effects of multisensory instruction on spelling web vieweffects of multisensory instruction on...

Effects of Multisensory Instruction on Spelling in Second Grade

Lucy CookGranite Falls Elementary School

Lucy CookEffects of Multisensory Instruction on Spelling

2

Spelling has always been a part of the curriculum for my seventeen years of

teaching. Whether the words come from a reading basal or a spelling book, the process

has basically been the same. Give the students a list of words on Monday and test them

on Friday. During the week, I would conduct some review activities and even assign

some spelling homework. If I was lucky, a few would memorize the list for the test on

Friday, and those with no parental support, got by based classroom preparation. As for

those who scored well, I couldn’t ask them a week later for a repeat performance because

they only learned the information for the test, so everyone was really in the same boat,

rowing with one oar and going in circles. The impact on learning was minimal. Although

phonemic rules were covered as part of the lessons, there was rarely any carry-over to

writing or reading.

Looking for a second oar to get my boat out of the circle cycle, I signed up for a

Multisensory Structured Language Instruction workshop to be conducted for two weeks

over the summer. It was during the training that an “Aha!” moment occurred. A

systematic approach to phonics with the syllable types embedded was explicitly

reviewed. I realized that I had been reviewing phonics during my spelling lessons but not

teaching the six syllable types. This is a prime example of why ongoing professional

development is so critical for classroom teachers. I couldn’t wait to get back into the

classroom and apply this new knowledge and see if this was the key to carry over. By

giving my students relevant spelling skills that they could also apply to reading and

writing, would they? Would using multisensory strategies-- visual, auditory, kinesthetic

and tactile pathways to the brain-- during spelling lessons impact memory and learning?


3

Ironically, returning to the classroom did not occur as I was offered a new

position in the county as an Instructional Facilitator. Fortunately, the new job provides

me the opportunity to interact with classroom teachers at two schools through trainings,

data analysis and resource support. Instead of walking into one classroom every day, I

have the potential to impact each classroom at the two schools I serve.

It was at the Multisensory Structured Language Instruction training that I met

Ashley Townsend. She had just completed her first year of teaching. I thought how

empowering it must be for her to be able to employ this knowledge her whole career.

Luckily, my new position has afforded me the opportunity to work at Ms. Townsend’s

school, and I will be using her second-grade classroom for data collection to use in my

research.

Ms. Townsend and I have discussed factors that interfere and enhance

teaching. Whether this is your second or seventeenth year teaching, this list will look

similar. Below are some of our findings.

Factors that enhance teaching

*Student enthusiasm about learning new information

* Parental support

* Student intrinsic motivation

* Student self-discipline

*Student confidence

*Administration and colleague support

*Collaborating with other teachers


4

Factors that interfere with teaching

*Student motivation

*Student attention

*Student attitude

*Student self-esteem

*Distractions

*Time

*Class size

*Access to resources

We were very excited about the multisensory approach. Our two- week training

was very intense but also very enlightening. Hands-on training provided the opportunity

to work one-on-one with a student so that we could practice what we were learning and

get feedback from instructors. This way, there was a level of confidence in applying

lessons learned once we returned to our own learning environments.

“Multisensory teaching combines three learning senses--auditory (hearing and

speaking), visual (seeing and perceiving), and kinesthetic (touch and movement)--while

teaching students. Lessons are taught using two or more of these modalities

simultaneously to receive or express information. Teachers teach in two or more ways,

and students can express their responses in a variety of ways.” (Cook, 2009)

Multisensory lessons incorporate several learning pathways in the brain at the same time

so that opportunities for memory and learning are increased. Instead of telling students

information, the goal is to engage the students so that they are doing the work and


5

therefore doing the learning. For instance, students may be tuned out and bored by

reading about an historical event, but if they become the historical characters and role

play the events, the lesson becomes relevant. They are actively engaged and will retain

more of the information. "Albert Einstein said, 'Learning is experiencing. Everything

else is just information.' His insight suggests that we must experience our learning by

using our complex sensory systems. Our species has an innate need to see, touch, taste,

feel, and hear the features of any new object in order to understand it better." (Wesson,

2002).

