Types of Learners

Visual

Visual learners remember what was read or seen; don’t retain what they hear for very long; have vivid imaginations, use color; may think in pictures or may think in words; may be avid readers; facial expressions show their emotions; information may not exist for them if it is not seen or written down; remembers faces, but not names; likes written reports better than verbal ones; are sensitive to the ways things look or appear.

Auditory

Description: Auditory learners remember by listening, especially music; talk while they write; need phonics; may be sophisticated speakers; remember names, forget faces; may seem to be listening to something inside themselves, rather than the person with whom they are communicating; are distracted by noise; write lightly and not always legibly; written information often will have little meaning until it has also been heard; eyes move down and to their right when they are listening to others

Kinesthetic

Description: Kinesthetic learners remember what was done, not what was seen or talked about; may have had or are having difficulty learning to read; touch and movement are very important; are not avid readers; attack things physically; learn by imitation and practice; touch things to get a sense of them; like to talk about feelings; may be athletic, like swimming, cooking, running, eating, sailing, dancing, working out, massages; may appear slow if information is not presented in his style; are poor spellers; love games; are impulsive; don’t hear things well; like to dress comfortably; may unconsciously touch people a lot.

How These Children Learn Best

Visual Learners:

• Take notes

• Make and use flashcards for studying

• Create graphs and diagrams that demonstrate key points

• Actively review any photographs or diagrams in your textbook

• Use visual metaphors and/or analogies to associate information

• Write explanations down

• Use color coded highlighting

• Use illustrations to remember content

• Organize your material

• Use the computer to organize material and to create graphs, tables and charts

• Review videos specific to the content you are studying

Auditory Learners:

• Explain the material you are trying to learn to a study partner

• Read explanations out loud

• Make up songs to go along with subject matter, the crazier the better

• Make up and repeat rhymes to remember facts, dates, names, etc.

• Record lectures and review in your spare time

• When learning new information, state the problem out loud, reason through solutions out loud

• Find videos that review information you are trying to learn

• Join or create a study group or get a study partner

• To learn a sequence of steps, write them out in sentence form, then read them out loud

• Use mnemonics and word links

Kinesthetic Learners:

• Hold book in your hand while reading (instead of laying it on a table)

• Write while you are talking or reading

• Use a computer to reinforce learning by using the sense of touch

• Record class lectures, listen to them while walking or exercising

• Use hands-on experiences when possible

• Use gestures when giving explanations • Make models that demonstrate the main concept

• Stand up when giving explanations

• Write with your fingers in sand, salt, etc.

• Write lists repeatedly

• Use rhythm (beats) to memorize or explain information

• Use role playing with a study partner

• Associate feelings with information

• Make flashcards for each step in a procedure, put the cards in order until the sequence is automatic

Learning Adjustments for Each Learning Style

What can be done to help the visual learner?

• Take out visual distraction – place him/her in as uncluttered an area as possible

• Leave a frame of blank wall around visual displays

• On a worksheet, put a heavy line around items to help pupil attend to one item at a time

• Give him /her a big marker

• Allow him to point if necessary – let him/her to touch the first letter of each word

• Let him/her get one worksheet at a time, rather than handing him/her several papers at once. This also gives the child a purpose for moving about as he/she turns in his/her completed work and gets his/her next assignment.

• Try not to stand in front of a cluttered background when instructing

• Give him/her one step of an assignment at a time

What can be done to help the auditory learner?

• Take out as much noise as possible

• Find a quiet place to work

• Very soft background music may help

• Use as few word as you can when giving directions

• If you repeat information, use the same words

• Speak directly to the student

• Earphones help cut out distractions of other noises

What can be done to help the kinesthetic learner?

• Provide a quiet period after physical activities

• Alternate quiet periods and rest periods

• Avoid putting him/her too close to other children

• Provide cues for end of study time – timer or clock

• Encourage visits for drinks/bathroom before class

• Make it harder to move than to sit still – e.g. desk against the wall

• Use pictures to help establish associations – words, meanings, numbers • Attach verbal labels

• Use visual, auditory and kinesthetic methods for teaching writing

• Allow for planned times for movement, such as monitor jobs

Teaching Methods for Each Learning Style

Teaching Methods – how to plan to help the visual learner

• Give lots of visual directions

• Give demonstrations

• Use matching games, charts and graphs

• Use maps and teach the use of a legend

• Use color coded systems

• Use number lines and rulers to develop math concepts

Teaching Methods – how to plan to help the auditory learner

• Teach him/her to talk through tasks

• Allow him/her to spell out loud

• Let him/her say syllables out loud

• Have him/her name punctuation marks as he/she reads to develop an awareness of their function

• Play lots of rhyming and blending games

• Allow him/her to think out loud, encourage oral response

• Record lessons and tests, allow students to listen to recordings

• Pair him/her with a visual learner

Teaching Methods – how to plan to help the kinesthetic learner

• Use movement exploration

• Have children clap or tap out numbers, syllables, walk patterns of words

• Use sandpaper letters/felt letters, write in sand/clay, use 3-D materials

• Child may need to talk to self for motor feedback

• Use all manipulatives possible

Products for Visual Learners

• Brochures

• Charts

• Posters

• Technology Projects

• Graphs

• Information Tables

• Timelines

• Graph Organizers

• Venn Diagrams

Products for Auditory Learners

• Audio recordings

• Ballads

• Oral presentations

• Debates

• Descriptions

• Documentaries

• Jingles

• Lectures

• Mock interviews

• Podcasts

• Songs/raps

Products for Kinesthetic Learners

• Charades

• Demonstrations

• Dioramas

• Displays

• Dramatizations

• Experiments

• Games

• Learning centers

• Mobiles

• Models

• Relief maps

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