Qu: How can a variety of Teaching and Learning Styles in the class be accommodated in a way that is manageable and effective?
Ans: By using a wide variety of activities within each lesson or unit of work.
Choose some new strategies from these suggestions to include in your planning for a lesson or unit of work. Remember that joint planning with a colleague increases the chance of success. These are generic and can be used across all curriculum areas.
Visual / Spatial
- Mind Maps
- Visual displays and opportunities for manipulating them
- Powerpoint presentations
- Flowcharts
- Use of colour with purpose
- Concept maps
- Graphs, murals, montages
Auditory / Musical
- Listening to and creating audio tapes
- Using music at the beginning of a lesson to influence the learning, environment
- Use rhythm to learn a key concept
- Put key words to a familiar tune
- Reading aloud key points; teacher exposition
- Create a concept song or rap
Kineasthetic
- Move around the room to collect information
- Model situations e.g. raindrop water cycle march
- Dramatisation
- Move notes on cards around to find a sequence or rank order
- Lab experiments
- Charades and mimes
- Picture/information gallery
Interpersonal
- Group work
- Presentations and reporting back
- Discuss your plans/ideas/answers with a partner
- Jigsaw approach where each member of the group finds out a different piece of information which they
report back so that the group can put together the whole picture
- Role play
- Team challenges, for example problem solving
Intrapersonal
- Individual work
- Diaries and logs
- Relating learning to personal experiences
- Personal target setting
- Silent work
- Autobiographical reporting
- Feelings and opportunities to empathise
Verbal / Linguistic
- Vocabulary quizzes
- Word games
- Group discussions
- Darts exercises
- Written reports
- Use mnemonics e.g. Never Eat Shredded Wheat
- Poetry writing
- Class debates
Logical / Mathematical
- Use flow charts
- Sequencing activities and timelines
- Use diagrams and lists
- Classify information
- Use statistics to find a pattern or reach a conclusion
- Predict - what will happen if ...
Naturalistic
- Develop opportunities to do fieldwork or workout of doors
- Issues analysis i.e. opportunities to question environmental issues and offer explanations
- Research or exploration in the real world
- Opportunity to apply a strong sense of fairness in group work participation
Abstract Sequential
- Individual study
- Structured mental exercise
- Analysis and evaluation
Concrete Sequential
- Doing things step by step
- Maps and diagrams
- Tangible outcomes
Concrete Random
- Experiments/investigation
- Problem solving
- Big pictures not details
Abstract Random
- Group work
- Personalised work
- Discussion
Ready for more?
- Review a unit of work to assess whether it offers opportunities to work across a range of learning styles (e.g. Highlight in different colours VAK activities)
- Try out a different activity and report back to the group
- Analyse a group of lesson plans to look for which learning style is favoured. Check for balance and make adjustments for a fuller range of styles
- Attend some in-house or central LEA training to find out more about these three best known models
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