Submitted by: Betsy B. Lee, Ed.S. in School Psychology

Grade level:

Objective:

Students will learn memory strategies for spelling.

Resources:

pencil and paper

Teacher Preparation:

Review the many examples on this page of the Learning Abilities Books site. http://www.gate.net/~labooks/xLPspelling.html

Procedure:

The basic memory principle in this lesson plan is to associate, or link, something you need to remember to something you already know. It might be a silly association or a logical association. It just needs to be a memorable association. Cues need to be relevant, non-ambiguous associations. Do is in the word, does. Ear is in the word, hear, meaning to listen. Here is spelled like there as in here and there. Many helpful examples are on the website including how to remember there, their, and they‘re.

Variations/Options:

I’ve seen LD kids really relate to this strategy. It is a concrete method which works when other systems fail.

Real World Usage:

Once children are introduced to this concept, they can often contribute great ideas. Ask for their ideas but make sure to guide them to use cues which are relevant, non-ambiguous associations. They can come up with misleading cues.

Additional Web Resources:

http://www.gate.net/~labooks/LEM.html This page of the Learning Abilities books site has plans for other memory strategies, vocabulary development, left and right, etc.