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The Memory Circle

8/3/2020

What is a Memory Circle?
A memory circle is an activity that involves each student taking responsibility for part of a rhyme, poem, or sequence and eventually learning the whole with a little help from his/her classmates. It is a circle purposefully embedded with carefully chosen content. It could be a skill, a helpful habit of mind. The subject can really be anything. I have often used memory circles to front-load or connect a class with habits of mind or social and emotional skills that can contribute to student success. This is a poem I have used with third grade students.

I Can - By Liz Giles-Brown
When the voice inside my head - is saying, "Yes, I CAN!"
I'm halfway to success my friend – It's part of my grand plan.
I’ll keep my thoughts on positive – As I travel through my day.
For only I control my thoughts – And what that voice will say.”

Click to watch several examples of memory circles in action!

The Scene
Students enter class, greet the teacher, and go about their morning routines and rituals as they prepare for the day. Music is playing to promote a positive emotional state. Things are humming along nicely. The teacher might be heard saying, "You hung up your backpack so that others won’t trip on it.” or “You remembered to complete your morning job before visiting a learning center.” Suddenly, there is a change in the music, and the children know it is their cue to finish their tasks and move to the circle. When the music ends, they are all there, ready to connect. The teacher says, "Hit it," which starts the moving memory circle they have been working on creating. The whole class is there with focused attention, ready to discover what they will be doing next.

Time Investment & Return
The process of learning a memory circle takes bits and pieces of time. Time is a teacher's coin, and we can plan to spend it wisely. This brain and body smart strategy does just that. Memory circles provide a connected way for the class to learn and can be built with small investments of time, creating a powerful tool to help students create a memory that lasts. Memory is essential when it comes to learning, but with this strategy, the return is much larger.

Each person in the class plays an essential role in the process of building connection and unity within the group. The strategy itself taps multiple pathways to memory. It is embedded with content (declarative memory) and taps procedural memory (movement), emotional memory (fun & challenge), and episodic memory (location & context) therefore creating many cues for recall.

Process
Building a memory circle takes bits and pieces of time over a more extended period. There is no hurry, no deadline. It unfolds naturally and works best when the teacher/leader is open to creative thoughts and ideas from the group.

Before you begin, print out the poem or text you will be using and cut the portions into strips. Number them in order. You can either hand them out randomly or assign specific parts to students by adding names to the numbered pieces of paper. Have them ready to hand out.
Read the piece to the class.
Hand out the strips and challenge the group to organize themselves according to their numbers, letting them know where the first and last number should be standing. Because students will always be in the same order, standing in the same space, this taps episodic memory. From this point forward, continue using short periods at the end of a class period, the day, or both. It should take a little over a week of using 3-4 minutes once or twice a day to have things pretty solid. Celebrate each success as a group.
Have each person read the slip of paper silently, signaling for help if needed. Then go through and have them read out loud in order. Then read the whole thing to the group again. Collect the slips.
Put the slips on the floor in front of you and call "connect" to cue the semi-circle. Offer the choice of picking up or leaving papers in a pile. There will be one or two students who want to challenge themselves and leave the slips of papers in a pile. If they discover they need them, have them come pick it up and carry on. Repeat this process at each session until nobody needs to pick up a slip.
When you call "connect," and everyone gathers in this semi-circle, turn to the person on your right and say, "Hit it!.” They begin the circle, reciting each part in order.
Movement Challenge. When you believe the class is ready, assign everyone the task of creating a moving illustration for his/her portion. Each student creates a "moving picture" that connects to his/her words.
Some students will come back with a movement, and some will not. That's OK. Go through and see what individuals have created. Then ask if anyone has any ideas that might help those who haven't decided on a movement, creating opportunities to be helpful. Then let the individual choose from the suggestions (or perhaps at this point after seeing some of the others he/she will come up with something on his/her own). Adding movement to the content taps procedural memory.
Spend the next few sessions, doing a "recite & move" each time you call the group to connect. Then move on to whatever comes next in the day's schedule. The circle becomes something you can use for efficient transitions and an attention-getter. It takes about a minute, and when you finish, you have everyone's attention. Read the group and decide when it's time to challenge the circle.
Challenges
1. If someone is absent, the whole class recites that part and performs the movement clue in unison.
2. Unison Recitation – After a while, when you say "Hit It," everyone recites the whole thing doing all the actions.
3. Movement Clues - Offer up the challenge of individuals reciting the entire thing with everyone supporting with his/her movement clue. Someone will take the challenge. Frontload with "What can the rest of us do to be helpful?" Tell them if they get stuck on one, they can ask someone to repeat a movement or ask the individual to remind them of the words. t This will be contagious too. Everyone will want to try it but remember – bits and pieces of time, so only do one or two each time until everyone who wants to take this challenge has a turn. Celebrate each success along with helpfulness.
4. No Movement Cues – Individuals volunteer to try to recite the entire circle without any movement clues. Again, someone will try it. Now you have two challenges available so that you can offer a choice.
5. Ultimate Challenge – With eyes closed, recite the whole thing from beginning to end.
6. When you use this strategy with content, students will be tested on and teach them how to visualize the circle. Challenge them to close their eyes and see where everyone stands and the movements as they try to recall the content.

