Multisensory Language Instruction Amanda Cavin and Sarah Helms Winthrop University

Who are we? Who are you?

After this PD, I will be able to: Define multisensory instruction Teach letter names and letter sounds using multisensory steps Recall all vowel sounds and their motions Identify and explain the blocking rule Teach open and closed syllables

What does multisensory instruction mean to you? How do you currently teach letter names and letter sounds? What activities do you use? Do you consider any of these to be multisensory?

Theoretical Framework

Now it’s Your Turn Take turns in your group going through the steps with the letter and materials provided. Think about the pros and cons of each step. Share out. What were your thoughts? Were the steps easy to follow? Could the steps realistically be implemented into your classroom? What questions do you have?

Vowel Powwow How do you teach vowels? What vowels do you teach first?

Short Vowel Sounds and Motions A- Eating an apple I- Itching your nose O- Make an octopus with your hand

Short Vowel Sounds and Motions E- Brushing your teeth* U- Thumbs up to the ceiling

Short Vowel Tips Teach short vowel sounds first because they are the most common Spread out the vowels Focus on one at a time Avoid e and i together Repetition, repetition, repetition Practice, practice, practice (mirrors/iPads) Educate parents: send videos home

Short Vowels vs. Long Vowels Short vowels crouch down Long vowels stand up tall and stretch your arms Practice: short a, long i, short u, long e Practice with words: go, cat, let, nice

Blocking Rule Demonstration with cards. C A T

Open vs. Closed Syllables Open syllable: A syllable that ends with a vowel sound. The vowel is not being “blocked” so it says its name. Go, me, hi, pi·lot, nonsense words Closed syllable: A syllable that ends with a consonant. The vowel is being “blocked” by that consonant so it says its short sound. bag, pop, get, hit, fun, fan·tas·tic

How? When? Small group Whole group Don’t diet! Make a lifestyle change! Reinforce throughout the day

After this PD, I will be able to: Explain the acronym CLOVERS Identify and produce words with closed syllables, consonant le, open syllables, vowel teams, magic e, bossy r, and schwa. Teach the CLOVERS syllable patterns in a multisensory way

Syllabication Group Discussion: What are syllables? How do you teach syllables? Have you ever heard of CLOVERS?

C: Closed Syllables L: Consonant le O: Open Syllables V: Vowel Team CLOVERS C: Closed Syllables L: Consonant le O: Open Syllables V: Vowel Team E: Magic E R: Bossy R S: Schwa Review: What are closed and open syllables? Turn and talk with your neighbor.

Consonant le “The Barfables” Why do we call it a barfable? Kleenex demonstration Examples: pud.dle bub.ble trou.ble lit.tle cir.cle jun.gle pur.ple

Vowel Teams a A vowel team is so strong that they can never be separated. They always make one sound. Have you ever heard: when two vowels go a walking, the first one does the talking? e

Vowel Teams That is true for some words, but it is actually not true for the majority of the words in the English language. Examples: tree, teach, book, coat, fruit, rain Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw is a great way to introduce vowel teams.

Magic e In some words ending in e, the magic e gives all of its power to the vowel so it says its long sound. The e gives away so much power that there is nothing left for him so he is silent. Examples: name, joke, cake, time, cute

T A P E

Ways to teach Magic e Magic wands Dinosaurs Nurse e Do you teach it a different way?

Bossy R The letter R is just so bossy that it tells the vowel what to do and since R only thinks of himself the vowel must make the “rrrr” sound. There is no rule for whether a word has ir, ur, or, ar. Students must memorize that. Examples: bird, mirror, car, her, for

Schwa Surprise! Vowels don’t just make two sounds, they make three sounds! A vowel at any time at any point in a word can make the schwa sound or “uh.” Act like you have just been punched in the stomach. Examples: above, the, of

That was a lot! Turn and talk with your group. Which syllable pattern do you think will be the most difficult to teach? Which syllable patterns do you teach in Kindergarten? After talking with your group about each syllable pattern, fill out the CLOVERS template. Make decisions of how you would teach each syllable pattern. Would you use a magic wand or teach nurse e? Would you use the Kleenex demonstration? Would you use a song or a visual? How could you incorporate this into your classroom right now?

Make it Your Own!!! Teaching CLOVERS Use multisensory activities Visuals: Teacher creates a visual or students create their own Motions: Kleenex demonstration, muscles, being punched in the gut for schwa Sounds: Pull up songs, create your own song Writing: Write nonsense stories using examples of each syllable for practice Make it Your Own!!!

So what? Students move from saying it, to reading it, to writing it Knowing these syllable patterns will help students read new words, read multisyllabic words in the future, and help them with spelling when the time comes.

Your Turn to Practice! Group A: Complete a CLOVERS scavenger hunt in the room. Can you find at least one example of each syllable pattern? Group B: Complete the CLOVERS word sort If there is time, we will switch activities.

Multisensory Instruction Works! Wrapping Up These are all skills and content that you already teach. We are just proposing the delivery of this content in a multisensory fashion. Using multisensory instruction provides the students with more cues to retrieve this information from long term memory. The more connections that are made, the more likely the student will be able to remember the information. We have successfully used this as interventions with a myriad of students ranging from Kindergarten to middle school, native speakers and non-native speakers, with students in the U.S. and students in China. Multisensory Instruction Works!

We want to thank Dr. Elke Schneider at Winthrop University for sharing her passion with us. What questions or comments do you have?

Contact Information Sarah Helms helmss8@winthrop.edu Amanda Cavin cavina2@winthrop.edu