Ms. Townsend is applying this approach to teaching spelling in her class. We will

gather and analyze data to answer the following question: What happens when

multisensory strategies are incorporated into spelling instruction for second grade

students? Spelling instruction will be delivered daily by the classroom teacher. We will

analyze the following data: beginning of the year K-2 assessment data, weekly spelling

assignments and tests, Dibels data and classroom observation notes to determine

outcomes. Writing samples will also be analyzed to see if results are evident. We

hypothesize that spelling scores will go up as students are exposed to the multisensory

strategies.

Theoretical Perspective

The multisensory strategy method speaks to me. It’s how I enjoy learning: up and

active to match my personality. The students in our classrooms are full of energy and not

meant to sit all day inside at a desk. Combining learning, movement and fun with results

of longer retention rates, is a win/win. By incorporating multisensory strategies, teachers

can make a difference by making lessons different. Children have multiple learning


6

styles and using this method allows information to be presented so several learning styles

are covered. “Multisensory techniques that join listening, saying, looking and writing in

various combinations, and that consciously engage the student in feeling how the word is

spoken and how it is written, are most successful.” (Moats, 2000) If we keep in mind for

whom we are here, who our audience is, and what our ultimate purpose is, then we will

teach with passion and creativity and there will be no child left behind.

Related Research

In the tradition classroom, much of what takes place is oral discussion. Typically,

this is conducted primarily by the teacher. According to a study (Sears, Johnson, 1986),

auditory treatment method is the least effective way for students to process and retain

information. Several other instructional factors were investigated as to their impact on

spelling performance: visual imagery treatment, computer treatment, and kinesthetic

treatment. Although they were categorized separately, there was an element of visual

imagery in the remaining treatment methods. This implies that combining treatment

styles could yield stronger results. When teaching spelling, teachers may find the use of

directed visual imagery to be a successful technique to improve recall of spelling words:

if a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe a mental picture is worth a thousand

pronunciations.

Spelling Cheerleading is a whole-group activity in which students are involved in

three of the four elements of the VAKT multisensory approach to word learning. Visual,

the students look at the word; Auditory, they chant its letters; and Kinesthetic, they

participate in the physical movements to match the letter configurations. Arms are


7

positioned over the head for “tall” letters, on the hips for “midline” letters, and on the

floor for “baseline” letters. (Rogers, 1999)

After reading this article, I went to the K-2 teachers at both of the schools I served

and shared this idea with them. They liked having something new and fun to try with

their students and several implemented the new strategy on that Friday with their students

as a review for the spelling test.

The Institute of Multi-Sensory Education reading program supports the use of

multisensory strategies to reach more students using all learning pathways. The reading

program offers a method of organized, direct instruction in phonemic awareness and

application of phonetic rules and word-attack strategies. By providing explicit, direct,

systematic instruction, the teachers of the first grade students in the three treatment

schools made the most dramatic improvements in acquiring alphabetic principle skills.

(Scheffel, Shaw, Shaw, 2008)

My own research is related to multisensory strategies, what happens when

multisensory strategies are incorporated into spelling instruction for second grade

students? Using these strategies increases student engagement so that recall and

retention of information is the product.

Assessing children early and often provides data that can indentify weakness so

that targeted instruction can be provided. When instruction is direct, explicit and

systematic, preventing reading failure in later grades is possible.

Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, promotes

“beginning with the end in mind.” Educational research does that. You create a question

and have an idea of the outcome; but through the journey of good research, you develop


8

additional questions along the road, sometimes getting unexpected results. My research

involves using multisensory strategies as a method to increase student achievement in

spelling. This research, “Teaching Low-Achieving Spellers at Their ‘Instructional

Level’” provides insight into the effectiveness of yet another strategy to employ with

struggling students. It promotes assessing students early in spelling, just like in reading,

and teaching them at their instructional level. Using either the multisensory technique or

the instructional leveling technique can provide students with opportunities for success,

but combining them could provide even the lowest student a foundation for filling in gaps

of information so that retention and recall will carry over to new learning.

