The Landmark School Outreach Program’s mission is to empower students with language-based learning disabilities by offering their teachers an exemplary program of applied research and professional development.
Class lessons that engage students’ visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic learning modes contribute to effective learning. But what about homework?
The second Landmark Teaching Principle™ indicates that using multisensory approaches to learning can help students to better grasp and internalize academic content. Planning multisensory homework assignments, thus, provides increased chances for students with different learning styles to experience success and internalize new material.
For the full text of the Landmark Teaching Principles™, including “Use Multisensory Approaches,” click here .
Homework Assignment Guidelines
In order to make sure that all students are clear about the assignment being given, follow these suggestions for presenting and detailing the components of an assignment. Be sure to include ways for students to feel successful regardless of whether they are an auditory, visual, or tactile/kinesthetic learner.
- Post the assignment and instructions visually – on the board, on a class website, or on a handout for the students
- Review the assignment orally with the class
- Require students to record the assignment in their agenda books
- Ask a student to explain the directions back to the instructor
Be specific about the reason for an assignment, the materials required, the steps to follow, and the criteria for grading. When giving homework, directly tell students:
- The purpose of the assignment:
“Tonight you will practice description, a key skill for scientific work.”
- The materials they need (the book, chapter and pages, or the name of the handout):
Open your book, Conceptual Chemistry, to page 11 – table 1.1.”
- The action required:
“Write a paragraph about yourself using physical properties.”
- The grading criteria:
- “Your paragraph must be 6 to 10 sentences in length.”
- “Include at least 5 examples of physical properties that describe you.”
- “It may be typed or handwritten.”
- “Put your name, date, and the title/label of the assignment at the top of the page.”
Alternative Homework Assignment Ideas
Creating homework assignments that engage multiple sensory modalities (visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic) facilitates students’ success. Be clear about the purpose of the assignment first; then, consider a variety of multisensory tasks to achieve it. Varying types of assignments offers students opportunities to excel in different ways. The grid below presents some examples to spur thinking about multisensory homework.
Purpose | Commonly Assigned Homework | Multisensory Alternatives |
---|---|---|
Demonstrate your understanding of a concept or event in history |
Write an essay |
|
Learn how to use particular mathematical formulas |
Practice plugging in information and solving for area, distance, velocity, etc. |
|
Learn/review characteristics of functions, numbers, operations, etc. |
Take notes from a textbook |
|
Learn key ideas related to plot, setting, and character from a book |
Read Chapter 1 |
|
Understand scene(s) from a play |
Paraphrase the scene(s) for a class discussion |
|
Learn vocabulary words from a list |
Study vocabulary |
|
Review for a test |
Study concepts from Chapter 2 |
|