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I am

EPIC

Developing my Thinking Skills

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Topic 2:�Memory

Lesson Objectives

Understand the different memory systems

Learn some simple strategies to help you to remember

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Memory game

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backpack

torch

boots

toothbrush

sleeping bag

jacket

water bottle

hat

fruit

sunscreen

pillow

plate

spoon

snack bar

soap

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Write down as many items as you can remember

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Write down as many items as you can remember

Did you use a strategy to help you remember?

Strategy:

a plan, method or way to reach an answer

ACTIVITY:

2. Feedback. Ask the class how many items they were able to remember

Note. You can judge the best way of doing this in your class

You could get them to raise their hands to indicate how many they could remember. E.g. could anyone recall all 15 items, could anyone remember more than 10, etc.

3. Discuss strategies. Explore the strategies that they may have used to remember the information

“What helped you to remember those items? Did anyone use a strategy?”

Hopefully the student will be able to highlight some strategies that they may have used.

Some strategies might include:

Grouping similar items together in terms of their function/ use e.g. clothing items
Grouping items of the same colour together
Remembering where items were positioned on the slide

[At the end of the lesson children will be given the chance to practice these techniques]

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What research tells us about memory…

There is a limit to how much information we can remember at one time
Our brains often remember the first and last piece of information that we come across
If we don’t practice or rehearse information, we are likely to forget it.

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Long-term Memory

Information that we remember for months or years.

Personal information, e.g. your address
General facts, e.g. the capital of France, 4x4=16
The lyrics to your favourite song
How to ride a bike

LTM

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Short-term Memory

Our brains ability to hold information in our mind for a short amount of time.

Our short-term memory helps us to:

Follow a story
Follow a list of instructions
Pass on a message (without writing it down)

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Working Memory

Is a type of short-term memory, which helps us to rearrange the information that we hold in our mind.

Working memory helps us to complete sums with more than one step in our mind (4 + 15 + 4)

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Strategies �to strengthen your memory

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Tip 1. �Rehearsal �or repeating

Repeating information over and over, helps us to remember it.

We might use this to remember

A list of instructions
Multiplication tables
A poem

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Tip 2.�Chunking: �Group Information

It’s easier to remember “chunks” of information

For example…

We do this with telephone numbers. It’s far easier to recall 058-329-874 than 058329874

And when adding number. It’s easier to group them in bonds of 10.

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backpack

torch

boots

toothbrush

sleeping bag

jacket

water bottle

hat

fruit

sunscreen

pillow

plate

spoon

snack bar

CLOTHING

NIGHT TIME

HIKING

EATING / FOOD

TOILETRIES

soap

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torch

boots

toothbrush

sleeping bag

jacket

hat

fruit

sunscreen

pillow

plate

spoon

snack bar

backpack

soap

water bottle

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Tip 3. �Use the first letter of each item to create a sentence

Weird or funny sentences are often more memorable!

Picturing things in our minds can also help – imagine a funny picture of a dog enjoying an ice-cream .

Bring Your Dog For A Milkshake

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Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

My Very Energetic Monkey Jets Straight Under Neptune

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Tip 4. �Create a rhyme or a song

�In his costume and goggles, ready to go,

Flip-flops on feet, towel in tow.

Clothes packed, water in a sack,

Off to the pool, no looking back.

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“Naughty Elephants Squirt Water” or NEWS helps us to remember the points of the compass points

Songs or Rhymes that you may already use

Days in Each Month. “30 days has September, April, June & November. All the rest have 31, except February alone. And that has 28 days clear and 29 in each leap year”.

The song

helps with alphabetical order.

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Tip 5. �Write it down

Use a whiteboard or notebook to help you

1. Complete maths task

2. Place completed maths task on Miss Smith’s desk

3. Turn to page 36 in my English book

4. Read 10 pages

I’ve waiting so long for my turn, I don’t remember what I wanted to say…

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Working memory is the space in your head where you hold and organise information for a short amount of time. ��For example when you teacher tells you instructions and you have to hold them in your head until you get back to your seat. �

It also helps you remember the task you have just completed.�Or to reverse a multiplication sum, to divide it.

Memory

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Strategies

Creating pictures in your mind

Chunking

058-329-874

Create a rhyme

or song

Writing it Down or Diagrams

Memory

Using the first letter of each item to make a sentence

Rehearsing and Repeating

NB

……

We then looked at some strategies which we can use to support our memory.

Rehearsing and repeating: Rehearsal is a simple memory strategy that helps get the information processed and stored as a memory.

Creating picture in your mind: A mental image in your mind can help you to remember information - the crazier the images, the better!

Create a rhyme or song: Rhymes can be made from keywords or the first letter of each keyword – e.g. Naughty Elephants Splash Water

Chunking: Chunking is when information is grouped into smaller, manageable groups.

Using the first letter of each item to make a sentence

Writing it down: When doing a task, you can write the steps (or draw pictures/symbols) and keep looking back to remember what you’re doing. Diagrams & charts can also help to make information more memorable and easier to recall. (we will talk more about this during our lesson on planning)

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How can we bring these (or other) memory strategies into our week?

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Optional Activity

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Shopping List Game

“I went to the shops and bought …”
Next person says “I went to the shops and bought … and …”
Keep going!

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Tea Towel Game

Look for 20 seconds
Items covered
How many can you remember?

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