Let's get physical

Devising techniques for kinaesthetic learners

Visual

�35%

Auditory

25%

Kinaesthetic

40%

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Research suggests that as many as 40% of people have a kinaesthetic preferred processing mode.� When we compare this to the predominantly oral methods that are employed in the majority of classrooms, there may be a clue as to why our teaching and training methods are not always as effective as they might be.

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How can we engage kinaesthetic learners?

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Wherever possible, we should allow, indeed encourage such learners to touch and feel, to become involved and to get their �hands on�!� The list of subjects that lend themselves readily to experiment and role play, practice and participation is considerable.� Various aspects of science, English, history, modern foreign languages, indeed most subjects, can be presented in a lively, participative way.

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Often, the use of such approaches may be the only way to ensure that students develop their understanding of what is happening.� However, we also have to acknowledge that there are certain aspects of some subjects that simply require memorising.� Even here, a simple body-based memory-system (such as �Body-pegs�) can prove invaluable to students who cannot grasp the traditional (usually linguistic) mnemonics with which we provide them.

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Working closely with schools in the Humber region, I have been keen to explore some of the ways in which we can facilitate the learning of those students whose preferred learning style is kinaesthetic.� To this end, I have developed a number of simple techniques to aid memory and contribute to more effective learning.� The criteria for such techniques are:

• they are easily learned;

• they have an obvious immediate application;

• they can be applied by the students themselves.

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This latter criterion is important if we are to encourage genuine learning skills in the students with whom we work.� Many of us have benefited in the past from having teachers who helped us overcome our own learning difficulties by supplying us with simple (or sometimes quite complex) mnemonics.� This is all very well, but it does mean that students are limited to the fund of hints and tips accrued by their teacher or generated by the teacher�s creativity.� However, if we teach the students how to apply the techniques for themselves, the only limitation is the combined creativity of the whole class!� It also means that we are developing their independence as learners.

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One such activity takes only minutes to learn, not much longer to consolidate and has a host of useful applications.� �Finger vowels� is based on the British Sign Language finger-spelling alphabet, in which pointing at each finger (usually of the left hand) represents a vowel.

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PLEASE NOTE:� The vowels are represented differently in American Sign Language, hence the following technique would need to be significantly adapted to be of use in USA � unless teachers were happy to use the BSL vowel signs.

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There are a number of simple and enjoyable ways to consolidate students� learning of the �finger vowels�.� One such method is to play a simple classroom game in which the teacher calls out vowels one at a time.� Students respond by repeating each vowel in unison and thrusting the appropriate finger skyward.� The teacher gradually increases the pace of the game until the entire class has tied itself in knots!� It is important that the learning process is non-threatening and stress-free, hence the emphasis on the use of games and similar fun activities.�

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I have devised various games which use the �finger vowels�.� These have been designed to familiarise students with the �finger vowels� activity; to encourage observation of vowel use; and to extend understanding of the use of vowels.� Click here for "Vowel-picker" and "Vowel-spotter"

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An immediate application for this particular activity is that it provides a simple method of remembering spellings � which really needs to be seen in order to appreciate its simplicity.

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Consider homophones: those words that sound the same but are spelt differently. �Students often have difficulty remembering which spelling relates to which usage.� Visual learners may well be able simply to look at the words in order to differentiate them.� Auditory learners may be able to recognise the component parts of the word and make relevant association.� But what of the kinaesthetic learner, who struggles to learn the difference but finds themselves repeatedly frustrated?� Enter �finger vowels�, which can be used as the basis of a simple physical mnemonic system.

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Take, for example, MEAT and MEET.� Students are encouraged to pick up an imaginary piece of meat, in an exaggerated fashion, between index finger and thumb, and place it daintily in their mouths.� Then they mime two people MEET-ing, using the index fingers of each hand to represent the people.� As teacher and students repeat each action, the teacher points out that MEAT (also written on the board) contains the vowels E and A, which are represented by the index finger and thumb (used in the mime to pick up the meat) � whereas MEET contains E and E, represented by the two index finger �people�.� The students are encouraged to perform the action again as the teacher repeats the association � though there is hardly any need to do so, as most students have already made the connection.

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Similarly, HEAR and HERE can be readily associated with simple mimes.� Students grasp their ear-lobes with finger and thumb � or point emphatically at the ground using both index fingers.

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WEAR and WHERE, THERE and THEIR, SEE and SEA all succumb readily to such treatment, as do a great many other homophone pairs.� Indeed, once students have got the bit between their teeth, they are keen to devise a host of such mnemonics.� All it takes is a grasp of the basic technique � and a little imagination.

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Having learned the vowels, it is a short step to learning the entire sign language alphabet.� From my experience of working with Year 5 & 6 classes (9 � 11 years old), this need not take more than 20 minutes initially.� If this is revised three or four times during the following weeks (for only 10 minutes each time), students soon become quite adept.� With the whole signed alphabet at their disposal, students need not restrict themselves merely to learning how to differentiate homophones.� They can now branch out to learning unusual spellings, either in whole or in part, forming their own physical reminders.� I have been encouraged, and sometimes quite astonished, by the ingenuity of students in devising and recalling their own mnemonics.

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Of course, the system does not suit everybody and it is important to stress that it does not matter if students have difficulty learning the signs or using the system.� This is just one more strategy to assist the learning process; it is neither the only one nor an essential one.� If students experience difficulty with the techniques, it is probably because they are visual or auditory learners and they can just as easily resort to more traditional methods.� If, on the other hand, it is a technique with which they feel comfortable, then students will have been enabled to take one more step towards becoming truly effective (and independent) learners.

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SEE ALSO:� VAK learning styles

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SEE ALSO: Physical Intelligence

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