Teach ing Global Lit er acy Us ing Mne mon ics

Teach ing Global Lit er acy Us ing Mne mon ics

Teach ing Global Lit er acy Us ing Mne mon ics

In an ef fort to make stu dents aware of the world in which they live, an em pha sis has re cently been placed on global ed u ca tion. Ed u ca tors have seen the need for a deeper un der stand ing of the in ter de pen dence of peo ples and na tions around the world. We are in a crit i cal and piv otal era of his tory. In our age of out stand ing tech ni cal de vel op ment, we have the op por tu nity to solve some of the des per ate prob lems that con front us. Some of the most press ing prob lems in clude war, pov erty, and ter ror ism. Sep tem ber 11, 2001, taught us that there is no place to hide and no so lu tion that does not involve all nations of the world. To day’s stu dents will be chal lenged in the fu ture to find an swers for ques tions of de fense, food sup plies, pop u la tion con trol, dis ar ma ment, and ter ror ism. Their in volve ment—or lack of it—will have an im pact the fu ture of the world. A glob ally in formed cit i zenry un der stands the rel e vance of the old ax iom, “United we stand, divided we fall.” Ed u ca tors re al ize they have a re spon si bil ity to pro vide suf fi cient and ac cu rate in for ma tion about the peo ples and na tions of the world. It be gins with very young stu dents learn ing about fam i lies and com mu ni ties in dif fer ent places and cul tures through out the world. Older stu dents will gain new in sights and per spec tives as they learn about re la tion ships and the in ter de pen dence of peo ples across the globe. To gain that global per spec tive, stu dents must be led to an aware ness of the com mon al ities and con nec tions of all hu man kind and to the ne ces sity of solv ing world prob lems. Only with that un der stand ing is there hope for an end to famine, hatred, and war. What better way to ex cite stu dents in the study of peo ple and places around the world than through sto ry tell ing, ac tiv i ties in lan guage arts (read ing, writ ing, speak ing), and the use of mnemonics? Stu dents are of ten con fused about the lo ca tions of coun tries, states, and prov inces. Mne mon ics can help in learn ing and re ten tion through the use of a fun story and a sim ple sen tence. Some times it’s done with a pic ture or rhyme. We’re all fa mil iar with pic tur ing an ath lete spring ing for ward then fall ing back, to know what to do with your clock at day light sav ings time. “Thirty days hath Sep tem ber, April, June, and No vem ber” is the rhyme that helps us re mem ber the number of days in each month. With the help of mne monic sto ries, teach ers can in ter est stu dents in learn ing and re tain ing names of for eign places, as well as learn ing about the peo ple who live in those places and many facts con cern ing their his tory and cul ture. Stu dents will find it eas ier to re mem ber names, lo ca tions, and facts when they are con nected to a story or rhyme, and this may also lead to an ex pan sion into other ar eas of the cur ric u lum and in spire stu dents to cre ate mnemonics of their own.

Joan Ebbesmeyer