Acronymsare words made up of the first letters in a set of other words. | HOMES Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior |
Acrosticsare amusing sentences made up of words that begin with the first letters in a set of other words. | Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti. Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species |
Chainingconnects words so that one item triggers the thought of the next, and so on. | James won, and Charles won. Then the Cromwells won—then Charles too, and James too. Mary, too? William, on his third try, threw up his ’ands. James I, Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Richard Cromwell, Charles II, James II, Mary II, William III, Anne |
Numericalsentences use words that have the same number of letters as a number you want to remember. | How I wish I could enumerate pi easily, since all these horrible mnemonics prevent recalling any of pi’s sequence more simply. 3.14159265358979323846 |
Rhymeshelp you associate a sound with a specific word or idea. | Righty tighty; lefty loosey. (Direction to turn bolts or lids) |
Storiesuse a brief narrative to trigger memory. | Pa separated the children. (Remembering that “separate” is spelled with “pa” instead of “pe” in the center) In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. (Remembering the date 1492) |
Word playuses parts of a word to remember its meaning or spelling. | Stalactites cling tight to the ceiling. Stalagmites might reach the ceiling. lo-d-hi minus hi-d-lo all over lo squared |