Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0282: Reprise: How do I teach vocabulary to children?

Episode Date: April 7, 2015

Today Timothy revisits the question on teaching vocabulary to children, with some extra comments on how he would change his answer today. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Hey everyone, this is Timothy and welcome to episode 282 of Master of Memory. Today we're doing a reprise episode. When we release this episode, it's going to be during my sabbatical for some extended overseas travel, so basically we're re-presenting an old Master of Memory episode that I think is worth a refresher, but also with some new commentary from me based on my more experienced perspective. Today we're re-releasing episode 50 about teaching vocabulary to children. A couple of good things about this episode are that it emphasizes teaching children how to find stressed syllables, which is really important, and then also how to use stressed syllable mnemonics, so those

are important as well. There are a few things that I would change about this though. I would add the importance of frequency vocabulary because some vocabulary is much more important than others, and I would really like to emphasize that if I was to address this question again today, which I guess I'm doing right now. And then I would also emphasize the importance of not just teaching the vocabulary and quizzing on it with flashcards, but immediately looking at examples of those words in context. Because, for example, if you were to learn that the word render means to make something something else, that doesn't really tell were to learn that the word render means to make something something else, that doesn't really tell you the construction of the way that it's used, because it

is used a very particular way. It's used, we render noun, adjective, or something along those lines, you know. So showing the student a few examples and asking them to write some examples that are very similar to that is extremely beneficial for actually getting them to understand how the vocabulary is used, which is, of course, why we're teaching the vocabulary. Thirdly, I would have the students write stories requiring them to use all of this, you know, almost highbrow sounding vocabulary, but also involving something that I just think of off the top of my head, like deer and a pool. And they always end up coming up with these outrageous stories, but they're hilarious, not only because they've been forced to come up with something really creative based on the situation and the words they've had to choose, but also it's just funny because they are using these words correctly and it just

it's it's really hilarious in the context that they're coming up with. The only other thing I'd add is the value of teaching vocabulary from a particular book before they read that book. I mentioned this in a recent Reprise episode in my commentary before the episode, if someone's about to read something, then find all the vocabulary that they probably won't know from that book, teach that vocabulary to them specifically, and then have them read the book immediately afterwards. That helps incredibly with their understanding of those words, and of course it helps with their understanding of the book, so you have a double win there.

Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever. Michelle asked in an email about teaching English vocabulary to children. The approach to teaching vocabulary to children will be similar to the approach to learning vocabulary as an adult, which I talked about yesterday. But there are some special considerations to take into account when you're teaching younger students. So first of all, you'll want to teach them to recognize stressed syllables, both when they're spoken and when they're written. So you can speak a word to them like anteater or umbrella or cabinet,

which are just the first three words that came to my mind. This is the mind of Timothy Moser. You just tell them those three words and you ask them to identify the stressed syllables, ant, brel, and cab. And then you show them written words and you ask them to voice them and find what the stressed syllable is in each of those. It's an auditory thing but it comes with practice so they learn how to recognize stressed syllables. Next, as you teach vocabulary, like you would as an adult, you come up with stressed syllable mnemonics. So you come up with a funny story based on the stressed syllable. So the word dilatory, for example, means delaying or tending to cause a delay. So what I do

is I teach the student to recognize the word dil and then imagine that somebody's taking a trip home, but they stop and gather a bunch of dil and they gather so much that they're carrying all this dil and it slows them down. That's a memorable story that will be prompted by the word dill, which they'll see in dilatory. Another example is disdain. You find out what the student thinks of when they hear the word dain, and most of the time I find that students think of a great dain. So the mnemonic that we use is there's a giant dog that you don't particularly like because while you're trying to read, it keeps coming and trying to sit on your lap even though it's bigger than you. So you don't really like the dog.

You aren't openly hostile to it, but you still kind of look at it out of the corner of your eye and privately resent it. So you see that I'm teaching not only a definition of the word in words, but I'm actually teaching the meaning by giving a story that conveys the meaning better than words could. Trying to have the student memorize resentment without open hostility would be a bit of a problem, but just having them remember the story of the Great Dane teaches them what the word means and the nuances of how it's used. The third thing I'd suggest is to have them quiz in Quizlet. So go to Quizlet.com, create little sets of vocabulary, maybe 8 at a time or 16 at a time, something manageable,

and have them quiz with those, focusing on the words that are gotten wrong, and then tweaking the mnemonics based on what the students keep getting wrong. So Quizlet will tell you what words the student gets wrong, and you can just kind of, if something just isn't working, if they just never remember what the word disdain means, you can choose a different story, maybe based on a slightly different use of the stressed syllable. Maybe you could base it on day instead of dane, because they never think of the dog. But anyway, you'll quiz using Quizlet.com and see what they tend to get wrong, and then adjust your mnemonics based on that.

The bottom line though is don't just try to beat vocabulary into their heads because they're not going to remember something if they just keep telling themselves disdain means I don't like it. Disdain means I don't like it. Don't do that. They aren't going to remember that. They can repeat it to themselves 10 times and then two minutes later they won't remember it at all. Use methods that are memorable, that are visual, that are funny, and they will remember these words. Alright, I hope you've enjoyed this reprise episode. For anyone who has any questions about learning or memorizing anything faster than ever, feel free still to leave a message at masterofmemory.com slash question, and I'll be able to respond

quickly to your message from wherever I am, I just won't be able to record an episode on that topic until I'm back in the States in May. Meanwhile, if you want to support the show, please check out our Spanish course at masterofmemory.com slash Spanish. Or if you want to follow my adventures in Argentina or wherever else I might happen to be, you can do that at timothymoser.com.