Another type of nonlinguistic representation that is often overlooked is having students engage in a kinesthetic activity.

These are classroom activities that involve physical movement. Unfortunately, since these activities involve students moving about the room, teachers are often afraid to try them out. However, if a teacher has strong classroom management skills, kinesthetic activities can be a very effective way to improve comprehension.

The idea here is that physical movement associated with specific knowledge generates a mental image (nonlinguistic image) in the mind of the learner.

Here is an example from one of my social studies classes…

Every year when studying American colonial life I have my students take a “walking tour of the colonies”. I set up eight stations around the room. Each station has a picture of one aspect of colonial life (i.e. marriage, life on the frontier, life on a small farm, conflict with Native Americans etc.) with written information on the back. Students start at one station and examine the picture/information for roughly 5 minutes and then “walk” to the next station as if they are walking through the colonies back in the early 1700s. We continue this process until the students have “visited” all the stations.

This kinesthetic activity really helps the students create mental images and allows students to build upon their knowledge of life in colonial America.

Plus, it’s a lot of fun! The students love these types of activities.

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Looking for some more fun activities to do with your students?

Make sure to read eTeach: A Teacher Resource for Learning the Strategies of Master Teachers @ www.TeachingTeacher.com

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