Multisensory instruction engages multiple senses when teaching a concept. By using a combination of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic materials and activities, educators can activate different parts of the brain to help students who learn differently. It’s also not a new concept, multi-sensory phonics has been taught to students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities since the 1930s using the Orton-Gillingham approach. Research shows that using multi-sensory instruction in all subjects helps motivate students to learn, and increases their understanding.
In the classroom, many teachers already use multisensory presentations and activities. Videos engage the visual and auditory senses, science labs often have students using all five senses to observe and document experiments, and manipulatives in math help abstract concepts become more concrete. Multisensory phonics is taught by using movement, sight, and sound when learning to read and write. Of the five senses, smell and taste are often forgotten but there are ways to incorporate these senses easily. Students can write or draw with scented markers, build models with candy, or do math problems with marshmallows.
By engaging more senses in a learning experience, a student is more likely to build a lasting memory of the lesson, and remember the information or the skill being taught. Using multisensory instruction for neurodivergent students is important but this instruction is beneficial to all students. Lessons designed to be more hands-on or use models and visuals are more interesting, more memorable, and more fun for everyone.
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