Spelling and Sensory Learning Styles

Tactile and Kinesthetic

• Write the word in large letters on a blackboard.
• Cut up the word into letters. Put it back together.
• Write the word in large letters in the air.
• Make the word with Plasticine. Can you make it from the front to the back and from the back to the front?
• Highlight the difficult parts of a word with different textures. For example, the word could be written with large letters. Then the difficult letters could be outlined in glue and sand sprinkled on top. When dry, the learner can gently touch the word to feel the difference.
• Copy the word in large letters on paper and then trace it several times.
• Stamp the word in the snow.
• Practise spelling the word out loud by walking and saying one letter per step.
• Print the word with your finger on your arm.
• Write the word with your finger on sandpaper or coarse cloth.
• Re-spell the whole word when you’ve made a mistake rather than inserting or deleting letters.
• Use magnetic letters to make words.
• Become a photocopy machine. Have someone trace the letters on your back. Then you copy the letters onto the paper.
• Write the word down many times.
• Write the words down a variety of ways with a different letter missing every time. Leave a dash for that letter and then fill in the missing letters when you have all the versions written down.
• Put prefixes, suffixes and root words on different cards. Match up the cards to make real words.
• Separate out sounds by placing something in each of a series of containers as you hear and identify the sound. Also just put up a hand each time you hear a sound.
• Look for word games in which you move or shake pieces. You can use a letter dice that has all the letters on it as a basis for a lot of spelling games.

Handout 8.10