Anecdotal Evidence
I've used this strategy successfully with students from first through eighth grade and done two tests to see if students could remember after a long period (one after a summer break and one after a trimester of not using it). In both cases, everyone could remember the order of the circle; most remembered their part—the few who didn't only required a few helpful cues for recall. Many could recite the whole thing and do each movement.

Be Creative!
Memory circles ac an excellent method of reviewing content using little bits of time over a more extended period. It works in any subject area. I have used this successfully with many grade levels. One of my favorites taught students how blood travels through the circulatory system. The possibilities are endless.

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Inside a Rhododendron

2/3/2020

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Inside a Rhododendron
By Liz Giles-Brown
I was riding my bike on a bright sunny day,
Just one of the ways that I get out to play.
I heard children’s voices as I pedaled along.
But saw no one around… perhaps I was wrong?
I looked all about giving pedals some push,
And realized the sound came from a rather large bush!
A round Rhododendron had grown very tall,
Making play space for winter, spring summer, and fall.
With leaves for a roof, dirt or snow making the floor,
And a creative young dad had crafted a door!
The sound of pretend brought joy to my heart.
Finding neighborhood play is not a lost art.
My childhood was blessed with time in the wood.
Creating and playing whenever we could.
New adventures each morning, afternoon and at night,
Building jumps for our bikes, solving conflicts on site.
Unstructured play need not be a thing of the past.
It’s the work of a child with lessons that last.

Resources
Hannaford, Carla, Ph.D. (2005) Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head. Utah: Great River Books
http://www.carlahannaford.com/
Louv, Richard. (2005) Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
http://richardlouv.com/

In the hurry-up world we live in, the evidence of unstructured time for children to play sometime takes a back burner to what is perceived to be more important. In her book, Smart Moves – Why learning isn’t all in your head, Carla Hannaford helps us to understand why much of what we hurry and push to accomplish with young children is at odds with their physiological development.

It's time to slow down and make time for play.

This simple door represents a parent’s understanding of how important it is to make time for and encourage his children’s play. This inviting yard is often the gathering place for neighborhood kids. Children imagine, pretend, create, solve problems, and all the while, learn essential life lessons while building social and emotional skills. We know that time for play and time to be outside in nature is vital for both children and adults. Richard Louv helps us understand how essential getting out in nature is for everyone's health and well-being in his book Last Child in the Woods.

It's time to slow down and make time to play outdoors.

Look for children playing in your neighborhood and enjoy the sights and sounds!

Yours for healthy & active life-long learning,
Liz

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Sentence Starters - Moving To Learn

10/9/2019

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I had a fantastic opportunity to work with some enthusiastic first and second-grade students as they began their writing block one afternoon. I’d come up with a singing checklist for writing sentences that capitalizes on moving to oxygenate and energize along with tapping multiple pathways to memory and what fun I had sharing it with them! The video shows the finished product. I've included our process along with some brain-body smart connections.

