Teaching Tips Archive

Archive:

Learning by Touch

2009-07-20

Students are used to learning through their auditory and visual senses.  They may be less familiar with how they can learn through their tactile sense.

Here is a simple activity to familiarize or reinforce your students' awareness of how they can learn by touch.

Have a number of objects concealed in a box. Seat a student at a table and ask the student to close his or her eyes.  Then place one of the objects on the table.

• Have the student lift the object to determine its weight.
• Have the student grasp the object to determine its size.
• Have the student rub his or her finger across the object to determine its texture.
• Have the student squeeze the object to determine its hardness.
• Have the student rest his or her finger on the object to determine its temperature.
• Have the student trace along the contours of the object to determine its shape.
  

Once these steps have been completed, ask the student to  identify the object.  Then have the student open his or her eyes to see whether he or she is correct.

Repeat this procedure with other students using different objects.  This activity is not only instructive, but is fun for all.

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