Everyone knows that Rowntrees Of York Give Best In Value and that My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies, right? But how many mnemonic devices can we share out with each other?
A mnemonic device is a useful tool to enable students to retain and recall key information, formulae, subject-specific concepts etc., especially when parted from their favourite device like when they might sit an exam.
This week I asked my Y9s to correctly conjugate one of the three Spanish verb types in the present tense as a learning check. On the left is a photo of one pair’s work.
Can you think why I asked them: “If You’re Happy Wriggle Your Toes”? This group took just 30 seconds to give me an answer. The question arose from CPD I attended a few years ago led by an MFL Ofsted Inspector
For those of you who might wish to inject some mnemonic devices into your teaching, there is a plethora of them out there on t’internet but many appear to come from USA-based websites. Try:
https://www.learningassistance.com/2006/january/mnemonics/html