Mnemonic Memory Magic
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Every year, when the first conference day rolls around and I have to inform parents that their child only knows 6 letters of the alphabet, my appraisal is met with a very defensive "No Way!" At first, I thought the parents were in denial, but after talking with them over the years (Isn't it amazing what you can learn about your students by merely having a conversation with mom and dad?), I realized that because their child could sing his ABC song, the parents believed that their "little one" knew all of his letters. So, one of the first things you want to do to teach all your students alphabet knowledge is get the parents involved. This because, parents are and always will be, their child's first and best teacher.
Pictures can help students learn letter-sound correspondences by incorporating the letter shapes into a picture of an item/animal that begins with letter-sound link. This linking helps students memorize letter names, shapes and sounds (Ehri, Deffner & Wilce, 1984; Larson, 2001).
The integrated picture mnemonics strategy is a highly effective method to teach students the identify the letters of the alphabet (Houghton Mifflin, 2008).
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One of the best ways to teach children to identify the letters of the alphabet is through mnemonic devices. Thinking myself wise beyond my years, I created my own mnemonic alphabet using pictures, rhymes and motions. A few examples of some of these are: "Climb up, slide down, Climb up, slide down, across- Hey, capital A." For lowercase "a" I recite--"A circle and a line make an "a" everytime--Boom, Boom!" I embed the lowercase "a" into a picture of a red apple and the motion I give for the letter "a" and its sound is eating an apple and saying "AAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!" upon finding a worm inside. Some other rhymes I have are: for capital "N" Up down, up again, to make a capital N and lowercase "L" Make a line when you hear the bell, that's the way you make little L. I thought myself so clever creating my alphabet, and in fact, my students' alphabet knowledge mastery has improved dramatically. What I found as I researched this topic for my project is that several people have already created their very own mnemonic alphabet as well. Below are a few examples:
To learn more about zoophonics, go to:
http://ebookily.net/pdf/zoo-phonics-animal-cards
http://safarilearning.com/images/animal_signal_sheet.pdf
http://zoo-phonics.com/images/products_samples_LPC0203.pdf
http://lifelonglearner69.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/4/4/8744599/new_merged_animal_letter_patterns-1.pdf
http://ebookily.net/pdf/zoo-phonics-animal-cards
http://safarilearning.com/images/animal_signal_sheet.pdf
http://zoo-phonics.com/images/products_samples_LPC0203.pdf
http://lifelonglearner69.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/4/4/8744599/new_merged_animal_letter_patterns-1.pdf
Some additional links to some other fantastic mnemonic alphabets
http://www.seeheardocompany.com/
http://www.zoo-phonics.com/
http://www.itchysalphabet.com/
http://phonicsdance.com/
http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/
http://www.zoo-phonics.com/
http://www.itchysalphabet.com/
http://phonicsdance.com/
http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/
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"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."
-James Madison
-James Madison