Our Process

Firing Up Connections
Before I introduced the song, we connected in a circle to begin firing up the parts and pieces, exploring movement as a form of communication with a guessing game and some exploration. I told the students that I was going to perform an action, and it was their job to try and figure out what I was trying to communicate. With my thumbs, I pointed to myself. And they guessed, "me." Then I asked them to explore different ways they could communicate “me." They came up with lots of different ideas. Then we explored more non-verbal communication for the words write, stop, read, small, big, remember, period, question mark, and exclamation point. I asked everyone to think of other ways we communicate. The question was followed by lots of ideas, including writing, talking, dancing, and the look on your face

"Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states."
~ Carol Welch

Teaching The Song
I sang the whole song first and told the kids that we were going to learn the words and add movements together. Each time we added a portion, we started at the beginning for repetition and review.

I can write a sentence.
I can write a sentence.
I can write a sentence for you to read.
I'll start with a capital letter.
I said, "a capital letter."
And end with punctuation.
I said, “punctuation.
Period – Question Mark – Exclamation point! (Big deep breathe)
And remember, don’t forget, I said, “remember don’t forget”
Spaces between the words.
I said, “spaces between the words.”

Learning The Words & Moving The Moves
Part 1
I can write a sentence.
I can write a sentence.
I can write a sentence for you to read.
We sang together with everyone choosing 3 ways to communicate that they were talking about themselves.

Part 2
I'll start with capital letters.
I said, "capital letters."
We added this portion with everyone choosing big body shapes to indicated capital letters.

Part 3
And end with punctuation.
I said, “punctuation.
Period – Question Mark – Exclamation point!
(Big deep breathe)
The third part was added with everyone singing together, but this time we all used the same motions for punctuation, period, question mark, and exclamation point. We followed that by taking a big deep breath together to pause before the ending.

Part 4
And remember, don’t forget, I said, “Remember, don't forget - spaces between the words."
I said, “spaces between the words.”
We added the final part with everyone choosing their favorite way to show “spaces.” You'll notice some students jumping with some choosing the step-together action.

Closure
After we practiced and made the video, there was excitement as they watched themselves perform! To finish this lesson, I shared the two versions of the written words shown below, and encouraged students to share the differences and similarities they noticed.

Brain & Body Smart Teaching Connections

Most people are familiar with the concept of a two-for but probably in terms of a dinner out where you receive two meals for the price of one or a good deal at the shoe store. As teachers, time is our coin, and when we place how the brain-body system learns best at the top of our list of planning considerations, we often find that with some creative thinking, we can get much more than two for time spent. By my calculations, this activity would count for a “five-for” as it serves to front load “think-abouts”, puts children in a positive emotional state for learning, creates a checklist that can be used for self-assessment, oxygenates and energizes the brain to enhanced learning, and taps procedural and emotional memory pathways for increased memory, motivation, and recall.

“Think-Abouts” & “Look-Fors”
I began using the terms “think-abouts” and “body look-fors” years ago with my younger elementary students, working from the guiding question “What are the “think-abouts” I need to focus on to make the “body look-fors” for (example - catching) a permanent part of me?” As a physical education teacher I could fill in the blank with any skill we might have been working to develop. In that situation, adding the word body made sense. When we change it to “look-fors," it can be used in many situations and subject areas. After reading Brain Rules by John Medina, I started thinking a lot about the fact that “vision trumps all the other sense” and began putting that rule to work more often in my teaching. I added the images to cue learning questions. These images have become part of From Fire to Inspire, a multi-purpose movement program I developed connecting all learning.

