Do you find yourself forgetting what your teacher taught you earlier that day? Is it hard to remember a homework assignment you were given just a few minutes ago? If that is the case, you may be experiencing difficulty with working memory. Some kids have a weakness in their ability to hold something in mind, remember it, and do something about it, which is the definition of working memory. If you find that you have problems following directions, doing math word problems, or remembering what you read, you may need to work on improving working memory and reading.
The good news is that there are many things you could do to improve your skills in working memory. Here are a few strategies for improving working memory and reading:
- Be mindful of your reading. Reading comprehension is a memory-intensive skill, as readers need to keep in mind what they have read and combine it with new information. Strategies such as taking short notes, talking to others about what you read, and reading orally could improve your ability to understand and recall what you have read.
- Get going even before you start. Preview materials by looking them over or asking someone to tell you what is in them prior to learning or memorizing them. Previewing alerts people to what to listen for and attend to the most and helps with remembering relevant information.
- Know what to highlight. While highlighting alone is not particularly helpful for improving memorization, highlighting what you want to think about and connect to other study materials can help. This would be in addition to other study strategies that have been demonstrated to work such as reading material out loud, quizzing yourself about the highlighted material, and connecting it to other information you already know.
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