Math Mnemonics and Struggling Learners

 

Mnemonics instruction is an instructional practice that is commonly used with students who have learning disabilities, as a strategy that helps them to memorize and recall key information. This approach is also extremely beneficial to non-disabled students and students in any grade-level. Mnemonics instruction allows students to access the general education curriculum, in a way that may be most beneficial to their individualized learning needs. The way this approach is delivered is extremely beneficial to students who are learning disabled because it allows them the tools they need to encode information and retrieve it from memory much easier at later points. This approach can be used in all subject areas, and can be tailored to the learners’ individual needs.

Mnemonics is a memory enhancing instructional strategy that teaches students to link new information to information that they already know. The use of Mnemonics instruction asks kids to use visual, verbal, and auditory cues to learn and retain information, along with making a connection to the topic at hand. For example younger students may be asked to learn a song that requires them to sing a letter, its sound, and the name of a picture that begins with that letter.

Mnemonics instruction is very important in the area of math. Often students are required to learn many different skills and strategies and then add to those skills to complete more complicated steps. For students with learning disabilities it may be very difficult for them to remember how to complete a problem that requires multiple steps or processes. There are many different mnemonics approaches that may aide students when teaching new math concepts.

One Mnemonics strategy is called Keyword Strategy
The keyword strategy is based on linking new information to keywords that are already encoded to memory. A teacher might teach a new vocabulary word by first identifying a keyword that sounds similar to the word being taught and easily represented by a picture or drawing. Then the teacher generates a picture that connects the word to be learned with its definition. According to Scruggs & Mastropieri (n.d.), the keyword strategy works best when the information to be learned is new to students.

Example of Keyword Strategy

Visual Images for the “2 Family”

2×2 skateboard with 2 sets of wheels

3×2 six pack of soda

4×2 spider with two sets of four legs

5×2 two hands with all fingers held up

6×2 dozen eggs in a carton

7×2 calendar with 2 weeks circled

8×2 two octopi, each with eight tentacles

9×2 an 18 wheel truck

(Wood & Frank, 2000) (http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Mnemonics.asp)

Another Mnemonics based strategy is called Pegword Strategy.The pegword strategy uses rhyming words to represent numbers or order. The rhyming words or “peg words” provide visual images that can be associated with facts or events and can help students associate the events with the number that rhymes with the pegword. It has proven useful in teaching students to remember ordered or numbered information (Scruggs & Mastropieri, n.d.). For example, “one” is typically represented by the word pegword “bun,” two is represented by the pegword “shoe,” and “three” is represented by the pegword “tree.” Here is a great example of number recognition poems and songs to use with younger students. http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems72.html

l I used this when teaching my 1^st graders at the beginning of the year and sometime I still here them chanting the poem to themselves when making the number. These poems are also hung up as a visual in the classroom and a copy is kept in their poetry folders to refer back to, and to offer continue practice and repetition. Here is an example of the pegword strategy when introducing adding doubles with children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPKoNJH1J Here is a rap to introduce telling time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6bA0e1Q9Q&feature=related , and one when learning to recognize 3D shapes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9L9l86N-xM&feature=related . This is an example for counting coins that we use in my classroom a lot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGDAMKtHTE&feature=related. All of these strategies are very engaging and ‘catchy’ once students learn them they can refer back to them and use the strategy when trying to recall information.

The use of Letter Strategy teaching involves the use of acronyms and acrostics. Acronyms are words whose individual letters can represent elements in lists of information. An example of this strategy is shown below.

Letter Strategy for Problem-Solving

S earch the word problem

T ranslate the words into an equation in picture form

A nswer the problem

R eview the solution

All three strategies can be implemented very effectively for mathematics instruction within the regular education setting or in small group work inside or outside of the classroom. The Pegword strategy seems to be the most commonly used approach when using mnemonics in mathematics instruction, because it was designed to help students learn numeric instruction in a specific sequence. Mnemonicsare used in teaching math facts, order of operations, measurement, geometry, problem-solving techniques, and other areas of math.documents(/Mnemonicinstruction-math-4-20-05.pdf) (http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/

Teachers should not only present new information to their students, but they should give them a way to remember it, and make it more meaningful and relevant to them. When using mnemonic strategies teachers should use these strategies frequently ask a way to ‘ignite’ prior learning among students. It is also beneficial to have these strategies posted in the classroom for students to refer back to. Students should be able to tell why the mnemonic strategy is in place. They should ask themselves the question of “How does this help me? How does this make learning more meaningful to me? The use of technology in the classroom helps to make using mnemonics strategies even more meaningful. With the use of my SmartBoard I am able to display catching songs, poems, rhymes, and visuals for the students to see.

Using math mnemonics in daily instruction is crucial for many students’ that struggle who have learning disabilities or have recall or memory issues. In a recent article that I have included below,  78.9% if students with learning disabilities are in the regular education classroom for most of the day. This statistic shows the high demands that teachers face to make sure that curriculum is differentiated and adjusted to meet the needs of all learners. Adding mnemonics strategies over cross-curricular in classroom instruction is one way to aide students in their struggle to learn, retain, process, and make meaning of important concepts in the classroom. To read this amazing article on the use of mnemonics in the classroom visit; http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912/.

Below is a picture of how I bring the use of mnemonics into my own classroom. Each morning, as part of our calendar routine the kids locate the coin I specify and pull the coin to the middle of the screen, which then reveals a poem to describe each coin and its value. This has helped my kids tremendously with coin identification and value. Check out the photo below taken from my own classroom!

References:

Mastropieri, M. (2010). Enhancing school success with mnemonic strategies. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/5912/

The Access Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-8. (n.d.). Using mneumonic instruction to teach math. Retrieved from http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/documents/Mnemonicinstruction-math-4-20-05.pdf