Test your memory on specific names, dates, and definitions without losing sentence context. Learn how to craft efficient cloze deletion cards directly from your book passages.
Why Cloze Deletion Cards Are So Effective
Formulating traditional two-sided flashcards from a dense textbook or philosophical treatise can be slow and tedious. Often, writing a question and answer strips away the nuanced grammar and natural context of the author's original sentence.
Cloze deletion solves this problem by turning the author's exact prose into a fill-in-the-blank challenge. By hiding only the critical date, formula, or concept, you preserve the full syntax of the passage. Cognitive science has consistently demonstrated that cloze deletions are one of the fastest and most reliable ways to reinforce precise factual recall.
What You'll Need
Before building your first cloze card, ensure you have:
• **Platforms**: GemReader installed on your device (Android or iOS). • **Prerequisites**: A highlighted sentence containing a term, name, or concept you want to memorize. • **Connection**: 100% offline (no cloud servers, tracking, or accounts).
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. In your book, tap an existing highlight (or select text while reading) and tap the quote icon in the annotation menu. 2. Tap **Make a cloze card** to open the card creator. 3. GemReader displays your selected text alongside the instruction **Tap the words to hide**. 4. Tap the specific word or words you wish to test. The selected words are masked as blanks, and a counter indicates how many words are hidden. 5. If you change your mind about a word, tap it again to restore it. 6. Tap **Done** to save the card. A confirmation announces **Cloze card added**, and the card is scheduled for your daily review.
Helpful Tips & Common Questions (Librarian's Advice)
• **Multiple Words**: You can hide multiple words across a sentence to test compound terms, definitions, or paired concepts. • **Keep Deletions Focused**: For the highest retention, hide only the pivotal key terms rather than full clauses. The surrounding sentence provides the necessary context for your mind to retrieve the missing concept. • **Exporting to Anki**: All cloze deletion cards you create in GemReader maintain standard cloze syntax when exported to Anki or AnkiDroid.
Try it yourself