Click here to view the video on YouTube.

As teachers working in the trenches, we don’t often have the opportunity to step back and evaluate our performance, come up with new strategies to help students, or receive honest feedback on our work in the classroom. Sometimes the only feedback we get is based on standardized test scores or exam grades.

Imagine if you were armed with effective strategies for inclusion, memorization, and engaging students before your first day in the classroom.  These education majors from Carroll University had the opportunity to attend one of my seminars as part of their preparation for going into the classroom. Melissa and Whitney learned a wide range of strategies for teaching in a short period of time – even admitting they may use some of the memorization tips at the college level!

By exposing tomorrow’s teachers to strategies for success before they enter the classroom, we’re improving the quality of teaching in our schools and the chance for our students to thrive.

Many students do not think much about how to budget their time on a test and just jump right in.  However, in order to do their best on tests, they must learn how to think about how much time they have and how to budget that time when testing.

Ways Students Can Wisely Use Their Test-Taking Time

1. On a multiple choice-type test, teach them to answer the easy questions (the ones they know) first, the difficult ones next, and then quickly guess the rest (as long as it won’t count against them).

2. Have them count the number of multiple choice questions and calculate how much time they have for each question.  When there are essay questions too, have students set aside time for the essay(s) and then calculate their time per question for the rest of the test.

3. In general, students should answer multiple choice questions first and then focus on essay and other questions.  There are often clues to other questions in the multiple choice parts of a test.

4. Tell students to cross out obviously incorrect responses to minimize the distractions such responses offer.  This will save them even more time.

For a video training program on memorization and test taking strategies with a concentration on RTI & DI that is  perfect for Professional Learning Communities, Long-term embedding professional development, full or half day inservice as well as individualized learning  check out Memorization and Test Taking Strategies: Training DVD Set

Does anyone have an idea as to how I might ‘get the word out’ about this valuable resource for Spanish speaking parents and caregivers? I’d appreciate suggestions.

Thanks,

Susan Fitzell

No matter what subject you teach, using singing and music to help students remember material can be one of the most powerful tools in your teaching toolkit. Math teachers use “Pop! Goes the Weasel” to help students remember the quadratic formula. English teachers use “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to teach the various forms of ‘to be.’ And in Social Studies…well, let’s look at an example. I was recently talking about memorization with my kung fu teacher, who’s a few years younger than me, and he had a great story about using music as a memory strategy. When he was in high school, he had a tough assignment – to memorize the Constitution. He studied it every night, but just couldn’t seem to get it into his head.

One day, he was talking about this assignment at lunch, when a girl jumped in and asked him if he’d tried using the song. It turned out that she’d seen Schoolhouse Rock on a Saturday morning cartoon, and the show had a song for the Constitution. Soon word got out to all the students in the class about the song from Schoolhouse Rock – and all of the students passed the assignment. The teacher was flabbergasted – he’d never seen a class where every student was able to memorize the Constitution. The funniest thing to me was when my kung fu teacher started singing the song on the spot; 20 years later, he still remembered it. Talk about learning!

As teachers, we absolutely must use every tool we have available to us, and music is one of the most powerful strategies we can utilize. You don’t have to be a Broadway star to help your students use music and singing in the classroom. Whether you teach them a song for the multiplication tables or have them make up lyrics for karaoke that are relevant to your unit, by attaching something new to something the kids already know, they’ll learn.

Jan teaches GED courses for adults at a local community college. In her first class after attending the seminar, she was planning on starting a new unit on Social Studies. “One of the things I’m hoping to start right away is to have the students work together to create some of their own mnemonic techniques,” she told me. Laughing, she commented that “I think [the students] are going to enjoy that more than always listening to me!”

Most of the time, when we consider techniques and strategies for the classroom, we think in terms of elementary, middle, and high school. But these strategies can be used anywhere learning takes place, including at the college level – and even in the corporate world, where “students” go through workplace training and continuing education.

credit for completing a vocabulary square using the ‘nerd word’.  This process motivates students to explore new words and to experience a larger vocabulary.

Another issue students often face is unfamiliar vocabulary on tests.  I discuss the importance of teaching test vocabulary in some of my seminars, but sometimes students need other options. Rachael Woolbright from Rockwell Charter High School in Utah suggests allowing written responses on multiple choice tests. If a student is unsure of an answer, they can write in another answer they think is correct.  This strategy also benefits extroverts who need to be able to process their answers more deeply than multiple choice testing allows.

Joelle Brummitt-Yale offers some additional vocabulary specific strategies in her article, “Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary.”  Take a look and remember to consider the vocabulary you use  when working with your students.

During the week of August 10th I was pleased to work with two great groups of teachers.  During the first great session in Kirtland New Mexico, one of the high school math teachers agreed to demonstrate how she uses music by singing the quadratic formula to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel.”

Teachers at Ranches Academy and Rockwell Charter HS Sing Testing Strategies!

