Mnemonic strategies are systematic procedures for enhancing memory. The word mnemonic comes from Mnemosyne, the name of Greek goddess of memory. The keyword method, a mnemonic strategy, has been shown to be effective with students who have learning difficulties and those who are at risk for educational failure. According to the National Reading Panel, the keyword method may lead to significant improvement in students' recall of new vocabulary words. This sample lesson model targets two contextualized vocabulary words. The same model can be adapted and used to enhance recall of vocabulary words in any commercial reading program.
Direct Explanation
Explain to students that you are going to show them how to use the keyword method, a useful strategy for remembering the meanings of vocabulary words. Tell them you are going to model the strategy twice, using the words archipelago and lunar.
Teach/Model
Define the target word
Read aloud the following sentence from "Alaska Adventure."
The Aleutian archipelago stretches for more than a thousand miles.
Then tell students that an archipelago is "a group of islands."
Think of a keyword for the target word
Say: To help me remember the meaning of the word archipelago, a group of islands, I am going to think of another word, called a "keyword." The keyword is a word that sounds like archipelago and also is a word that can be easily pictured. My keyword for archipelago is pelican. Pelican sounds like archipelago and is the name of a water bird with a very large bill.