Moving to Oxygenate, Energize, Manage Emotional States & Tap Procedural Memory
By using movement and song to create a simple, time-efficient way to review the criteria for writing sentences, we increase the likelihood that students remember and can carry out the steps. They are actively involved in the review. Movement oxygenates and energizes the brain to enhance learning. Purposefully planning to tap multiple pathways to memory when learning and practicing, increases the likelihood that what is being taught reaches the end-stage and is also learned. Declarative memory includes is the memory of "what." It includes the memory of facts and events that are consciously recalled. Procedural memory is the long-term memory of how to do things. We call upon procedural memory to physically carry out a sequence of steps like riding a bike, juggling, playing a song on an instrument, or completing a task that has multiple steps. Initial learning takes conscious thought with attention to the “think-abouts." In this case, using capital letters to start a sentence, ending with punctuation, and remembering to leave spaces between the words would be some of the important things to remember when trying to communicate with others through writing. After practice, well-traveled neural pathways store the memory enabling it to be recalled automatically without conscious effort. I have mastered the art of sentence writing and typing and don't have the think about any of those things to carry out the task consistently and correctly. As I type, my pinky automatically moves to the shift key as I begin and sentence. And my ring finger finds the period every time. The skill is a permanent part of me, laid down in the form of well-used neural networks. By incorporating movement to review and bring attention to the criteria, we also tap emotional memory pathways. We had fun! Emotion takes the superhighway to memory, and when we work to pair positive emotions with learning experiences, the release of dopamine acts as a memory fixative. And because movement also works to balance brain chemicals, we have made efforts to put students in a positive emotional state for the upcoming tasks. A lot is accomplished each time it is used to front load a lesson in which students will be using their writing skills they. And it takes less than a minute!

Front Load & Self-Check
My father had a small excavation company, and I learned at a young age that the front loader scoops materials and deposits it where it will be useful during a construction project. If you think of learning as a construction project (creating new or updated neural networks), with some of the valuable materials being attention to the criteria for success and positive habits of mind, it makes sense to regularly scoop some up and deposit them where they will be most useful – in the minds of learners. This song is a quick, efficient way to front load success in writing. And as the writing block winds slowly to an end, a quick rendition can also help students look back over their work and check to see what is there and what might be missing creating self-generated feedback. Perhaps they also have a personal silent celebration ritual when they see so many capital letters starting their sentences, punctuation to end them, with spaces between the words, that provides another spritz of dopamine!

An Activity To Unite
I practice Dr. Becky Bailey’s Conscious Discipline, and although I discovered it through my role as an educator, I have come to know it as a positive practice for every part of my life. One of the brain-body smart practices in Conscious Discipline involves building safety and unity by making time for activities to "calm, connect, commit, and unite." Singing this song with the movements as a class can be used as a content-embedded activity to unite.

Thoughts

Learning is creating memory in such a way that it stands the test of time. Memory is mired in unique connections of neurons we create through learning and experience. With practice and repetition, they grow stronger and faster for smooth, consistent, successful performance. On more than one occasion, I have heard teachers complain about not having enough time with their students to teach all that is required. We may not believe we have enough time to accomplish all that we need to, but we do have the power to use the time we have as efficiently as possible. Deliberately planning to tap multiple pathways to memory to create stronger learning experiences is one way to use time more efficiently. Sentence Starters is an example of a way to tap procedural and emotional memory pathways with a time-efficient, simple song.

The Body Knows by Liz Giles-Brown
Do you ever stop and wonder,
Just how the body knows.
How to write those letters,
Or make those awesome throws?
You don’t have to stop and think,
Once you’ve truly learned a skill.
Like riding that new bike of yours,
It's always such a thrill!
At first, when you were learning,
Things were wobbly and slow.
Practice built new neural networks,
That’s how your body came to know.
Your brain and body work together,
Neurons wire learning that is new.
And when you truly learn a thing,
It becomes the newest part of you!
You learn so many wonderful things,
As you travel through the years.
Some will be forgotten,
But don’t have any fears.
Procedural memory is very strong,
It's really very clever.
For most things that the body knows,
Will stay with you forever!

Take It & Make It

Please, take it and make it your own! Take a bit of time and collaborate with students to create your own class movements - building some class unity at the same time. If you teach older elementary students who sometimes forget this skill, ask them for some help creating moves for the younger students then let them teach the song. They'll get a few reminders, you'll build a bit of unity across grade levels and two groups of students now have a memorable reminder. If you do, please share!

Yours for healthy & active lifelong learning,
Liz

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The Memory Circle

Inside a Rhododendron

Sentence Starters - Moving To Learn

Our Process

Brain & Body Smart Teaching Connections

Thoughts

Take It & Make It

Liz Giles-Brown, M.Ed

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