Then I spent two awesome days in Eagle Mountain Utah with the teachers from Ranches Academy and Rockwell Charter High School.  On day two, I presented, “Memorization and Test Taking Strategies”. We talked about testing strategies and three groups of teachers agreed to share the songs they brainstormed to remember testing strategies.  Thanks to Sara, Kayla, Allie, Jamie, Stacy, Melanie, Angela, Dorothy, Tiffany, Tammy, and Sue (I hope I got everyone’s  name right) for being courageous enough to let me film them to share with the world!

Practice Mnemonics as a Group

I’ve had more success with ‘group’ mnemonics than individual student mnemonics. If the entire group or class has the same memory trick, then we can practice the mnemonic as a class and practice it often. When students create individual memory tricks, we have to count on the student to memorize the mnemonic on their own.

So, when as a class, we need a mnemonic to reinforce facts or a concept, I have the students work in small group ‘teams’ to come up with a silly rhyme, chant, acrostic, etc. I give them 3-5 minutes to come up with one. When the time is up, each group shares their mnemonic and then the class votes on the best one. The class vote determines which mnemonic we use to reinforce learning. “Publish” the mnemonic and copyright it and put the students’ names on it. They love that incentive and it’s an effective feel good activity.

Mnemonics: Tips from the Trenches

Here are some mnemonics from teachers that have attended my sessions and been kind enough to share their ideas:

• How to remember ‘solute & solvent’ in a solution: A thief broke into a building and filled a bag with loot. Then the police came. The thief hid the loot in a vent, so he wouldn’t get caught. The solute goes into the solvent. Lute – loot, Vent – vent, The soLoot goes into the solVent. – Amanda Patenaude, Keene Central School, Keene Valley, NY

• Use OREO to teach persuasive writing; O-opinion, R-reasons, E-examples, O-opinion restated. I also bring in Oreo cookies – kids never forget. – Beth Price, Rapid Run Middle School

• Beth also has her students come up with mnemonics to help them remember the 27 amendments to the constitution. For example; with the 1st amendment, remember PAPERS spelled PAPRS. The 1st amendment is about the freedoms of Press, Assembly, Petition, Religion, and Speech. Also, PAPER is used for all 4 freedoms. Another example could be the 2 letters in DC (As in the District of Columbia). Washington DC gets 3 electoral votes because of the 23rd amendment. These mnemonics are then made into flashcards for review.

• To recall the 13 colonies use 3 different sentences. 1. No More Red Crayons. (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut). 2. Nice People Need Dessert. (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware). 3. My Very Nice Son George. (Maryland, Virginia, No. Carolina, So. Carolina, Georgia). Kids can also draw a picture for each sentence to help them remember. -Margie Moore, Spencer School, Brighton, MI

• An easy way to remember the continents. North America married South America. They had 4 kids; Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica and they all moved to Europe. – Daniel Carpenter, Beaver Area High School.

Free Online Mnemonic Resources

Online resources for mnemonics can also be incredibly helpful in finding those tricks to helping students pass their tests.

I recently presented a workshop in Schnecksville, PA. The participants’ challenge was to create a song to help students memorize test taking strategies. They all did such a wonderful job with their rhymes, songs and mnemonics that I wanted to share them with all of you. The memorization & test taking strategies they’ve included are from the book, Umm… Studying? What’s that? By Shivahn Fitzell

The following rhyme explains how to approach multiple choice questions on a standardized test:

First do the easy.

Then do the tough.

Quickly guess the difficult stuff.

Focus on multiple choice, they say later come back to do the essay.

Cross out answers that don’t make sense.

You’ll be done in no time, w/out being tense.

Watch your time and you’ll be fine.

Easy first, then the worst.

Guess the rest try your best.

Multi-choice then your voice.

Please don’t shirk, check you work.

Easy

Difficult

Guess

Multiple choice

Essay

Cross out wrong

Starring: Donna Barone, Tammy Weaver, Carissa Capwell, Kathleen Teay, Brent Herzog.

To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star….

Calculate the time you need.

If you do you will succeed.

Easy questions first, they say

Difficult next is the best way

Multiple choice before essay

Guess the rest and end your day.

Time                               (draw a clock)

Easy                              EZ

Difficult                        E=Mc2

Guess                            ????

Multiple choice            ABCD

Cross out                       XXXX

To the tune of Frere Jacques….

Calculate time, calculate time

Easy first, easy first

Do the harder questions next

At the very end just guess

Then you’re done, have some fun!

Time for testing, time for testing

Easy first, easy first

Then we do the hard ones

Quickly guess the others

Then cross out, then cross out

How to manage time.  To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat…

Try the easy questions first

Don’t waste too much time

Spend more time on harder ones

And you will do fine

Save the essay for the last

You can make it fun

List ideas before you start

Write a sentence for each one.