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Mnemonic Weekly Tip: # 40
August 17,
2003 |
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Individuals
who have reading problems often find certain words confusing.
In the Mnemonic Clue of the Week 13, I discussed how to
help readers to distinguish the words:
how, now, who, whom, and whose.
The words: why,
when, what, where, and which also present problems for
weak readers. These
words are difficult because they are similar in that they all
begin with wh and they are used to ask questions.
Even the context may not provide the reader with sufficient
information to distinguish between these words as the following
example demonstrates. He
knew when they went but did not know when they would return.
The first when should be where, but for many
readers who confuse these words, they can make sense out of the
sentence reading when in both places in this sentence.
If the person had to answer the questions, “Did he
know where they went?” the person who misread the word when
for where would get the answer incorrect. |
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The Mnemonic Clue |
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The
Mnemonic Clues for the words why, when, what, where, and
which can be learned all at once or one at a time depending on
the individuals ability:
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Why
The three-letter wh word that ends in a y
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When The word
when contains the small word hen.
“The hen lives in a hen house
or a barnyard and lives with a rooster.
Early in the morning the rooster crows, then
it is time to get up. When
is it time to get out of bed?
When the rooster crows.
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What The
word what contains the small words hat
and at. The
same words are in the word that.
That, hat and at rhyme but what
does not. To remember
what the person visualizes an enormous hat like a
sombrero on someone’s head and thinks “What a hat.”
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Where
The word where contains the word here
which signifies a place. The person learns to tap his or her finger or foot and say here,
there, or where. If
the person has difficulty remembering the difference between there
and where, he learns to place his tongue on his teeth when
he sees the th letter combination.
This also applies to the others words on this page that
begin with the letters th.
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Which
This word is the most difficult word to remember for those
individuals who have difficulty using the sounds in letters.
If the person does not have such difficulty, hearing the ch
sound is the easiest way to remember this word.
For those who do not pay attention to the sounds, or who
have difficulty remembering which sound is which, there is another
way. The person
learns the set of words: which, witch, and watch.
The word that has the letter a in it reminds
the person of a clock or timepiece -- a watch.
The other two words are pronounced the same.
One is a question word and the other represents a woman
usually portrayed at Halloween with a black hat and a broom
to fly on. The t
in witch can be used to either remind the person of
a hat or a broom. The
word that does not have a clue is the question word which.
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A number of
teachers and students have asked to have the Mnemonic Clue of the Week
sent to them each week. If you would like to receive this service, send
your e-mail address to
rcooper-ldr@comcast.net |
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