Multisensory Approaches to Teach Writing

 In our last post, we explored how vocabulary instruction becomes richer and stickier when students experience it with multiple senses. Today, we’re diving into something that often feels like a heavy lift for both students and teachers: writing.

Let’s be honest. Writing can be overwhelming. From thinking of an idea to spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and organization—it’s a lot to juggle. In fact, writing is one of the most cognitively demanding tasks we ask of students. Unlike speaking, which is often automatic and fluid, writing requires students to plan, organize, transcribe, revise, and monitor—all at the same time.  

 And yet, writing is not optional. Writing is how students show what they know, reflect on what they’ve learned, and make their thinking visible. “As Joan Sedita notes in The Writing Rope, writing requires ‘critical thinking and executive function skills,’ drawing on students' ability to think deeply about their subject matter.”

Yes, writing is complex and difficult, and that’s exactly why writing can’t be siloed into just one part of the day. The more opportunities students have to write—about what they’re learning, thinking, and discovering—the stronger and more fluent they become. Writing needs to live in every classroom, because it’s not just a way to demonstrate learning; it is a powerful tool for learning itself.

Whether it’s explaining a science experiment, arguing a historical perspective, or solving a math word problem, writing is central to deep learning in every subject. In fact, the National Commission on Writing once stated that “writing today is not a frill for the few, but an essential skill for the many.” Writing is a skill students need for life. 

Multisensory instruction is a game-changer for writing. It breaks the process into manageable parts and supports our students in creating writing that is both meaningful and confident. When we teach writing through seeing, hearing, touching, and movement, we activate more areas of the brain—and help ideas stick.

Multisensory Strategies to Support Writing

✍️ Pre-Writing with Purpose

• Sketch It Out: Before writing, students draw their ideas. Visual planning helps with sequencing and organization.
• Mind Mapping: Use color-coded graphic organizers to brainstorm. One color for main ideas, another for details.
• Try using the OREO method to help students write a persuasive piece, or the Hamburger method to help students write a complete paragraph. 

🤠 Tactile & Kinesthetic Approaches

• Sandpaper Letters or Tactile Words: Practice high-frequency or transition words using textured materials.
• Air Writing: Practice tricky words or sentence starters by writing them large in the air while saying them aloud.

🎧 Talk Before You Write

• Oral Rehearsal: Students verbally tell a partner what they plan to write. This step supports sentence structure and fluency.
• Echo Sentences: Model a sentence aloud and have students repeat it using sentence stems.
• Use sentence starters (pictured below) to assist students in talking before writing.

🌈 Color Coding for Structure

• Use different colored pens or highlighters for different parts of a paragraph: topic sentence, details, transitions, and conclusion.
• Use a peer editing checklist that assists students with proofreading their own (or a peer's) writing. Clear steps that utilize colors make the editing process easy and beneficial. 

 

🔧 Manipulate & Build Sentences

• Sentence Strips: Have students build sentences with pre-written strips. Mix them up and reconstruct them.
• Word Magnets: Use magnetic words on a board or cookie sheet to form complete thoughts.

When students can see it, say it, touch it, and try it in pieces, writing becomes possible—and even enjoyable. By making the invisible process of writing visible and tangible, we give students the tools and confidence they need to grow as thinkers, creators, and communicators across every subject.

Keep sparking those minds, educators!