In today’s classrooms, making it different is how to make a difference.

Differentiated instruction for reading is a common practice, but this concept does not

always get applied to non-tested subjects such as spelling. Maybe Pat Cunningham and

Richard Allington will revise their book, Classrooms That Work, to caution against the

concept of “one size fits all” in chapter one of that book, “The Problem and Some Failed

Solutions.”

Methods

Subjects

Ms. Townsend is applying the multisensory approach to spelling with her twenty

three heterogeneously grouped second graders in a middle-class, suburban community

elementary school. She has 14 boys and 9 girls in her classroom. All of the students are

Caucasian.


9

Context

Ms. Townsend and I work at Granite Falls Elementary School in Granite Falls,

North Carolina. There are about seven hundred K-5 students in the school served by

thirty classroom teachers and three Exceptional Children’s classroom teachers. Forty

percent of the students receive free lunch and nine percent receive reduced lunch. Eight

percent are minority students and three percent are Limited English Proficient. Ms.

Townsend is one of six second grade teachers at Granite Falls Elementary.

Procedures

Armed with two weeks of training, a five-pound resource notebook and disk, we

headed into the classroom full of multisensory ideas. We knew the kids were coming

from first grade with Letterland training, so we hoped that would be a head start. We

looked at Dibels data and K-2 assessment spelling grades to identify those who needed to

be targeted for interventions. The multisensory strategies spelling lessons would be

delivered to the whole group with activities differentiated as needed.

The first step was to conduct letter and sound review lessons. As predicted, this

went fairly smoothly since the students had the Letterland lore as background knowledge

from which to draw. For the few students who demonstrated weakness with short vowel

sounds or “b” and “d” reversals, small visual cues were taped to their desks for iconic

support. This allowed the teacher to tap the visual as she monitored around the room if

the child needed a reminder to look over something they had written. Students were also

encouraged to use the supports for decoding while reading. There are motions for the

short vowels and “b” and “d” reversals, so these are reinforced as well. Examples of the


10

desk visuals are provided below. The short vowels have photos of key words that make

their sound and the “b/d” chart reminds students that “b” starts with a straight line like a

bat and “d” starts with a circle like a doughnut.

Then, lessons on the six syllable types using multisensory approaches began.

Direct, explicit instruction of the definition of a syllable prior to introducing syllable rules

allowed three pathways of learning to be accessed. A chart of the definition as a visual

pathway, echoing the definition as the auditory pathway, and motions to represent words

as the kinesthetic pathway, give students more ways to access information during recall.

An example of a visual is displayed below.


11

A syllable is a word, or part of a

word, with one vowel sound.

For the FSLZ rule, Ms. Townsend modeled the lesson we learned in

training, opening a can of soda. She went around the room asking the kids, “What did

you hear?” and “What letters make those sounds?” They replied, “sssssss” and “s” She

also gave a story based on the rule; Fat Sam drinks too many sodas, this is why is belly is

fat. Even the lowest performing student that needs extra support can remember the FSLZ

bus robe


12

rule. When open and silent “e” syllable rules were taught, motions were added. Motions

are below.

A different multisensory strategy the students learned was “spelling

cheerleading.”

I discovered this activity while researching articles. It is a big hit with teachers and

students alike as a fast, fun way to review for a spelling test. It incorporates visual

pathways for seeing the word, auditory pathways for hearing and saying the letters, and

kinesthetic pathways for moving to represent the letters. When Ms. Townsend presented

this activity to the class, she reminded them of the placement of letters on the handwriting

line in relation to a house. Tall letters are in the attic, letters with a tail go in the

basement, and the rest stay in the house. A graphic of “Cheerleading” positions is

provided below.


13

Another strategy implemented had students partner up to build sounds with

Unifix cubes. When the teacher said a word, the children repeat the word, one partner

had to add a cube to represent each sound in the word and the other partner had to check.

