If you’ve been following this multisensory series, you’ve probably started to see the pattern: when students move, see, feel, hear, and say the content—we spark real, lasting learning.
This time, we’re unlocking a powerful way to boost student comprehension across all subject areas—through intentional, multisensory vocabulary instruction.
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Why Vocabulary Matters (in Every Classroom)
Whether a student is reading a short story, solving a math problem, analyzing a science experiment, or studying a historical event, vocabulary is key. If a student doesn’t understand the words being used, they can’t access the content—plain and simple.
Yet vocabulary instruction often gets boxed into the ELA block, leaving content-specific words in math, science, and social studies not accessible to students (especially if they have a language deficit or limited background knowledge).
But here’s the truth: Vocabulary belongs everywhere—and multisensory strategies can help us teach it anywhere.
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Vocabulary that Sticks: Multi-Modal Strategies
Here are practical, brain-friendly strategies you can use in any subject area to help students understand, remember, and use vocabulary with confidence:
🎨 See It
- Visual Word Maps: Use Frayer models, concept webs, or word squares with sections for definition, picture, sentence, and example/non-example. Great for science, math, and ELA! Check out this FREE vocabulary graphic organizer by clicking here, or clicking the picture below!
- Color-Coding: Highlight prefixes, roots, and suffixes in different colors to break down word parts visually. (Ex: “transport”—prefix trans = across.)
- Symbol Drawings: Have students create a visual symbol for the word. For “evaporate,” they might draw a puddle turning into steam.
🎤 Say It
- Echo and Choral Reading: Say the word, then have the class echo it. Try different voices—robot, whisper, opera singer—for added fun. Check out these 24 different silly voice ideas by clicking the image below, or clicking here!
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- Use It in a Chant or Song: Turn tricky words into tunes! Math words like commutative or denominator come alive when set to a beat.
- Partner Vocabulary Talks: Pair students to use the word in a sentence or explain it in their own words to each other. Speaking solidifies understanding!
🖐 Touch It / Build It
- Word Building: Use magnetic letters or cut-out roots and affixes to physically build words. Great for teaching morphology across subjects.
- Tactile Vocabulary Writing: Write new words in salt, sand, or shaving cream while saying them aloud. Especially powerful for younger or sensory-seeking learners.
- Act It Out: Have students gesture or act out the meaning of words. (Ex: For “rotate,” spin in place. For “conquer,” strike a victory pose.) Check out these two free games: Vocabulary Rock & Roll and Vocabulary Quick Draw!
💡 Think It
- Word Associations: Ask students, “What does this word make you think of?” Encourage creative connections. For “erosion,” a student might think of a crumbling sandcastle.
- Analogies & Word Relationships: Link words together through analogies or category sorting. (Ex: “Evaporate is to water as melt is to ice.”)
- Student-Generated Definitions: After hearing and seeing a word in context, have students write their own definitions in kid-friendly language.
📚 Use Vocabulary Across the Day
- In math, post a “Word of the Week” and use it during problem-solving aloud.
- In science, label diagrams with vocabulary terms and highlight them in lab directions.
- In social studies, have students act out historical terms or create comic strips using key words.
- In PE, review movement verbs or health vocabulary through motion.
- In music, teach terms like tempo, forte, or rhythm using both words and actions.
- Using word banks in every subject area
- Prompting students to “Say it, Show it, Sketch it”
- Including vocabulary goals during small groups or centers
Keep sparking those minds, teachers!
