As a school dedicated to serving students with language-based learning differences, Siena puts multisensory instruction is at the core of every lesson for our students who learn differently. However, these strategies are effective for all learners. Students listen, talk, move, create, use technology, and engage with each other every day. The more senses activated in the learning process, the more that knowledge retention increases. Here are ways to engage students’ senses while teaching remotely:

*Manipulatives from around the house can be incorporated into the lesson, making the lesson more creative while encouraging abstract thinking. Legos, food items, toothpicks, beads, and larger household items could be used to help explain a lesson.

*Physical checks for understanding such as giving a thumbs up, putting their hands on their heads, touching right/left shoulders to indicate a choice or standing up to show a response to a question.

*Role-play or simulation of a character or scene, a scientific concept, or historical episode. Have students mimic the movement of an object seen in a video or presentation. Have a student act out their spelling words as other students write down the correct answer on a whiteboard.

*Study strategies can be tactile, such as with paper flashcards to sort concepts into categories, create relationship webs between words, and group historical figures or mathematical concepts. Teachers could also encourage students to color-code flashcards to further categorize them.

*Academic games to increase movement and engage students’ senses. To incorporate movement, have students back away from their computers, write an answer to a question on a personal whiteboard or notebook and then run back to their computers to share their answers.

*Standing desks or other creative options for their workspaces and flexible seating allows for movement or change of positions while sitting.