Institute for Learning
How the Brain Remembers (Grades 6-8)
How the Brain Remembers (Grades 6-8)
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This unit explores how humans form memories. Students learn to use multiple methods for making sense of difficult texts including annotating ideas, using authors’ syntactic cues to determine and track ideas, and writing to unpack and explain the texts’ ideas.
- Two informational texts
- 2-3 weeks instruction
- Explanation writing
What is this unit about?
In this unit, students will read two texts: “What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and Learning” by Annie Murphy Paul and “In Pursuit of Memory” by Amanda Leigh Mascarelli. Both Paul and Mascarelli explore how people remember, specifically the activities and mental processes that help form memories. They do this by discussing and drawing conclusions from research in cognitive science about the cognitive processes that people go through and what happens in the brain when it’s working to form a memory.
In “What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and Learning,” Paul examines the work of Helga Noice, who looked at the processes actors use to remember their lines. Paul specifically examines what Noice calls the “throughline” and how actors associate words with physical movements and emotions. In “In Pursuit of Memory,” Mascarelli discusses the mental processes involved in both long-term and short-term memory and anchors her discussion in a case study and research. Together, these two articles lead students to think about the processes they go through to remember and to consider some factors that influence memory.
What content and concepts will students learn?
Students will learn about:
- how actors work to remember their lines.
- how the brain creates a memory.
- the relationship among deep processing, physical movement, emotional associations, and memory.
- how figurative language and punctuation are used to convey information to the reader.
- how writers explain their ideas.
What practices will students use?
Students are supported to develop practices and habits such as how to:
- work from ideas within one text and across two texts to develop text-based interpretations and draw conclusions.
- comprehend, analyze, and interpret complex informational texts with assistance and independently.
- read, reread, take notes, and summarize sections of texts and texts in their entirety as a means to enhance comprehension.
- participate in routines such as maintaining a Reader/Writer Notebook, completing quick writes, sharing in pairs/trios, and participating in whole group discussions.
How long will it take to engage students in the unit?
This unit spans approximately 14-18 instructional days, assuming a 45- to 60-minute class session. The tasks in the unit are designed to be implemented sequentially in order to support students to achieve the instructional goals. As such, the pacing of the lessons will depend on the time students need to achieve these goals.


