2 Simple Tips/Tricks for Supporting Multi-Sensory Learners in Your Classroom
3:00 AMHi all! I am excited and honored to be a part of such a diverse and talented group of educators! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Desiree. I have been practicing as a speech-language pathologist for 16 years. I currently work in an elementary school as the sole SLP serving Kindergarten through 6th grade students. I also blog and create resources over at SLPTalk with Desiree. I love to collaborate and work alongside fellow educators so this collaborative blog is right up my alley! My hope is to share some resources, tips and tricks that will help grow the communication skills of your students. As many of my students learn best through a multi-sensory means, my style tends to involve a hands-on approach to learning.
Today, I am going to share a couple simple tips and tricks you can easily incorporate within your classroom. My first tip is when using a book companion that contains comprehension questions, velcro the comprehension cards within the book so they are ready to go when you read the book to your class. It sounds ridiculously simple, but it is so engaging for the students to answer the question relative to that page or part of the story in the moment and have the instant gratification of holding onto the coveted card. This will help your students that struggle with language by having the visual cues corresponding to the question right there on the page as well as provides you the opportunity to differentiate for that student by reading the question before reading the corresponding page so he/she knows what information to listen for. When you are finished reading the story, this tip will also help you check for retained comprehension by resisting the questions as you have students return the cards to the book. You can also use it as an opportunity for your students to take a leadership role by posing the question to the other students to see if they remember the answer.
Quick tip for organization/clean up: I number my cards with a sharpie and write the corresponding number next to the velcro in the book to help.
Another tip to incorporate a hands-on on component to task cards is to have students use clothespins to hang completed cards on a tomato cage (pictured) or piece of string/twine. Using the clothespins ties in a fine motor task to the activity and increases focus on the task card. I find that it also lends itself to natural closure/review within the activity itself when it is time to clean up as students (in mixed groups) find their specific task cards among those on the tomato cage, taking ownership of their particular targeted goals.
Quick tip for organization: I store my task cards on binder rings according to targeted skill for quick organization during groups targeting mixed goals.
Resources: The photos included in this post featured book companion for The Mitten. You can find it here.
Thank you for stopping by!
~Desiree
SLPTalk with Desiree
by SLPtalk
2 comments
What great ideas. I love the idea of putting the questions right inside the story!
ReplyDeleteThanks Camille! It is such a simple trick but has worked wonders for me. I hope that it does for you too! :)
ReplyDelete