The Memory Palace Technique for KS2 Teachers

The memory palace, or “Method of Loci,” is a memorisation technique that taps into the brain’s natural ability to recall locations and vivid imagery. Even Sherlock Holmes uses a “mind palace” to solve complex cases in the recent modern adaptation. For KS2 teachers, this method can be adapted to help children remember tricky spellings and make learning more engaging.

How the Memory Palace Works

Here’s a simple breakdown of how it works:

1. Choose a Familiar Place: Start by selecting a place the child knows well, such as their home or classroom. This becomes their “memory palace.”

2. Visualise Moving Through It: Mentally walk through this space, imagining yourself in each room, paying attention to its layout.

3. Place Information in Each Room: For each piece of information (in this case, parts of a word), create a memorable image and “place” it in a specific room.

4. Revisit for Recall: When you need to remember the word, mentally walk through your palace, finding the images you’ve placed to help jog your memory.

Example: Spelling the Word “Category”

Here’s how a child could use the memory palace to spell the word “category”, broken down into chunks: “cat,” “e,” “gor,” and “y.”

1. cat: In the living room, they imagine a huge cat lounging on the sofa.

2. e: In the hallway, they picture a giant letter e standing there.

3. gor: In the kitchen, a large gorilla rummages through the fridge.

4. y: In the garden, a yellow Y swings from a tree.

Now, when the child needs to spell “category,” they simply walk through their memory palace, recalling the cat, E, gorilla, and Y to reconstruct the spelling.

The Science Behind It

The memory palace works because the brain is naturally wired to remember spatial and visual information more effectively than abstract concepts. By associating parts of a word with vivid, visual images in familiar spaces, children can improve their recall significantly. This technique leverages the hippocampus, which is involved in both memory and spatial navigation.

Learning to Learn

It is important to remember that we are actually teaching a way to remember anything not just the spelling. This is as vital as knowing one word. After all, when we are teaching spelling, we are not just teaching spelling. 🙂