Memory techniques for HISTORY exams and assessments

Why are memory techniques important? They are a crucial part of effective revision for History exams and assessments in order to achieve high quality, precise evidence based answers to questions YET memory techniques are something that too many History students, even those who work hard, either forget to do or carry out ineffectively contextual knowledge is being prioritised in the new specification mark schemes – this is the strengthening of GCSE History! SOUND SECURE SOPHISTICATED

HISTORY - where are we now? 1.Controlled Assessment has now been completed and marked 2.The final topic will be finished just before Easter. Class based revision will begin after Easter. 3.Pupils should be revising approximately 25 hours for History between now and the exams.

What support is being offered by the department? Monday after school revision sessions Tuesday lunchtime drop in sessions PPQs – class and home Model answers  Revision Guides -Department designed -Exam Board sponsored

History department’s TOP TEN TIPS 1.Past paper questions: The best final method and a must for everyone. This stage should only be attempted when the knowledge is learnt through effective revision. j418-from-2013/ j418-from-2013/ 2.Cover and Recall: Re-read your notes, cover them over and try and write them out again but in a summed up and briefer version! Not the most fun but essential when self-testing and checking! 3.Topic summaries: Take each topic of the course, highlight the key points/dates/facts on it in your book, then produce a summary card or sheet with only the key points on it. Good starting or final revision task for all topic areas. Especially useful for an area you are struggling on. 4.Mind Maps: Put the main sections of a topic in the centre of a large plain page and allow your mind to make links putting down brief phrases, words or pictures. If not much ends up on the paper you know what to re-study. 5.Verbal tests: Get your parents/friends to test you on your factual knowledge. How? Write a series of quiz questions with the answers on it – try this on the way that life changed for Women from

History department’s TOP TEN TIPS 6.Put up lists: of key events, words, people around your room at home e.g 10 facts per area such as the Battle of the Somme 1916 OR the impact of the NHS on the youth of Britain from 1948! The back of a door is a good place to leave them! Have a topic wall! 7.Use useful websites: The best ones are OR OR AND 8.Journey and Peg: ONE way to remember a chain of information is to peg each bit on a landmark from a familiar journey or from your bedroom to the front door. Try this with the causes of the First World War. 9.Cartoons/pictures: try and draw a cartoon/picture strip (i.e. a storyboard) of a major event you have studied or a cartoon that sums up an event or topic. Especially useful for revising the chronology of events E.G. The events of the Cuban Missile crisis. 10.Revision games: make up and try out different games such as Pictionary or Taboo. Really good for vocabulary memory.

Follow the 3 phases rule of HISTORY revision 1.Acquisition Phase Learn the knowledge 2.Application Phase Use the knowledge 3.Reflection Phase Fill in your gaps