﻿Hello, everybody. My name's Emma, and welcome to today's session. I'm really looking forward to today's session, and I hope you are too. But before we get started, just a quick reminder. We here at Oak are trying to support any approaches you might already be using and any work that you might have already been set. We know this lesson is going out to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure or have questions, then please contact your usual speech and language therapy team or your child's school. In our final lesson on attention and listening, we're going to finish today by talking about your memory. I'm going to be sharing some memory tips, and we'll be thinking about how we can work some strategies into your everyday activities to really help you with your listening and remembering. I'll also be sharing some ideas for activities that you can work on your memory skills at home. So before we get going, you'll need a pen, some paper, and your listening poster if you have it. You'll also need the downloadable resource that's available on the Oak website with this lesson. If possible, it would be amazing if we could make some toast or a drink at some point in this lesson, 'cause it's really going to help us to demonstrate one of the strategies. So before we begin, find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed for the lesson. Turn off any distractions and any notifications or conversations that you have running on your device right now. Make sure you and your talking partner are seated comfortably. And when you're ready to begin, let's get going. Okay. Let's start with some thinking and talking about more memory. As we know, a lot of information in learning is shared by talking and listening. This relies on good listening, good attention, and strong memory. Science suggests that our brains are better at remembering visual information, though. Visual strategies can really help to remember information that we've heard. Visual strategies are good for everybody, not just children who have speech, language, or communication needs. Down here I've included a copy of a to-do list. I love a to-do list. I write down everything I have to do in the day so that I don't forget it. Adults often make lists so they don't forget things. This is a visual strategy. By making instructions or information that we need to remember visual, it provides us with something that we can see and look back to for help. By learning how to use these strategies and making information that we hear more visual, we'll be helping our memory, but we'll also be taking steps to becoming more independent. So let's make some toast or a drink. Before you start, talk with your adult about each step of this activity. Write down each step in the task planner in the downloadable resources. Talk about each step really clearly and the order that it needs to be done. You can also make each step visual. This could be by drawing a picture, adding a symbol, or bringing the words or short sentences to life in another way. When you've planned out your task, if you've got time, follow it through. And then when you've had your toast or a drink, come back to the lesson and press play and we'll continue. Here are a few other memory strategies that you can think about when you hear a word, instruction, or piece of information. It can be really helpful to quickly write that information down. And if you can, break it up into a task planner, a bit like you just did with making toast or making a drink. You can draw out the steps of an activity, and if you need to, you could even practise by acting out the steps too before you need to do them. It can be really helpful to explain information that you've heard to other people. This helps your brain process the information and store it for meaning. You could try using the information that you've heard to help solve a problem, or just repeat it over again, so say it back to yourself. This can be really helpful too. Sometimes creating a mind map works really well. This is where you write down or draw everything you know about a word or a piece of information to really gather all your thoughts and memories about it. It could be writing down words that sound similar or something that looks similar or even creating a mnemonic. When I was younger and I was at school, we had a mnemonic. It was called Never Eat Shredded Wheat. This was to help us remember the points of the compass: north, never, eat, east, shredded, south, wheat, west. It was really helpful to help me remember the points of the compass, because otherwise I'd have totally forgotten them. Let's pause the video here to make some more task planners. You can use this time to make task planners for everyday activities that you need to carry out and would like to be more independent with. This could be washing up, packing a bag, planning a journey, making a call, changing your bedsheets, setting the dinner table, or even budgeting and writing a shopping list. It could even be how to bake your favourite cake. Use the task planner in the downloadable resource. Talk through each step of whatever task you decide to plan out together with your adult. And then if you've got time, have a go. Follow your task planner and see how it helps you. Once you've finished, come back to the video and press play and we'll continue with the rest of the lesson. If you can, it would be great to build up a resource of action and task plans for activities in your everyday routine. This could include things like dressing, washing, making the bed, and making more food and drink. Adults will be there to help you write these task plans and give you as much assistance with following them as you need. When you're confident, try and complete the steps of your activity with less help or adult support. But if it's too much, you can always reduce the amount of information on the sheet and keep it really simple, just one step at a time. Don't forget to reinforce each step with a multisensory strategy to really help hook the information, for example, drawing a picture to make it really visual or role playing the action. Continue to use the downloadable resource to help you plan more tasks and support your memory. Try and plan a short activity every day. And don't forget to record and reflect on how you've listened and what strategies have really helped your memory. Well, that brings us to the end of today's lesson and also the end of Module One on Attention and Listening. A really big well done for all the fantastic learning, listening, and attention you've achieved through this module. I've just got one last thing that I'd like to ask you. If you can, take a picture of some of the task planners that you've been creating and record these in the diary in the downloadable resources attached. Ask a parent or carer to share a picture of your task planners with your teacher at school so that they can see the fantastic progress that you're making with your memory and independence. If you'd like, you could also ask a parent or carer to send a picture of your task planners to @OakNational on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook so I can see your amazing progress and hard work too. Well, all that's left for me to say is thank you. But take care and enjoy the rest of your learning. I hope to see you in Module Two. Bye-bye.

Helping to embed strategies to aid the retention of information, and supporting them to be more independent.

In this lesson, we will link visual and verbal information. It provides us with something that we can see and refer back to for help. By teaching this skill to child we are not only helping to embed strategies to aid the retention of information, but we are supporting them to be more independent. Resources provided by University of Gloucestershire (CC BY-NC-SA: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0)

Lesson overview:More Memory

Core Content

Equipment Required

Attention and listening: