The Alphabetic Principle

A Multi-Sensory Approach to Phonics

Multi-sensory instruction combines listening, speaking, reading, and a tactile or kinesthetic activity. When teaching phonics, a multi-sensory teaching technique may be beneficial because these techniques can be used to focus children's attention on the sequence of letters in printed words. Using manipulatives, gestures, and speaking/auditory cues increases children's acquisition of phonics skills. Furthermore, multi-sensory techniques are motivating and fun for kids!

Examples of Multi-Sensory Phonics Activities

• Say, touch and spell.

  • In this activity, the child will say each sound in the word and place a manipulative (e.g., a tile with a letter) to represent each sound in the word. For example, when the adult says fin, the child moves the letter tiles for f, i, and n, to spell the word, while at the same time saying and stretching the sounds orally. If the adult then says fish, the child replaces the tile with n on it with one that has an sh.

  • The activity should use only letter sounds/pattern sounds that children have been taught.

  • Letter tiles also should represent sounds at the phoneme level. For example, fish would be spelled with three tiles (f, i, sh), because it has three phonemes, whereas brag would be spelled with four tiles (b, r, a, g), reflecting four phonemes.

• Organize spelling around the vowel letter.

  • Assign a gesture to each vowel sound. Dictate a word and have the child make the gesture for the vowel sound in the word.

• Assign a gesture to /sh/ and /ch/.

  • Dictate words. Ask the child to make the gesture associated with /sh/ or /ch/ when they hear those sounds in a word.

• Paddle pop.

  • Teach letter clusters such as ing and ink. Write these clusters on card stock and staple to popsicle sticks. Dictate words and ask students to pop up the paddle containing the letter cluster in the word.

• Sounding out words:

• Single syllable "touch and read": Students touch each letter with a finger or pencil point and say the letter sound, then sweep left to right below the word and read the word.

• Multisyllable touch and read: Students touch each syllable with a finger or pencil point and say the syllable, then sweep left to right below the word and read the word.

Multi-sensory activities fully engage the brain and make learning more memorable. These activities can be fun games or part of a daily practice routine. As children become more proficient in their new phonics skills, the need for and use of multi-sensory activities may be reduced.