On tactile learners:

“They’ll enjoy activities that link rote learning to physical actions, e.g., poems or word plays that have hand motions to go with them, marching out a beat while counting.”

“Let learners draw or cut out pictures to illustrate the lesson.”

“Cut outs of letters, or magnetic letters are helpful tools, or a tray of sand or cornmeal for the learner to write in with his/her finger.”

On computers:

“There are computer programs that read to learners, too. We use SARAW (speech-assisted reading and writing).”

On newspapers:

“Plain Language newspapers are available for early readers, too…. We do an activity with newspaper articles. Each student (or pairs of students) chooses an article. They read it and then have to make up questions for other students that begin with Who…, What…, When…, Where…. Then the questions and the article are given to another student (or pair), to be answered.”

On games:

“One of our favourites is ‘Scattergories.’ We choose 6 categories per game. We make them up together. Usually they are things like – a man’s name, a town or city, something you can eat, a name of a plant (tree or flower), words that relate to dogs, things that are white, etc. For each round we choose a letter (use the Scrabble tiles or just ask, “Sue, what is the first letter of your mom’s name?,” etc.). Then learners think of a word that begins with that letter for each category and write it down. At the end of the round, players are asked what they had for each category. If their answer is unique (and the group agrees it is acceptable), the person scores a point.”

Lisa Hammett Vaughan
Coordinator, Community Employment Services
The Flower Cart (New Minas, NS)