Mind Maps

A mind map is essentially a visual review sheet that shows the relationships between ideas; its visual patterns provide you with clues to jog your memory. Because they are visual, mind maps help many students, particularly English language learners, remember the information more easily.

To create a mind map, start with a main idea and place it in the center. Then add major categories that branch out from the center. To these, add pieces of related information to form clusters. You can use different shapes and/or colors to show the relationships among the various pieces of information. You can find many apps for creating mind maps on your computer or mobile device. Figure 6.2 includes the mind map of this chapter created by using an app called Total Recall. Other apps include MindMeister and SimpleMind.

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FIGURE 6.2 > Sample Mind Map

YOUR TURN > ON YOUR OWN

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On a separate piece of paper or in a new document, make a mind map for Chapter 5, and see how much more you can remember after studying your map a number of times.