Multisensory Approaches to Teaching Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill that serves as the cornerstone for academic success and lifelong learning. To enhance this skill, educators can use multisensory, also known as multi-modal, techniques that engage multiple senses, creating a more robust and memorable learning experience for their students. 

According to a meta-analysis by Torgesen (2004), multisensory approaches significantly enhance decoding and reading comprehension skills among struggling readers.  What teacher doesn't want that?  

While multisensory approaches are often associated with phonics and decoding skills (read about that here), they are equally valuable in enhancing reading comprehension.  So, how do you make understanding text multi-sensory?  Check out some of the ideas below!

Graphic Organizers

Visual tools like graphic organizers help students map out the structure of a text, identify main ideas, and understand relationships between concepts. For instance, story maps can outline the setting, characters, problem, and solution, providing a clear framework for comprehension.

This bundle includes 75 different graphic organizers that address metacognition, asking questions, inferences, predictions, main ideas and details, facts and opinions, vocabulary, story maps and text structures! 

Read-Alouds with Movement

Incorporate kinesthetic activities during read-aloud sessions. Encourage students to act out scenes or use hand gestures to represent different characters or events. This engagement of the body can deepen understanding and make the reading experience more dynamic.

Check out these five ways, from Brightly, to add movement to  your storytime.   

Sensory Storytelling

Enhance stories by involving the senses. Use sound effects, tactile materials, or scents related to the story's content. For example, if a story takes place in a forest, bring in pine cones or play forest sounds to create an immersive experience.

Check out this post from Paths to Literacy, which gives tips on how to make storytelling multisensory.  

Interactive Discussions

Facilitate discussions that encourage students to verbalize their thoughts and questions about the text. Pairing students for think-pair-share activities allows them to articulate their understanding and hear different perspectives, engaging both auditory and social learning modalities. 

Are you in need of ways to partner your students?  Check out this pack of over 30 different ways to group students!  

Visualization Exercises

Guide students to create mental images of the scenes they read. After reading a passage, ask them to draw what they envision or describe it in detail. This practice strengthens their ability to form vivid mental representations, aiding comprehension.

Quick Draw is a great game to illustrate vocabulary words, but it could easily be adapted for comprehension questions.  For example:

• draw your favorite character
• illustrate the introduction, climax, or resolution of the story
• draw the setting 
• use colors to illustrate the emotions/feelings in the story
• create a symbol that represents the meaning of the story

Tactile Engagement with Text

Encourage students to use sticky notes to jot down thoughts, questions, or summaries as they read. This tactile interaction with the text can help them organize their ideas and monitor their understanding.  According to John Hattie's research, Visible Learning, underlining, and highlighting have the potential to accelerate learning (.44 effect size).  

Overall, implementing multisensory techniques in reading comprehension instruction offers two big advantages:

• Enhanced Engagement: Students are more likely to stay engaged when multiple senses are involved, making learning more enjoyable.

• Improved Retention: Engaging various sensory pathways helps reinforce memory and aids in the retention of information.