Multisensory Teaching Accommodates the 12 Ways of Learning

To be a true multisensory teacher, it is important to be aware of all 12 Ways of Learning.  The Eclectic Teaching Approach merges the theories of cognitive styles, multiple intelligences, information processing, and multisensory learning to reveal 12 diverse and distinctive ways of processing and encoding information. Each of these learning modalities lie on a continuum and individuals have their own profiles that are based on cognitive strengths, preferences as well as exposure to each methodology. By learning about the Eclectic Teaching Approach, teachers, therapists, parents and even employers can be more mindful of their expectations as well as their lesson or training approach. Then, by evaluating preferences, instruction and assignments can be tailored for groups or individuals resulting in optimal learning.

What are the 12 Ways of Learning?

If you would like to view a FREE Prezi on the 12 Ways of Learning, Click here.

Cheers, Erica
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multi-sensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  

                                                

Free Webinar on Multisensory Teaching

Dear Friends:

I wanted to send you an invitation to attend a free webinar on Multisensory Teaching, featuring myself as the guest speaker. The hosts, Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide, the co-authors of The Dyslexic Advantage and The Mislabeled Child, are international authorities on dyslexia and learning differences.  They are featuring this online event on August 21st at 5:30 Pacific Standard Time or 8:30 Eastern Standard Time. You can register by clicking on the following link.

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7zd7jgodceef30d&llr=u5ihfjnab

Cheers, Erica

Mathemagic: Multisensory and Mindful Math Strategies Tailored for the Individual

Many students struggle with the steps required to complete mathematical problems.  They may forget the concept, miss a step, mis-sequence the steps, misread a sign, or struggle with writing out or lining up the numbers.  In fact, even if a student has understood and executed a problem with precision, it doesn’t mean that they will retain that information at a later time.  So what can we do to help these students to encode, into long-term memory, the steps required to complete math computations? 

The 3 Key Components for Effective Math Instruction

1.     Go multisensory: Integrate as many of the 12 Ways of processing as you can into your instructional plan: Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Kinesthetic, Sequential, Simultaneous, Reflective, Verbal, Interactive, Indirect Experience, Direct Experience, and Rythmic Melodic.  To learn more about this click here 

2.    Teach metacognitive and mindful strategies: Metacognition refers to the act of thinking about thinking, or the cognition of cognition. It is the ability to control your own thoughts.  Mindfulness refers to being completely aware of the present moment, as well as maintaining a non-judgmental approach. It helps to develop emotional intelligence and it instructs students to pay attention on purpose.  What’s more, mindfulness can help improve memory, test scores, classroom behaviors and stress management.  To learn more about this click here

3.    Integrate creativity:  Integrating creative lessons and assignments into the curriculum allows students to incorporate their imagination and encourages active participation.  Creative assignments also increases motivation for many students. 

Creating a Math Manual:

One of the most effective strategies I have ever employed with students is creating a “math manual.”  This assignment or project unites the three components of effective math instruction and also brings the fun factor into the classroom.  This can be completed throughout the academic year and checked for accuracy, so that students can use this resource for tests, midterms, finals, and even state exams.

What Format Should be Used?

Students can create the manual by hand or on a computer.  It can be presented in a photo album, a blank book, a binder, or a notebook.

Creating the Cover:

I encourage all of my students to come up with their own unique, creative name and cover for their math manual.  In my illustration at the top of this blog, I called it Mathemagic: A Magical Math Manual. 

Create a Sequence of Color Coded Steps:

Each student should write out the required steps to complete the problem.  This can be done in a linear fashion, a numbered list, a web or flow chart.  I also encourage students to color code the steps as this can also enhance memory.

Use Mnemonics:

Memory strategies are tools that help students organize information before they file it away in their memory banks.  I encourage my students to create their own memory strategies and to use both visual and auditory mnemonics.

Complete a Sample Problem:

Ask the students to provide a color coded sample problem that illustrates the needed steps to complete a problem.

Other Options:
Ask your students to create a song, poem, or rhyme with or without a dance routine to define the steps.  Integrating songs, rhymes and kinesthetics offers further modalities that will help to encode computation skills. 

Sample Math Manual Page:

I hope you you found this helpful!  If you would like a free copy of this division strategy, click here or on the image above.