Students touch each cube, saying the corresponding sounds, and then sweep their hands

under the cubes as they blend the sounds to form the word. The other partner writes the

word, sweeps and says the word. Through this exercise, students say the word and

sounds (auditory), they manipulate cubes and write (tactile), and they check the written

product (visual).

Another strategy placed students in teams up to complete a spelling activity.

Each had a word parts and together students determined the correct vowel team to

correctly complete each word. The words were written on apples and the “ee” pattern

words were colored green and the “ea” words were colored red. The rule for vowel team

was reviewed.

An additional strategy involved reviewing several of the syllable rules using the

visuals and motions, then having students sort words based on the rule. After the review,

students were given three paper turkeys with three different syllable rules written on them

and twelve feathers with previously studied words. Students cut out the words and glued

them to the turkey based on the rule the word followed. As they read the words on the


14

feathers, they were instructed to dot the vowel, mark the silent “e”, and draw a door

around closed syllables to facilitate with sorting.

A last strategy was implemented during spelling tests. When “offices” (folders

stapled together to create a screen) are passed out, students know it is time for a spelling

test. They number their papers for the test and wait for the first dictated word. They

repeat the word, finger tap the sounds, and write the word. Then they write two dictated

sentences. The sentences always reinforce previously studied rules to see if there is

carry-over. The “call the cops” strategy was also taught and visual of a cop is provided

so that students would check (C= capitalization, O= organization, P= punctuation, and S=

spelling and/or spacing) work prior to turning their work in to be graded. Ms. Townsend

even made a large cop cut out that she would hold over her face as a visual cue for

students who needed to check their sentences.

Data

Various forms of data were reviewed and documentation collected to measure the

effects of multisensory strategies on spelling instruction.


15

Assessments: These include informal assessments such as class participation,

spelling tests, K-2 spelling assessments, DIBELS data and writing samples.

Observations: Multiple observations were conducted to record student’s

participation and reaction to the multisensory lessons that were being presented.

Field Notes: During the observations, teacher and student comments and reactions

were recorded.

Photographs: Photographs of students participating in multisensory learning

activities were taken.

Work Samples: Work samples from learning activities were reviewed.

Meetings: Ms. Townsend and I met regularly during planning time and after

school to discuss lesson activities and students.

Analysis

The beginning of the year K-2 assessment spelling test and DIBELS data are good

indicators of background knowledge since they are taken so early in the year prior to

much new direct instruction. By comparing the data gathered from these two

assessments, we can look for students who need targeted small group instruction and

extra support. Referrals for pull out come from this data at the beginning of the year until

sufficient classroom observation is gathered to document other needs. This data also

provide a good reference for establishing partners and teams. Knowing the strengths and

weaknesses of students allows teachers to pair students appropriately so that tasks aren’t

too easy or too difficult for any team member.

Initial data showed Gavin, Gregory, Mikki, Brett, Alleson, Brennan, Alisza, and

Bryson would benefit from pull out instruction. They receive Sonday 1 five days a week.


16

This is an Orton-Gillingham based program and uses multisensory strategies. These

students also need visual supports taped to their desks. Sonday 1 is in addition to the

whole group multisensory spelling lessons they receive in class.

During direct instruction of the syllable rules, all of the students responded well to

the visuals Ms. Townsend created and the movements that we had learned in training.

Students were engaged and were able to recall the rules by making the motions.

During an observation of an energetic and enthusiastic spelling cheerleading

lesson, students were eager to offer feedback about what they liked about the activity.

Here are a few of their reactions. Gray said, “It’s entertaining.” Bryson said, “Instead of

sitting here doing work, you can get up and move around.” Alleson said, “I like it

because we get to scream and yell.” Tatum said, “You get to get up and practice spelling

and it’s fun.” Jacob said, “It’s an amazing game.” (“Amazing” was a vocabulary word

for the week.)

