Complete Lesson Plan for 
Mnemonics

SOL:  6.3  The student will describe and analyze the changing role of the United States in world affairs between 1898 and 1930, with emphasis on - the Spanish American War.

Review the LISTS and FIRST strategies with students.  Ask if they remember the strategies and why we are learning about the strategies.  FIRST helps us identify, organize, and memorize important information.

We are learning about the main causes of the Spanish American War and I have developed a mnemonic using the two strategies listed above to help you memorize the causes we have found through are reading.  I am going to model the strategy for you and then we will do one together.

L in LISTS stands for look for clues, subheadings, and keywords.
    I read the passage asking myself the following questions:  Do I see any subheadings or keywords?  Do I see any bold faced words?  Yes, I do the see the subheading Main Causes of the Spanish American War in bold print.  I remember this what my teacher told me I had to look for subheadings and keywords.  Underneath, I see 4 main causes of the Spanish American War.  Now, I am going to write the causes down on my paper.

        - Yellow journalists fan opposition to Spain.
        - Cuba rebels against Spain
        - The Maine explodes
        - Americans support Cuban Independence

I in LISTS stands for investigating items.
        I look for certain keywords from my main causes that I have written on my paper.  I want to find the main words that stand out or are not as important as others.
From my list, these are the keywords that I think are very important.

        - Yellow journalists
        - Rebellions of Cubans
        - Explosion of the Maine
        - Cuban independence supported by Americans

S in LISTS stands for selecting a mnemonic strategy using FIRST.
      Now, I am going to make a mnemonic that will help me learn the main causes of the Spanish American War using the FIRST strategy.

  F in FIRST stands for forming a word.
           Can we form a word using the first letters of the causes?
                                - YREC (not a word)
                No, can not form a word using the first letters of the causes found in our
                book.

  I in FIRST stands for inserting lowercase letters.
          Can we form a word by inserting lowercase letters to make a word still
                only using the first letters of the causes?
                                - mYiRoEC (not a word)
                                - bYaRuEiC (not a word)
                No luck by inserting lowercase letters.

    R in FIRST stands for rearranging letters.
           Can we make a word by rearranging the first letters of the causes to make a
              word?
                               - ERCY (not a word)
                               - YREC (not a word)
                               - CREY (not a word)
              Again, no luck in rearranging the letters to form a word.

  S in FIRST stands for shaping a sentence.
           Can we make a sentence from the first letters of the causes?
                        - Earl raced Chris yesterday.
            This is a sentence but it does not really help me in remembering the causes of
            the war.

    T in FIRST stands for trying different combinations.
          Looking back over my different combinations I remember that I thought I
              could make a word by inserting and rearranging the first letters of the
              causes.  Let's try and see if this can work!
                    - ERCY (rearranging the letters)
                    - mERCY (inserting a lowercase letter)
                    - mERCy (that is a word)
              My mnemonic was found by rearranging the letters and then inserting a
              lowercase letter m, which can help me remember that these are the main
              causes of the Spanish American War.

T in LISTS stands for transferring information to a small index card.
      On the front of my index card I am going to write "The Causes of the Spanish
         American War."
         On the back of my card in the upper left hand corner I am going to write my
         mnemonic "mERCY"  In the center of the card still on the back, I will write what
         each letter stands for.
         Once my information is on the card I am going to think of a picture that will
         help me remember.

         I am picturing two boys wrestling.  One has a T-shirt on that says Spain and
         the other boy has a T-shirt that says America.  The boy with Spain on his shirt
         is saying "Mercy."  The boys are wrestling on a yellow mat with a funny looking
         map behind them.  It is funny because the United States is shaking hands with
         Cuba and Spain is looking on.

S in LISTS stands for self testing yourself at least twice.
           I am now going to test myself to see if I can name the causes of the
           Spanish American War.
           I am picturing two boys wrestling.  One has a T-shirt on that says Spain and
           the other boy has a T-shirt that says America.  The boy with Spain on his shirt
           is saying "Mercy."  The boys are wrestling on a yellow mat a funny looking map
           behind them.  It is funny because the United States is shaking hands with Cuba
           and Spain is looking on.  I remember that one boy is saying "Mercy," and that is
           my mnemonic.  M stands for main causes of the Spanish American War.  E
           stands for explosion of the Maine.  R stands for rebellion of the Cubans.  C
           stands for Cuban independence supported by Americans.  Y stands for yellow
           journalists.