Cartographer Name: Michael Medeiros Model: Mnemonics

What is the learners role?

The learners role is to actively

engage with the material and try
to use existing mnemonic devices
or create their own. As more
senses are employed, the stronger
the associations become. The key
is to pay attention to what is
expected to be learned and
actively pursue that end.
What is the curriculum?

The curriculum is any concept

or item that would best be
mastered through
memorization.
 What is the teachers role?

The teachers role is to use

the students frame of
reference to aid them in
working the material to be
memorized. Mnemonics may
be provided or the teacher
should encourage the
student to create their own.
The teacher will do better to
teach the creating of
mnemonics rather than just
providing a list of them.

What is the key purpose of

instruction?

The purpose of teaching

mnemonics is to give students a
life-long learning skill. They can
and should employ mnemonics
throughout their lives. This can be
in the form of number connections,
songs, silly connections, first letter
keys, etc.

Map Legend:

Big idea: The most important thing for students to focus on when they are in the
process of memorization of content is to pay attention. They must pay attention to
the concepts that are being explored and actively engage in the process. A passive
attempt will yield no results for the learner. If the learner does not actively engage
in practice maintained over time, the purpose of the exercise also becomes moot.

Process: The reading and presentations in this module point to a four step process
for presenting mnemonics for memorization.

1) Attend: Presenting the materials to students; they learn in this step what the
expectations are
 2) Develop connections: In this step students make connections to the content
from the use of word links, prior knowledge, songs, and substitutions.
3) Sensory images: The more senses that are employed in mnemonics the more
likely a student will retain the expected material. Any silly associations or
exaggerations are most helpful in this step.
4) Practice: Students must practice the content until it is memorized. This
means using the mnemonic until all content is safely stored into long term
memory. If difficulty is found at this step, an adjustment to the mnemonic
may be necessary.

Learning/Teaching styles: Presenting mnemonics for students to use to

memorize content fits best with the facilitator teaching style. The teacher becomes
a coach rather than a direct instructor when it comes to memorization. Each student
must take the time and patience to explore the content and use the presented
mnemonics or develop their own. Students should be encourage to create their own
mnemonics as this will give them the buy-in to make the content relevant and
increase retention.

The best learning style to employ mnemonics is an independent learning style as it

is helpful to be a self-starter and be able to explore content and create ones own
mnemonics.

Opinion: I use many mnemonics in my math instruction. We have the old standards
such as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS), and new ones as well. PEMDAS
is for the Order of Operations and in my classes we explore it further and have a
new mnemonic that is called PUMAS which is our school mascot. I employ extensive
use of analogies in my classes to the point that I have been called Analogy Man.
Math can be quite abstract and we can think about concepts in real world terms we
use every day, we may remove some of the difficulty students have with
mathematics. In the reading it is stated that memory nurtures intellectual power. I
find when my students cannot recall how to perform an operation or skill, they lose
confidence. If the use of mnemonics can restore that confidence in their math
abilities then it is an avenue of instruction well worth employing.