1) Acronyms - A word formed from the first letters of each one of the words in a phrase.
- HOMES – The names of the 5 Great Lakes – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
- ROY G. BIV – The colors in a rainbow – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
- SCUBA - When you’re scuba diving, you’re using a “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.”
2) Acrostics – Sentences created from the first letters of key words.
**I particularly like this one since Earthly gives you a clue that the third planet is earth and Neptune is listed last. This means you only have to know 6.
4) Association – finding a common element. The association is usually coincidental.
- Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally – for the order of operations
Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction
**I personally prefer the phrase: Pale Elvis Meets Dracula After School.
- My Very Earthly Mother Just Sliced Up Neptune. – the planets in order from largest to smallest:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
**I particularly like this one since Earthly gives you a clue that the third planet is earth and Neptune is listed last. This means you only have to know 6.
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| Free Resource |
3) Rhyme, Rhythm, Song – poems, limericks or silly songs – These work well for auditory learners.
- I before E, except after C and in sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh.
- In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
- Twinkle, twinkle little star; circumference is 2 π r. (I actually sing this for my students!)
- Litmus Paper: Blue = Base – both begin with “B”.
- Arteries: Artery = Away – both begin with “A”.
- The principal is my PAL. Helps to distinguish from principle.
- Affect = Action (a verb) Helps to separate it from effect which is a noun.
These ideas plus many more are in a free resource called Mnemonic Techniques found on Teachers Pay Teachers. All you have to do is download it!