While monitoring students working with partners to build sounds into words with

Unifix cubes, I observed several students struggling with this activity. Several students

wanted to match the number of cubes to the number of letters in the word. Since it was

the partner’s job to check, it created good opportunities for dialog to explain why the

number of cubes should be different. Example: If the word was bike, the student should


17

link only three cubes for the three sounds in bike because the “e” is silent. Reactions to

this activity were positive. Alicia: “Using the cubes is fun because we got to spell

words.” Jessica: “It’s good because we got to check our partner to see if they spelled it

right.” Brett: “It helps me practice my spelling words.” Brennan: “I like that we got with

a partner to study our words.” In the photo below (left), Ms. Townsend has called a

team up to the document reader to demonstrate to the class how they built a word. Mikki

is tapping sounds on the cubes in the photo on the right.

As students discuss the vowel team rule with their partner and determine which

vowel team completes the word on an apple activity, they are embedding the information

deeper into their memory.


18

As the students worked independently to complete their turkey word sorts, I

walked around the room to check their progress. Most were able to do this very quickly

because they could recall the rules. When I checked over Gavin’s work, several words were

sorted incorrectly. After we dotted the vowels in the missed words, he was able to sort them

correctly. (Gavin receives extra support through Sonday 1.)

As I observed the students taking their spelling test, I noticed different students

applying different strategies. Some liked to finger tap, some liked to touch sounds after writing

it down, and some liked to mark up the word they wrote by dotting vowels or crossing out the

silent “e”. During sentence dictation, I noticed some students counting words on their fingers

while listening and repeating sentence. One student counted on his fingers like many of the

others but wrote the total number of words in the sentence on the side of his paper in a circle

before he started the sentence. This was his strategy, not one that Ms. Townsend or I had

suggested.

Results


19

9%26%

65%

Dibels DataPercenage of Students

Intensive

Strategic

Benchmark

Beginning of the year DIBELS data were reviewed and compared to classroom

performance. Students in the Intensive and Strategic Dibels groups were weak in

Nonsense word fluency, such as nog and lut and required the most interventions. They

get small group intervention pull out five days a week in addition to the whole group

multisensory spelling lessons. They also have visual supports taped to their desks to

prompt them with short vowel sounds and “b/d” reversals.

September(4 weeks)

October(5 weeks)

November(3 weeks)

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

15.3% 13.3% 11.8%14.1% 21.0%11.8%

44.7%58.1%

76.5%

25.9%

7.6% 0.0%

Spelling Test Results Grade Distribution Percentage

1234


20

In the grading scale used for spelling tests, level one (blue on graph)

indicates well below grade achievement and having difficulty. A level two (purple on

graph) indicates below grade level but showing growth. A level three (yellow on graph)

indicates grade level achievement and a level four (aqua on graph) indicates above grade

level achievement.

September spelling tests used lists of words that were previously learned skills.

About 70% of the students scored grade level or above and we attribute this to retention

of Letterland skills taught in first grade. Those who struggled with the review lists were

consistent with the names in our Intensive and Strategic DIBELS data groups.

Jacob was an exception. He did not get a red flag during DIBELS assessments

warranted a second look. During assessment of Dolch words and oral reading, he

mumbled so that his pronunciations were unclear. He continued to struggle with isolating

sounds during one on one instruction. Finger tapping and roller coaster techniques were

tried. A speech referral warranted no placement but the pre-assessment for Orton found

gaps in his ability to identify and write blends. Consideration for pull out intervention has

been pursued.

October test scores indicated an increase in level three, which is on grade level

achievement. The spelling lists at this point are introducing new skills so they are

increasing in difficulty, but as the multisensory strategies are being introduced in

conjunction with the new skills, the students are succeeding at applying the new skills on

the tests. This data supports our hypothesis that spelling scores will go up as students are

exposed to the multisensory strategies. There is a decrease in level fours here, but


21

spelling lists are on grade level so a level four indicates success with differentiated

words.

November test scores indicated a huge increase in level three achievements. The

students have learned the spelling rules now. They are applying the rules by reviewing

them with multisensory activities. The effect of multisensory instruction on second grade

spelling has been a success. The students can recite the rules, make the motions that go

with the rules, and apply the rules to spelling tests. In analyzing the dictation sentences,

carry-over of previously learned skills is conclusive.

