This strategy is useful when studying abstract school content, especially science and social studies content where categories are frequently used (e.g., categories of rocks, clouds, governments). This strategy helps organize large amounts of complex information and shows the interrelationships between the information. It shows you why items are placed in categories, and also how the items in a particular category differ. This strategy helps you think using a "top-down" approach. You start at the top with the category and then you go down to think about the specific members that are in the category. CANDY helps you understand how information is organized so that you don't have to just memorize it.
   
C ategory title.
  • Write the title of the category that you are studying (e.g., types of rocks, types of governments).

  • For example, in science class, if you are studying different classifications of clouds, you might have to classify clouds on the basis of their altitude (e.g., high clouds, middle clouds, and low clouds). You would write the title of the first category.
Title of a category.

A ttributes that all members in the category share.

  • Ask yourself why the members are grouped together in the category. "What do all the members in the category have in common?"

  • Write down the factor that all the members of the category share.

  • For example, for the category of High Clouds, you would write that these are clouds that have bases above 18,000 feet and are composed of ice crystals.

 Title of a category, now with attributes.

N ame all category members.

  • Use self talk and say the different members that belong in the category.

  • Then, write down all the members of the category. For example, for the category of High Clouds, you would write:

      1. Cirrus
      2. Cirrocumulus
      3. Cirrostratus
Title of a category, now with attributes and category members.
D ifferentiate the category members.
  • Ask yourself how each of the members in the category differs from each other. "What is different about this member from the other members in the category?"

  • Write a description of each category showing what is common to all members in the category and what is unique about each member.

  • For example, for the category members of High Clouds, you would write:
    1. Cirrus - high clouds that have wispy, thin, curled-up ends.
    2. Cirrocumulus - high clouds that are patchy or wavelike.
    3. Cirrostratus - high clouds that are thin allowing the sun and moon to shine through.
 Title of a category, now with attributes and category members and descriptions.
Y ou can draw the categories.
  • Make a graphic representation of the category title and members that belong in the category. Put the title in a circle in the middle and write the attribute that is common to all members of the category. Then draw smaller circles with the names of the category members and write what is special about them.

  • Use the graphic representation to help you study. Try not to memorize, but instead try to see the interrelationship of the members in the category.

An example of a category: Multiple Intelligences, with many members.

 

     

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