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Instructional Strategies
Include Three Modalities in Your Instruction for Better Student Learning
Multi-sensory instruction is one of the most important things to keep in mind when teaching students with a Language-Based Learning Disability. These students need to receive information in as many modalities as possible (auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic) in order for the information to stick.
Most people have sensory preferences for how they learn best.
Studies of high school students have shown that:
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Nearly half (46%) prefer learning through the visual modality
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35% prefer tactile-kinesthetic
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and just 19% prefer auditory
yet, don’t most students sit and listen for a major portion of their learning day?
After 24-hours, students retain information following these modes of instruction:
Lecture 5%
Reading 10%
Audio visual 20%
Demonstration 30%
Discussion Group 50%
Practice by doing 75%
Teaching others 90%
For optimal engagement, learning, and retention, every lesson should make use of a combination of auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthestic instruction.
Most students, but LBLD students in particular, need hands-on experience and an opportunity to verbalize their understanding. "Hands-on" can be as simple as note-taking or drawing, kinsesthetic can include walking around the room and bouncing a ball as the student recites vocabulary words and their defintions.
Teaching Suggestions:
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Write information on the board if you want kids to learn and remember it (use color to emphasize main ideas and categories) and require students to write it down
- Use scaffolded notes for those students who struggle to record information from the board
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Make use of partners and small groups for discussion, sharing, and peer teaching (enhances processing of information)
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Keep lectures to no more than 20 minutes, followed by some type of student response work, and demonstration of learning
A variety of activity, use of multiple modes of instruction, and a realistic expectation for student output will help keep these students engaged and successful.
