Chunking

I attended a really fantastic Professional Development last year about how to help students recall and apply information in the classroom. It was filled with practical strategies for teachers to use to both engage and improve the memories of students. 

What I found most interesting about this training, however, was the simple fact that our memory does indeed have a limited capacity. (hhmm...well that explains a lot doesn’t it?!)

And what is that limited capacity? Interestingly enough, our brains can hold, “7  plus or minus 2” chunks of information. This means our memories hold somewhere between 5-9 pieces of information at one time. Not very much is it? Well if you think about the length of  required information adults must memorize, they fit within these parameters; for example, phone numbers are 7 numbers long and social security numbers are 9 numbers long.

Well wouldn’t it be fantastic if our students were only required to know 7 + - 2 chunks of information a day? The thought is actually comical when we think about how much students are actually exposed to on a daily basis. In 1 class period, students have at least 10 vocabulary words to learn, and that’s 1 class out of approximately 6-8 class periods. And we wonder why our students have trouble remembering things?!

While we don’t always have control over the curriculum, we have control over the way we instruct it.

So, it’s time to start Chunking information, and applying the 7 + - 2 rule!

One strategy I particularly loved from this PD was the Phone Graphic Organizer. This simple organizer has 9 total boxes and mimics a keypad:

__________	__________	__________
__________	__________	__________
__________	__________	__________

And my favorite way to use this organizer is to help students learn and remember vocabulary.

The idea behind the organizer is simple:

1.     Decide 9 vocabulary words for students to know (7 + - 2? Check!)

2.     In each box:

a.     Draw a visual that represents the meaning of the word (For example, if I wanted students to remember that our memories can only hold 7 plus or minus 2 bits of information, we would write “7 + - 2” as our visual

b.     Write a key word that helps you remember as well

When completing the organizer be sure to:

1.     Frequently pause and review completed boxes

Each time you add a new word, review the one before, and continue on in this fashion

2.     Work in rows of three

After the first three are completed, pause and review those three together so that each row is further chunked

But is this strategy motivating for students? Of course!

Chunking lengthy information into 9 simple pieces makes the content less intimidating and immediately more manageable. The visual representations of the organizer and words not only will be stimulating and engaging, but it will help students to make meaning and recall content. Have an upcoming quiz or test? Congratulations - you just made an instant study tool for students to use at home. 

I promise this is a tool you won’t forget!