| A
common complaint of students is that they cannot remember what they
read when they get to the end of a chapter. Answering those end-of-the-chapter
questions can be a real chore because they do not have good strategies
for holding onto the information as they read or for going back
and finding it later.
Many students think that
they just have to reread the chapter from the beginning over and
over to locate the information.
In order to understand
and remember what is read or heard, individuals must be able to
visualize or make pictures in their mind,
letting those pictures run like a movie. Three simple steps can
be used to help students visualize, understand the remember information
more easily. These are:
- Picture
- Replay, and
- Retell
When your child is reading
or listening, have him try to picture what is being said, to "make
a movie" in his head. Then have him "replay the tape." This is just
like rewinding a tape on a VCR and viewing a section of it again.
This replaying helps set the information into memory.
Have the child picture
the information again, retelling it to you in detail as he sees
it. Do this first with stories and oral directions. Then try it
with content material such as Social Studies or Science.
When your child has questions
to answer, have him rewind his "mental movie" to the section where
the information can be found. Have him think, "Did I see that at
the beginning, toward the middle, or at then end?" If he can't remember,
have him think, "What did I see at the beginning, in the middle,
and at the end? Where does this question seem to fit?"
Once he has located a
logical starting point, he can then go back and check in the book
without doing a lot of unnecessary rereading.
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