Mnemonic devices are excellent tools for teachers who want to help their students remember important facts. An interesting and fun exercise that I talk about in my seminars is to have your students try to come up with their own mnemonic devices.

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.