Manipulatives
Overview
Providing physical representations of concepts helps activate mental processes. Learners understand concepts more deeply through hands-on experimentation and exploration with manipulatives. Manipulatives such as clay and magnetic letters can help boost Handwriting and Foundational Writing Skills by allowing learners to practice formulating letters and words independently.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this teacher incorporates rhyme and tangibles to support the development of Phonological Awareness. As learners practice manipulating sounds to rhyme words, they use their Working Memory and apply their Alphabet Knowledge.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Learn how a developer created an interactive word game that builds foundational reading skills. Seeing and hearing parts of words supports Alphabet Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness, Decoding, and Sight Recognition.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Multisensory Supports Strategies
Listening comprehension and Decoding are the foundational components of reading comprehension.
Communication boards are displays of graphics (e.g., pictures, symbols, illustrations) and/or words where learners can gesture or point to the displays to extend their expressive language potential.
Dictionaries and thesauruses can serve as resources for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge.
Adding motions to complement learning activates more cognitive processes for recall and understanding.
Brain breaks that include movement allow learners to refresh their thinking and focus on learning new information.
We take in information through all our senses.
Connecting information to music and dance can support Short-term and Long-term Memory by engaging auditory processes, Emotions, and physical activity.
Research shows physical activity improves focus and creativity.
Incorporating multiple senses with strategies like chewing gum, using a vibrating pen, and sitting on a ball chair supports focus and Attention.
Using earplugs or headphones can increase focus and comfort.
Providing tools so learners can choose to listen to a text supports individual strengths and needs.
Tossing a ball, beanbag, or other small object activates physical focus in support of mental focus.
Visual supports, like text magnification, colored overlays, and guided reading strips, help students focus and properly track as they read.
Web-based dictionaries and thesauruses can serve as visual and audio resources for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge.
Word sorts are multisensory activities that help learners identify patterns and group words based on different categories.