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com, www.dyslexiamaterials.com & www.learningtolearn.biz  

Student Mind Maps: Revealing the Remedial Needs of Struggling Writers

Having an understanding of how each student processes information and conceptualizes ideas is key in the remedial writing process.   Students can think in a sequence of images, a series of words, webs of pictures, an outline of phrases, a collage of imagery, a patchwork of terms, movie-like scenes and more.  By evaluating the ways your students conduct the process, you can help them to tweak their method so that writing can become a fluid and enjoyable process.  This can be done through discussion, but what I find to be most helpful is having your student(s) conduct a drawing of how their mind works – a mental mind map.

I discovered the utility of this mindful approach when working with a student, JT.  Time and time again, JT struggled to get his ideas on paper, and beginning the process was always a chore.  What’s more, first drafts tended to be a hodgepodge of overlapping ideas.  We often referred to JT’s difficulties as road blocks, and when I finally asked JT to draw what it was like in his mind to write, we discovered a very different issue.  JT didn’t suffer with writers block, he experienced more of a writer’s bottleneck.   The term bottleneck is a metaphor that is often used to describe the traffic congestion created when construction takes a multilane road and limits travel to a single lane.  Soon traffic gets backed up and travel becomes slow and frustrating.  It comes literally from the slow rate of liquid outflow from a bottle, as it is limited by the width of the exit – the  bottleneck.  JT’s challenge was not a result of a lack of words and ideas as we once thought.  Instead, he was overwhelmed with competing and overlapping ideas as represented in the image on this page.  JT drew a complex web of lines that was dotted with what he described as both good and bad ideas.  Also, he remarked that darker lines represent stronger ideas.  Once I saw the image, it all made sense.  JT is highly intelligent, but he also has ADHD as well as dyslexia.  Now it is clear how these diagnoses impact his writing.  JT is bombarded with a plethora of ideas and he has difficulty funneling and organizing his thoughts into an ordered sequence of words.  When he writes, he too becomes frustrated with the slow and labored process of writing in a linear fashion.  What’s more, his dyslexia, which impacts his spelling, is an added hurdle and annoyance that distracts him during the writing process.

So now that I know JT’s challenge, what can I do to help him?

1) From the very beginning, I can help JT to define the main ideas and topic sentences. 

2) I can also encourage him to use graphic organizers or programs such as Inspiration to help JT to categorize his supporting details and examples.

3) I can offer JT a computer with a spell check and word prediction software.

4) When conducting research papers, I can help JT define each main idea on a different colored index card.  Then, JT can organize each nugget of information onto the best colored index card so that all the supporting details and examples are categorized under the same color as the most appropriate main idea.  Then, I can let him sequence the supporting details and examples in an orderly fashion by arranging the cards.  Finally, when JT is ready to type his paper, he can alter the font color to match the colored index cards so that he can be sure to get all the correct details and examples under the best main idea.   Once the paper is complete, JT can select the whole document and change the font color back to black.

I hope you will try having your students draw their own mental mind maps.  Allowing them to show the workings of their inner mind will not only help others remediate areas of difficulty, but it will help each individual have a better understanding of and power over his or her own ways of processing.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers, Erica
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

11 End of the Year Activities Using Balls and Balloons

http://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/

Balls and balloons offer a cheap and fun way to complete your school year.  What’s more integrating balls and balloons brings a tactile, playful, and kinesthetic modality into the classroom.  Balls and balloons can be used to review the academic content, as well as mindfulness activities and keepsakes.  Below is featured a variety of entertaining, multisensory ideas.

Reviewing Key Topics from the School Year

These games can be played with an entire class in a large circle facing one another, or you can break the students into small groups or pairs. 

1) Parts of Speech Game:  Place the parts of speech on a balloon or ball.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another.  Instruct them to say aloud the first part of speech they see.  Then ask them to provide a word that is an example of that part of speech.  Players can not repeat a word that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

2) Figurative Language Game:  Place the figurative language terms on a balloon or ball.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another, and instruct them to say aloud the first figurative language term they see.  Then ask them to provide a phrase that is an example of that type of figurative language.  Players can not repeat a figurative language example that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

3) Types of Syllables Game:

www.learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com

Place the syllable types on a balloon or ball.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another, and instruct them to say aloud the first syllable type that they see.  Then ask them to provide a word that is an example of that type of syllable.  Players can not repeat a word that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

4) Vowel Combinations or Vowel Teams Game:

Place the vowel combinations on a balloon or ball.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another, and instruct them to say aloud the first vowel combination that they see.  Then ask them to provide a word that uses that vowel combination.  Players can not repeat an example that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

5) Types of Sentences:

Place the types of sentences on a balloon or ball.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another, and instruct them to say aloud the first sentence type that they see.  Then ask them to provide a sentence that illustrates that sentence type.  Players can not repeat a sentence that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

6) Main Ideas and Details:

Place main ideas on a balloon or ball.  Main ideas could include transportation, colors, vacation spots and so forth.  Have the students pass the balloon or ball to one another, and instruct them to say aloud the main idea that they see.  Then ask them to provide a detail that would be properly categorized under that main idea.  Players can not repeat a detail that has already been used.  If they do, they are out of the game.

