Conclusion References Introduction

Multisensory teaching
This involves adapting tasks to accommodate a range of learning styles. Our brains perceive stimuli through the five senses – seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. Some children’s sensory perception is stronger in one area than another and most children learn best when information and ideas are presented in a multisensory way. So the more channels we use in teaching, the more likely we are to help children learn. For example, a child who is a visual learner will be good a visualising events and information and will prefer to have information presented via pictures, film, charts or maps s; an auditory learner will benefit from listening to stories, sounds, rhythms and verbal instructions; and a kinaesthetic learner will benefit from actions such as mime, gesture and hands-on learning experiences. Many teachers already use multisensory teaching but it important to be aware of the three sensory modes and to plan to integrate them every day into your teaching to ensure that classroom activities and materials meet a range of styles. Storybooks provide a valuable resource for providing a multisensory learning experience as children are involved in listening to the story while they look at beautiful illustrations. The teacher can also make use of storytelling techniques (mime, gesture, facial expressions, pointing to the text, story props and sound effects) to support understanding. There are often opportunities for children to participate in the storytelling through repetition and mime and many of the related activities involve physical activities and craft activities.
Using a variety of resources
The story notes suggest using a variety of materials and resources that will appeal to different kinds of learners. These are often referred to as story props. These can be built up gradually and include realia and aids produced by you and by the children. Keep any story props and audio-visual aids in a clearly labelled envelope or container for ready access (a story pack). You might like to share your ideas with other teachers at meetings or workshops so that they can add other ideas for activities. We also suggest you keep examples of children’s work that you think are interesting to add to the story pack.