Memory strategies for Written Language.
Writing focus |
Strategy |
Purpose |
Writing sentence or paragraphs |
Brainstorm words and phrases in advance |
Demands on working memory are reduced by activating students' knowledge and brainstorming keywords and phrases with them before they write sentences or paragraphs. Students use their brainstorming lists to formulate sentences. |
Writing paragraphs or essays |
BOTEC |
Stands for: "Brainstorm, Organise, Topic sentence, Evidence and Conclusion". This helps students remember the steps and procedures in the writing process. |
Transitions within and between paragraphs |
Lists of common transition words/phrases and their uses |
These are useful for students who are able to write basic sentences, but have difficulty remembering to use effective signals to help their ideas. These words can be categorised into words or phrases which indicate order (e.g. first, second), additions (e.g. also, furthermore), comparisons (e.g. although, however), cause and effect (e.g. therefore, as a result), and conclusions (e.g. in summary). |
Sentence starters |
Lists of common sentence starters |
To help students who "get stuck" during the writing process and need help remembering how to begin the next sentence. E.g. "The most significant", "The primary reason", "One of the most important", etc. |
Note taking |
*Partial Outlines
*Colour Highlighting
*Different size letters of different fonts |
*These provide organisational schemas for taking notes. They also lessen the amount of writing required by students and help students conceptualise the "big picture" *This helps students to separate the themes from the details and to memorise information more easily. The colours chosen should be used consistently. *These can be used to help students differentiate the main ideas from the details. |