According to Wikipedia, chunking is a method of presenting information which splits concepts into small pieces or "chunks" of information to make reading and understanding faster and easier. Chunked content usually contains:

• bulleted lists

• short subheadings

• short sentences with one or two ideas per sentence

• short paragraphs, even one-sentence paragraphs

• easily scannable text, with bolding of key phrases

• inline graphics to guide the eyes or illustrate points which would normally require more words

Learning new material can be daunting...especially if students have little prior knowledge to build upon. Exposing them to large passages with many complex bits of information will ensure they retain LESS. Breaking content up allows for smaller amounts of information to be processed before introducing more content. These smaller but focused exposure experiences help students internalize and recall information.

Ideally this is a combination of the teacher providing a chunked piece of content (or identifying how a particular text is already chunked) AND students interacting with the smaller pieces in a collaborative setting. Ensure more retention of chunked content by encouraging movement, drawing, talking, listening, etc.