Memory

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="21d005a0dvldtc.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC00" FACE="Arial" ><B>PT3 Readers are Leaders</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FF3300" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>|</B><B>     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PT3 Readers are Leaders"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Memory</B>   |   <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Eyes "><U>  Eyes   </U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#FFCC00" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFCC00" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Memory</div> <div>        When you are reading, you need to use your memory actively.  Think of your memory as picture encyclopedia.  Your encyclopedia contains everything you know about the world.  It contains maps, timelines, pictures of people, descriptions of places, smells and sounds.  </div> <div>       Your mental encyclopedia is not complete or correct.  It includes only the things you have put into it.  If you remembered incorrect information, your mental encyclopedia is wrong.  </div> <div>       For example, in the first grade, Johnny heard a classmate say that Abraham Lincoln was the first President, but his mind was wandering when the teacher when the teacher corrected the student and told the class that Washington was the first President.  Johnny filed the wrong information in his mental encyclopedia.</div> <div>       Your brain is constantly adding to and correcting your mental encyclopedia.  Sometime in the second grade, Johnny read about George Washington.  At first he was confused, but then his brain realized that George Washington was the first President and corrected the mistake.</div> <div>        When you read, your brain needs to use your memory actively.  As you read more difficult material, you need to train your brain coach to use your memory more effectively.   You need to use your memory to read effectively, and you need to remember what you read in ways that you can use it.</div> <bR> <div> <B>1.   Before you start reading, you need to find the information you already have in your memory about the topic.</B>  </div> <div>          As you read, your brain coach can use the information you already have to help you recognize difficult words, picture places and things, and understand the writer's ideas.   For example, several generations ago most people had only a third or fourth grade education, yet they could fleuntly read the King James version of the Bible with words like Jerusalem, Jeremiah, and Malachi without any problem.  The reason was that they had heard the stories and names of the Bible so many times that they could get much of the information from their memories when they were reading.  They didn't have to sound out the difficult names.  They could sound out a few letters, and their memories would supply the rest. </div> <div> a.    To open your memory, look at the topic of the book you are reading and brainstorm everything you know about the topic on a web chart.</div> <div> b.    Use a "KWL" chart. Divide a piece of paper into 3 columns.  At the top of the paper write "what I know,"  "what I want to know," and "what I learned."   Before you start reading, brainstorm what you know and what you want to know.  This will prepare your memory to use old information to help you read and to remember new information.  When you finish, fill in the column with what you learned.  This will help your memory store the new information.</div> <div> c.   If you are familiar with the place or topic, draw a picture or a map of the setting.</div> <bR> <div> <B>2.   If you are reading a difficult book on a topic that you know nothing about, you may want to fill your mental encyclopedia with a little information. </B> </div> <div> a.   Read a picture book from the Children's section of the library on the topic.  The picture book will give you some of the vocabulary and pictures to help you visualize the new topic.</div> <div> b.   Find a map of the place you are reading about or a timeline of the historic period or a chart of important people or a family tree.  </div> <div> c.  Read an easy article in an encyclopedia.</div> <bR> <div> <B>3.   As you read, compare the information in the book with the information in your memory.</B>  </div> <div> a.   Compare the characters and events in the story with people and events in your memory from your real experiences or from other books or television shows.  Make predictions based on what happened to similar people who made similar choices.</div> <div> b.   Compare the picture of the world in the book with the picture in your mind.  Is the book correct, or is your memory correct?  Do not assume that everything in a book is correct.  If you have suspicions about the book, look at how much the author knows and whether the author is tyring to "sell" a point of view.</div> <div> c.    Make inferences.  Read between the lines by making guesses based on your knowledge about how the world usually works.  Check out whether your guesses were correct as you continue in the book.</div> <div> d.   Link information in one part of the book with information you read earlier.  You may want to help your memory by keeping charts of characters or symbols.</div> <bR> <div> <B>4.  Help your memory with notes</B></div> <div> <B>     </B> Most people remember better if they write the ideas they want to remember.  Try taking notes in a reading log after each chapter or writing notes on sticky notes or making charts or diagrams.  If you own the book, try highlighting or writing notes in the margin.</div> <div>      When you finish a chapter or a book, think about what you want to remember and review it.  A good way to review it is to tell it to someone else.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>