Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A (Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D.
Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V. (P.G) College, Roorkee, India
A multi-sensory approach, “also known as VAKT (visual-auditory-kinesthetictactile) implies that students learn best when information is presented in different modalities (Mercer & Mercer, 1993)”. The belief is that students learn a new concept best when it is taught using the four modalities. A multi-sensory approach is one that integrates sensory activities. The students see, hear, and touch.
“Activities such as tracing, hearing, writing, and seeing represent the four modalities” Murphy.
As a literal definition, multi-sensory, comes from two pieces. The two pieces are “multi” and “sensory.” “Multi” means “more than one.” “Sensory” “involves or is derived from the senses.”
That means Multi-sensory “involves more than one of the bodily senses at a time.”
This process occurs naturally, starting even before birth. Babies learn about the world by observing, listening, and putting everything within reach into their mouths. Toddlers try to touch or grab everything they see, and preschoolers ask what sometimes seems like millions of questions. All of these children are learning in a very natural way; we rarely have to teach them how to do these things.
Multisensory learning is learning that involves two or more of the senses within the same activity. Like adults, children take in information about their world in a variety of ways:
Auditory ( hearing and speaking through their ears)
Visual ( seeing and perceiving through their eyes)
Tactile (through touch )
Kinesthetic (movement, and doing through body movements)
This way multi-sensory learning :
Involves the use of our senses. It focuses primarily on using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile elements.
Is taught incorporating all senses into the learning process to activate different parts of the brain simultaneously, enhancing memory and the learning of written language.
Helps learners discover what learning style fits them best.
Provides more ways for understanding new information, more ways to remember it and more ways to recall it later.
Thus multi-sensory can be defines as: ‘using visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities, sometimes at the same time’. Kinesthetic refers to perceiving through touch and an awareness of body movements.
The idea that learning experienced through all the senses is helpful in reinforcing memory has a long history in pedagogy. From the earliest teaching guides, educators have embraced a range of multi-sensory techniques in order to make learning richer and more motivating for learners. The term is used to refer to any learning activity that combines two or more sensory strategies to take in or express information.
Multi-sensory approaches have been particularly valuable in literacy and language learning, for example, in relationships between sound and symbol, word recognition, and the use of tactile methods such as tracing on rough or soft surfaces.
Teachers ( Here treat ‘teaching and learning’ and ‘teacher’ as generic terms to include: • teaching, training and learning• teachers, tutors, trainers, lecturers and instructors in the further education system.) working with dyslexic learners have found multi-sensory approaches particularly valuable, as they help learners to make sense of information in a range of ways. Activities that harness all the senses are also an excellent way to include learners with disabilities.
Multi-sensory teaching is one important aspect of instruction for dyslexic students that is used by clinically trained teachers. Effective instruction for students with dyslexia is also explicit, direct, cumulative, intensive, and focused on the structure of language. Multi-sensory learning involves the use of visual, auditory, tactile (feeling) and kinesthetic (awareness of motion) to enhance memory and learning of written language. The teacher uses these senses to fully engage different parts of the students brain while learning fluency in spelling, reading and handwriting all at the same time.
Multi-sensory teaching is one important aspect of instruction for dyslexic students that is used by clinically trained teachers. Effective instruction for students with dyslexia is also explicit, direct, cumulative, intensive, and focused on the structure of language. Multisensory learning involves the use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways simultaneously to enhance memory and learning of written language. Links are consistently made between the visual (language we see), auditory (language we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (language symbols we feel) pathways in learning to read and spell.
Quick Facts about Multi-sensory Learning
• Integrates visual, auditory, tactile (touch) and kinesthetic (movement) learning elements
• Different teaching methods activate different parts of the brain
• Helps learners discover their learning style and the techniques best for them
• Effective for all learners but particularly effective for dyslexic students
• Can be used in any subject from reading to math to science and drama
• Allows for more individualized lesson planning
• Enabled more and more by assistive technolog See, hear, touch and move your way to understanding.
Rationale for the use of multi-sensory teaching
Students with dyslexia often exhibit weaknesses in underlying language skills involving speech sound (phonological) and print (orthographic) processing and in building brain pathways that connect speech with print. The brain pathways used for reading and spelling must develop to connect many brain areas and must transmit information with sufficient speed and accuracy.
Most students with dyslexia have weak phonemic awareness, meaning they are unaware of the role sounds play in words. These students may also have difficulty rhyming words, blending sounds to make words, or segmenting words into sounds. Because of their trouble establishing associations between sounds and symbols, they also have trouble learning to recognise words automatically (“by sight”) or fast enough to allow comprehension. If they are not accurate with sounds or symbols, they will have trouble forming memories for common words, even the “little” words in students’ books.
Dyslexic children and teens need specialised instruction to master the alphabetic code and to form those memories.This multi-sensory part of the Orton Gillingham system remains one of the most reliable method for a dyslexic mind to learn to spell, read and write because it fully engages the each part of the brain. Another positive about this method is that it also works for teaching mathematics as well!
Beneficiaries from multi-sensory learning
All kids can benefit from multi-sensory lessons, including kids who don’t have learning and attention issues. If a student learns something using more than one sense, the information is more likely to stay with him.
People with learning disabilities Students with dyslexia have trouble with language skills involving speech sound (phonological) and print (orthographic) processing and in building pathways that connect speech with print.
People with sensory integration challenges Children with sensory integration challenges sense information normally but have difficulty perceiving and processing that information because it is analyzed in their brains in a different way.
Multi-sensory learning can be particularly helpful for kids with learning and attention issues. For example, these kids may have trouble with visual or auditory processing. That can make it hard for them to learn information through only reading or listening. Multi-sensory instruction can help kids learn information more effectively. All kids can benefit from multi-sensory instruction.
The Different Teaching and Learning Techniques:
Visual techniques: Visual learning methods includes diagrams, modelling, photos and video. Anything that will display something to the student is considered visual. Mind maps are a great way for a visual learner to write and organise ideas down.
Auditory techniques: Auditory learning methods includes dialogue, clapping, rhymes or anything that can be heard. Teachers use clapping or tapping as a means of auditory aid. (Audio books are really effective for students (or anyone!) who is an auditory learner, or if they struggle with reading.)
Tactile Techniques: Tactile learning includes feel and touch. Teachers use anything textured or raised to help with tactile learning such as coins, sand, dice and clay. This learning techniques often engages fine motor skills so it may challenge children who struggle with this.
Kinaesthetic techniques: Kinaesthetic learning methods include movement and doing things (i.e. writing and anything physical). This type of learning method engages the gross motor skills. Teachers will often use ‘air writing’ as a method for kinaesthetic learning; where the children have to write a word in the air while sounding it out. Children with dyspraxia typically have weak kinaesthetic skills.
Learning Types and Activities
Visual-spatial-A visual learner learns best by using their eyes to see information. They learn by seeing words in printed form or by using graphics and pictures, observing real life, and other visual aid.
Activities focused on visual learning
Printable books: Students read short books emphasizing sight words, word families, and short/long vowels. Students underlined with marker the focus words such as all the short “a” words, etc.
Hidden sight word coloring/sight word mosaic: This is similar to color by number. Students begin to visualize the sight word with the color. Printable sight word coloring sheets can be found on www.pinterest.com. A sight word mosaic is an abstract design that is colored by sight word. Students make squiggles, lines and shapes. Sight words are written in between the shapes.
Flashcards with identifying pictures: Children learn with repetition. Flashcards provide repetition. That being said, flashcards don’t have to be boring.
If children cannot create or form mental pictures while reading, they are forced to memorize the words they see. (visual). Flashcards with pictures associated with letters provide a visual cue.
Other visual letter recognition strategies:
Letter sorts: Have students sort letters by categories. This can be done on paper or with manipulative (letters with tails vs. no tails, circles vs. no circles, dots vs. no dots.
Have students watch what they look like when saying letters in the mirror. What letters make an “O” shape of their mouths? What do their tongues do when then make a “sh” or a “th” sound? This makes them laugh. Especially if you do it with them.
Auditory Learners- An auditory learner is someone who learns best by listening and talking. They learn reading by listening to someone present information orally and by being allowed to discuss and ask questions.
Activities focused on auditory learning
Rhyming/making up words with word families: Using a white board or a word building kit students take a word family sound such as “at” and make a list of real and silly words. (cat, bat, dat, jat) Students like to make silly words and they still learn the same concepts.
Read Alouds: “Literacy does not depend upon reading text in books. This point just can’t be emphasized enough with dyslexic learners, so here it is again: Literacy does not depend upon reading text in books.”.
Phonemic awareness: Phonemic awareness is verbal and auditory, not written, and prepares children for reading print. Segmenting and blending sounds to make words can be played around with in many ways. I had students bounce or throw a ball for each letter sound, jump or clap. They liked the ball best.
Chanting: A teacher I worked with in the past always chanted a word several times after a student learned it
Tactile Learners: Tactile learners learn best through their sense of touch, such as using their hands and fingers. They learn best by writing, drawing, and using hands-on manipulatives.
Activities focused on Tactile Learning
Playdough: Students create sight words or letters with play dough. For younger students a play dough mat with letters already outlined
Word building kits: This can either be with magneticletters or scrabble pieces. The kids liked the colorful letters is recommend.
Read it, Write it, Build it: Used this technique with a student with a learning disability in particular. However, it can be used with anyone. It is a good multisensory technique. It is exactly as it says. Works well with sight words.
Similar concept as play dough:
Sandpaper letters: These are tracing letters made of sandpaper. Students use their finger to trace the letters. The students retain a tactile memory of the feel of the letters. This is a well-established Montessori technique.
Writing letters and sight words in the:
Sand
Shaving cream
Air (learning disability teaching technique)
Salt
Hidden sight word painting: Prior to meeting with students write sight words in white crayon on white paper. Students paint over words with watercolor. As they paint the sight words appear the students can have a contest to see who could paint over all the sight words and read them all first.
Kinesthetic learners: Kinesthetic learners learn best through movement of their large or gross motor muscles. They take in information best while moving and doing, being involved in projects, role playing, learning while standing up and engaging in real life activities.
Activities involving Kinesthetic Learning
Sight word jump: Write sight words on post it notes and put them up high on the wall. Students jump for the word when it is called out. Students jump for the word when it is called out.
Race Car blending: Phonemic awareness activity using a toy car to drive across the letters written spaced across a racetrack to make a word. Students sound out the letters as they drive across it. When students drive slowly they sound out the letters very slowly and segment them. When they zoom by they say the word clearly, loudly and quickly.
Sight word towers: Write sight words on red solo cups. Ask students to read the words on the cup. If they read it correctly they can add it to their tower. If they miss the word, they have to put the cup to the side. This was a favorite of students
Letter sound blending puzzles: These are three letter word segmented puzzles students put together. Each piece was a separate letter sound. When put together, it made the word and corresponding picture.
Activities involving taste and smell: Most multisensory activities do not involve these senses. However, all senses activate different memories and create more opportunities for learning.
Taste
Using alphabet cheese it’s to spell words in place of letters in word building kit. If students read the words correctly they can eat the word.
Find foods that start with particular letters of the alphabet you’re working. For example: p is for pineapple, pumpkins, pepperoni pizza, or pancakes
Smell
Writing letters with a mixer of glue and dry jello mix.
Find smells that start with particular letters of the alphabet
Activities involving proprioception
Proprioception is about knowing where your body is in space and knowing how to get around your environment safety. The proprioceptive system is developed and strengthened in children by having them do large and small physical movements, especially movements where they experience pressure, using their fingers, hands, arms, trunks, legs, and feet. Any activity that helps children move in this way is incorporating this sense.
Children with learning disabilities often struggle with this. Proprioception has to do with spatial orientation. Some children have difficulties imprinting and remembering the correct spatial orientations of letters and numbers.
Mayer concludes that there is growing evidence that well designed multimedia resources lead to deeper learning than traditional verbal-only messages. He offers the following guidance on what constitutes good design:
• Words and pictures work better than words alone.
• Words and pictures need to be integrated, so that they work together.
• An informal style works better than a formal style.
• Extraneous material should be removed.
• Care should be taken not to overload learners’ visual channel, for example, with rapidly changing graphics.
Tips for creating a multi-sensory classroom.
Some ideas take just a little effort but can bring about big changes.The following are few tips for creating a multi-sensory classroom.
Writing homework assignments on the board. Teachers can use different colors for each subject and notations if books will be needed. For example, use yellow for math homework, red for spelling and green for history, writing a “+” sign next to the subjects students need books or other materials. The different colors allow students to know at a glance which subjects have homework and what books to bring home.
Use different colors to signify different parts of the classroom. For example, use bright colors in the main area of the classroom to help motivate children and promote creativity. Use shades of green, which help increase concentration and feelings of emotional well-being, in reading areas and computer stations.
Use music in the classroom. Set math facts, spelling words or grammar rules to music, much as we use to teach children the alphabet. Use soothing music during reading time or when students are required to work quietly at their desks.
Apply Aromatherapy to the classroom. Use scents in the classroom to convey different feelings. According to the article “Do scents affect people’s moods or work performance. “People who worked in the presence of a pleasant smelling air freshener also reported higher self-efficacy, set higher goals and were more likely to employ efficient work strategies than participants who worked in a no-odor condition.”
Start with a picture or object. Usually, students are asked to write a story and then illustrate it, write a report, and find pictures to go with it, or draw a picture to represent a math problem. Instead, start with the picture or object. Ask students to write a story about a picture they found in a magazine or break the class into small groups and give each group a different piece of fruit, asking the group to write descriptive words or a paragraph about the fruit.
Make stories come to life. Have students create skits or puppet shows to act out a story the class is reading. Have students work in small groups to act out one part of the story for the class.
Use different colored paper. Instead of using plain white paper, copy hand-outs on different color paper to make the lesson more interesting. Use green paper one day, pink the next and yellow the day after.
Encourage discussion. Break the class into small groups and have each group answer a different question about a story that was read. Or, have each group come up with a different ending to the story. Small groups offer each student a chance to participate in the discussion, including students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities who may be reluctant to raise their hand or speak up during class.
Use different types of media to present lessons. Incorporate different ways of teaching, like films, slide shows, over-head sheets, power-point presentations. Pass pictures or manipulative around the classroom to allow students to touch and see the information up close. Making each lesson unique and interactive helps keep student’s interest and helps them retain the information learned.
Create games to review material. Create a version of Trivial Pursuit to help review facts in science or social studies. Making reviews fun and exciting will help students remember the information.
Learning Styles:
There are twelve ways of learning. Although most students can learn in some capacity using all twelve learning styles, when students’ unique profiles or preferences are accommodated, they often experience joy in the learning process and celebrate remarkable gains.
Below, the learning styles are defined with teaching suggestions are made for each.
1) Visual Teaching: This method allows students to learn by seeing.
• Seeing a diagram
• Seeing an image
• Seeing a movie
2) Auditory Teaching: This method allows students to learn by listening.
• Listening to a lecture
• Listening to a debate
• Listening to a story
3) Tactile Teaching: This method allows students to learn by touching.
• Touching and manipulating an artifact
• Conducting a hands-on experiment
• Copying or tracing diagrams or tables
• Dioramas
4) Kinesthetic Teaching: This method allows students to learn while moving.
• Role playing scenarios or doing skits
• Participating on field trips
• Conducting interactive experiments
5) Sequential Teaching: This method allows students to learn material in a specific order or series of steps.
• Breaking down information into a series of steps
• Making flow charts
• Placing events in sequence on a timeline
6) Simultaneous Teaching: Allows students to learn “how the information is interrelated.
• Producing summaries
• Explaining the overall meaning
• Creating concept maps or webs
• Looking at a timeline to gleam the overall relationship
7) Reflective/Logical Teaching: This method allows students to solve problems and ponder complex issues.
• Brainstorming solutions to problems
• Asking students to analyze material
• Offering reflective writing opportunities
8) Verbal Teaching: This method allows students to learn information by talking about it.
• Breaking students into discussion groups
• Encouraging students to verbally rehearse their understanding of information
• Asking students to think aloud
9) Interactive Teaching: This method allows students to learn information in the company of others .
• Organizing a group debate
• Breaking into small group activities
• Conducting a question-answer session
10) Direct Experience Teaching: Allows students to learn through experience.
• Conducting experiments
• Going on field trips
• Taking part in an apprenticeship program
11) Indirect Experience Teaching: This method allows students to learn from the experiences of others.
• Telling about your own experiences of learning from peers
• Reading a biography
• Watching demonstrations
12) Rhythmic/Melodic Teaching: Allows students to see patterns or pair melodies and rhythm.
• Suggesting patterns/themes across course content
• Pointing out songs that address the course themes
• Bringing in a musical piece that reflects a time period and creates a mood
Conclusion
Teaching and learning in this way is an exciting journey of discovery. It is a fast paced and creative process where learning is fun since each small step is mastered and the learner is aware of what they have gained. Everyone now can call themself a success. Confidence is built through growing mastery of written language. The students can see themselves as successful learners and this helps each individual learner gain independence and a great “can do” attitude.
Lessons taught using multisensory teaching methods use two or more of the teaching modes simultaneously to teach child. When teachers teach in two or more ways, their teaching becomes more interesting to the kids. When students can express their learning in a variety of ways, they can choose their best skills to show what they know. This is multisensory learning and teaching at its best!
Multisensory teaching is ideal for kids of any learning style. Multisensory learning gives the best learning progress when teaching includes activities that use your child’s strongest learning style(s). This is one reason kids who are homeschooled learn at a faster rate than kids in traditional school. They benefit from MORE multisensory learning that is geared to their own needs.
Multisensory learning provides more ways for understanding new information, more ways to remember it and more ways to recall it later. Dyslexic children typically have difficulty absorbing new information, especially if it is abstract or involves memorizing sequences or steps. Multisensory teaching techniques help break down these barriers to learning by making the abstract more concrete, turning lists or sequences into movements, sights and sounds.
The best part of all is the multisensory learning is more fun and works well for every learner. It should be part of every teacher’s tool box
“Albert Einstein said, ‘Learning is experiencing. Everything else is just information.’” We must use our senses while we’re teaching and learning. We have a need to see, touch, taste, feel, and hear the things around us. We use our senses to study the new objects so we can understand them better. (Wesson, 2002, paraphrased). Using your child’s senses for multisensory learning just makes sense!