Mindfulness Activities and Keepsakes

7) What I Learned:  Have the students sit in a circle facing one another.  Explain that the only person who can speak is the one holding the ball.  Toss the ball to one of your students and ask them to share the most important thing they learned over the school year.  When they are finished talking, have them toss the ball to another student.  Continue until all the students have an opportunity to share their thoughts.

8) My Favorite Lessons:  

Have the students sit in a circle facing one another.  Explain that the only person who can speak is the one holding the ball.  Toss the ball to one of your students and ask them to share their favorite lesson from the whole school year.  Ask them to also share why they like it so much.  When they are finished talking, have them toss the ball to another student.  Continue until all the students have an opportunity to share their thoughts.

9) What I Like About Me and You:

Have the students sit in a circle facing one another.  Explain that the only person who can speak is the one holding the ball.  Toss the ball to one of your students and ask them to share one thing that they like about themselves and one thing that they like about the person who tossed them the ball.  When they are finished talking, have them toss the ball to another student.  Continue until all the students have an opportunity to share their thoughts.

10) Memory Balls: Give each student a blank inflatable ball, such as a beach ball.  Provide permanent markers and let the students go around and sign each other’s balls.  They can leave short messages too.  Be sure to say that all messages must be positive. 

11) Why I’m “Special” Balls:  Before you begin this activity, ask your students to help you create a list of positive adjectives that can describe people.  Place this list where all the students can see it.  Now, give each of your students a blank beach ball or balloon.  Provide permanent markers and have the students go around and write a positive adjective that describes the person on the ball or balloon to whom it belongs.   Encourage the students to come up with unique adjectives by looking at each ball and coming up with something new. 

If you would like to learn about some of my other popular games.  Go to: http://goodsensorylearning.comThere, you can even download freebies on some of my product pages.

I hope you enjoy these games!!  I would love to hear you thoughts.

Cheers, Erica
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

Learning Place Value with Pompoms and Pill Boxes

Bringing a tactile, visual and experiential component into math instruction can bring the “fun factor” into your lessons.  In addition, incorporating multisensory dynamics into lessons makes them more memorable and concrete. 

This activity is great for math centers, a classroom activity or individual remediation. 

When I teach place values, I like to engage my students with colorful pompoms and pill boxes!  You can usually find pill boxes and bags of assorted pompoms at a Dollar Store.  With a few color coded labels, that cover the days of the week, your pill boxes can be transformed into pompom compartments.  I like to put a single color in each compartment and I color code the labels to match.  This makes it easy for students to reassemble the activity for the next person.  Also, make sure to vary the number of pompoms in each partition.  I like to make a variety of difficulty levels for the students and use the seven boxes as follows:

· Millions, Hundred Thousands, Ten Thousands, Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, Ones

· Hundreds, Tens, Ones, Decimal, Tenths, Hundredths, Thousandths

· Decimal, Tenths, Hundredths, Thousandths, Ten Thousandths, Hundred Thousandths, Millionths

I also like to provide a laminated sheet so students can record answers with a dry erase marker or I place the answer sheet in a dry erase pocket.   Students can check their answers with an answer sheet or a barcode on the back of the pill box.

If you would like this activity, you can create it yourself.  However, this activity, as well as the score sheets, are included in my popular publication, Place Value Panic Game, and Instruction. To learn more, Click Here.

Cheers, Erica
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

Using Beach Balls for Comprehension

I just love to use balls for teaching students.  It's a great way to accommodate and engage your kinesthetic and tactile learners, and it always brings the fun factor into your lesson!  I often purchase beach balls at the dollar store and use permanent markers to write down different, reading, writing, grammar, and math concepts.  

Here are a few things that I use balls for:

• parts of speech
• multiplication
• touch math
• vowel combinations
• types of sentences
• letters
• blending
• writing prompts

But for those of you who would like to buy ready made options, I just came across these nifty products on Amazon.  I included the links below.  

If you use balls for other lessons, please share your ideas.

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz