Multisensory Teaching Strategies in the Classroom
Part One: Using Multisensory Teaching Techniques
Multisensory teaching is not just crucial for kids with
dyslexia, or within Orton-Gillingham lesson plans, it is good solid teaching for ALL students. Incorporating
multisensory learning tools into your classroom lessons will not replace
intervention services, but it will make classroom lessons more accessible to
students with learning differences.
Dyslexia is more than likely under
identified, particularly in gifted students that may be performing at the
average of their class or student with a mild disability and strengths that
offset their challenges to some degree. For those kids that are likely to fall
through the cracks, the anxiety and stress associated with school tasks is
painful. Incorporating good multisensory teaching techiques in your classroom is a breath
of fresh air for those children.
Multisensory teaching means that when information is presented, the learner is simultaneously using multiple senses. Visual, auditory and kinesthetic (or tactile) are the 3 primary senses that students use and these correspond to the visual, auditory and motor (or muscle) memory. The more pathways and connections a student uses for learning a new item of knowledge, the more pathways they have for retrieval of this information. Because so often children are asked to perform in school using what may be for them their weakest areas, linking these all together can act as a bridge between a child’s strengths and weaknesses.
Multisensory teaching means that when information is presented, the learner is simultaneously using multiple senses. Visual, auditory and kinesthetic (or tactile) are the 3 primary senses that students use and these correspond to the visual, auditory and motor (or muscle) memory. The more pathways and connections a student uses for learning a new item of knowledge, the more pathways they have for retrieval of this information. Because so often children are asked to perform in school using what may be for them their weakest areas, linking these all together can act as a bridge between a child’s strengths and weaknesses.
