICKWATERMIRRORWALLDESERTSNAKEWINDRAINBOWDIAMONDS