Conclusions

“This really works!” Ms. Townsend commented, referring to the effects of

multisensory strategies on spelling. She was as excited as I was to see how powerful a

tool the multisensory approach for teaching spelling proved to be. Students were

engaged, having fun, and learning. Partner activities were very popular with the students.

They thrived on the opportunities to interact with their peers and learn from each other.

It had been an invaluable method to employ to keep all twenty three students engaged

and to give the teacher the chance to pull groups and differentiate as needed. Other

benefits of the multisensory approach include a reduction in discipline problems because

students are kept busy doing the work and therefore doing the learning.

My new position as Instructional Facilitator affords me the opportunity to work

directly with numerous teachers. Since researching multisensory strategies for this

project, I have shared them with teachers at both schools I serve so that they can

implement them in their classrooms. The favorite tools so far have been the “spelling


22

cheerleading” and “Show and cheer” (which uses dry erase boards). I have also been

asked to develop a workshop that I will conduct for teachers during countywide

workdays and will present for the ASU School Partnership. I have based the workshop

on the research and findings from this paper. I will not only demonstrate effective

multisensory strategies, but encourage them to develop their own multisensory lesson

using the lesson plan format from Learning Abled Kids. (Cook, 2009)

The research proved our hypothesis that spelling scores will go up as students are

exposed to multisensory strategies. Our students showed dramatic improvement. Gone

are the days of knowing the words on Friday and forgetting them on Monday. We have

discovered real strategies that students enjoy and can apply!

Multisensory Lesson Planningfrom Learning Abled Kids

http://www.LearningAbledKids.com

1) Determine your instructional goal (what you want your child to learn). GOAL:

__________________________________________________________________2) Find a visual way to teach the lesson (images, drawing, photos, museums,

experiments, artwork, demonstrations, manipulatives, visual software <not text-on-screen>, etc.). VISUALS:

__________________________________________________________________3) Find or incorporate an auditory way to teach the lesson (read alouds, video, book-

on-tape, text-to-speech, plays, reenactments, lectures, seminars, etc.). AUDITORY INPUT:

__________________________________________________________________4) Find a way to incorporate movement or touch into the lesson (scavenger hunt,

manipulatives, art, dance, hands-on explorations, plays, reenactments, role-playing, etc). KINESTHETIC / TACTILE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES:

http://www.LearningAbledKids.com/


23

__________________________________________________________________5) RESOURCES (Where your resources will come from):

__________________________________________________________________

6) BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER PRESENTATION PLAN (How you will present):

__________________________________________________________________7) HAVE FUN! Enjoy the experiential, multisensory lesson.

References:

Cook, S. (2009). Multisensory Instruction and Learning Styles Module. Retrieved from http://www.learningabledkids.com/multi_sensory_training/Page01-Welcome.htm

Cook, S. (2009). Multisensory lesson planning. Retrieved from http://www.learningabledkids.com/multi_sensory_training/Page20-multisensory_lesson_creation2.htm

Moats, L. (Ed.). (2000). Just the Facts... spelling. Baltimore, MD: International Dyslexia Association.

Moats, L. (2002). When Older Students Can't Read. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/When_Older_Students_Can't_Read

Rogers, L. (1999). Spelling cheerleading. The Reading Teacher, 53(2), 110-112.

http://www.learningabledkids.com/multi_sensory_training/Page01-Welcome.htm


24

Scheffel, D., Shaw, J., & Shaw, R. (2008). The Efficacy of a supplementary multisensory reading program for first-grade students. Journal of Reading Improvement, 45(3)

Sears, N., & Johnson, D. (1986). The Effects of visual imagery on spelling performance and retention among elementary students. The Journal of Educational Research, 79(4), Retrieved from http:www.jstor.org/stable/27540202

Wesson, K.A. (2002). Memory and the Brain: How Teaching Leads to Learning. School Matters, Independent School, Spring, pp 78-98.

effects of multisensory instruction on spelling web vieweffects of multisensory instruction on...

Documents