A four month study where I studied the effectiveness of utilizing kinesthetic and tactile activities and learning strategies to aide in the instruction of kindergarten students for alphabet letter recognition.

1. Move to Learn
A Kinesthetic
Approach to
Learning
Presenter: Christine Tran
April 26th, 2012

2. What is Kinesthetic Learning?
 Kinesthetic learning involves the active,
physical participation of an individual in a
range of motions to acquire the
comprehension and the competency of
a particular concept.
 Also Tactile Learners (hands-on)

3. Models and Theories
 Muscle memory is much more efficient for long
term memory than visual or auditory. Pulliam
(1945) and Kirk (1933)
 Such activities that induce range of motion and
activities aid the kinesthetic learner to become
more personable to the learner and more
participatory in learning and comprehension as
opposed to a more distant, passive approach of
learning. (James, 2010)

4. Fleming’s VAK/VARK Model

5. Kinesthetic Learning in Everyday Life

6. Putting the Strategy in Action:
Demographics of the School
-Piney Point Elementary School, HISD
- 73% Hispanic, 17% African American, 5% White,
5% Asian
- 55% enrolled in bilingual program, 8% ESL, 6%
Special Ed, 9% Gifted and Talent
- 100% Title I
- 68% Limited English Proficiency
- 82% At-Risk

7. Putting the Strategy into Action:
The Participants and Setting
 Kindergarten
 Time: 10:55am-11:35am, two days a week during
centers time period
 Length: 4 Months (January 2012- present)
 4 Students Total (3 males, 1 female)
 Ages 5 to 6 years old
 Originally had 5 students
 1 Hispanic, 1 Caucasian, 1 African, 1 African
American
 Students had not mastered identification of letters
 Students were very active and tend not to sit for long
periods of time

8. Pre-Test Assessment
 Students are to identify as many alphabet
letters (26 total), scrambled in random
order and in upper-case format.

9. Results of Pre-Test Assessment
 Pre-Test (1/19/12)
 Mean: 15.5
 Median:15.5
 Mode: 13,18

10. Steps of Implementation
 1. Introduce the concept of kinesthetic and tactile
learning to students.
 2. First for the kinesthetic approach, explain to
students that they can connect with alphabet letters
with prior knowledge of activities that has the same
phonemic sound. i.e. jumping jacks for the letter “j”.
 3. Model the activities for the students of activities for
letters A-Z. While performing the activity, a visual cue
to the letter is referred.
 4. Students will repeat the actions themselves, while
saying the letter with the teacher.

11. Steps of Implementation
 5. Students will then interact with classmates and
perform activities related to a specific letter.
Students will then have the opportunity to create
their own exercises to aid them in remembering the
letter.
 6. For Tactile activities, teacher will model for the
students using play-doh for hands on approach to
creating the letter.
 7. Students will have the opportunity to create the
letters and rehearse their skill.
 8. Assess students recognition skills.

12. Learning in Motion
Students use “alphabet exercises” to engage in
activities related to the letter name. Often these
activities can be used to activate prior knowledge
by tying the connection between the phonemic
awareness with its initial sound.
Pictures of the activity are also on the cards to help
students get a visual of what they should be doing to
with their bodies.
At the beginning, the teacher models these physical
activities with the students to give them a reference
of what the activities should look like in real time.

15.  http://youtu.be/EPmpFmtCeyk

16. Hands On Work in Progress
 Students create the letters of the
alphabet using play-doh, utilizing their
tactile skills while naming the letter they
are making.

18. Post-Test Assessment
 Studentsidentify the alphabetical letters
using the same pre-test assessment.

19. Results
26
correctly identified
24
Number of letters
22
20
18
16
14 1/19/2012
12
10
8 2/23/2012
6
4 3/23/2012
2
0 4/20/2012
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4
Students

20. Letter
Recognition
Results
1/19/2012 2/23/2012 3/23/2012 4/20/2012
Student
1 18 19 20 22
Student
2 13 12 11 14
Student
3 13 22 25 26
Student
4 18 22 20 22

21. Results
Alphabet Letter Recognition Through
Kinesthetic/Tactile Strategy of Learning
Numbers of Letter correctly Identified
26
24
22
20
18
16
14 Student 1
12
Student 2
10
8 Student 3
6
Student 4
4
2
0
1/19/2012 2/23/2012 3/23/2012 4/20/2012
Assessment Date

22. Results: A Comparison Between
Pre-Test and Post-Test
Assessments
 Pre-Test (1/19/12)  Post Test (4/20/12)
 Mean: 15.5  Mean: 21
 Median:15.5  Median: 22
 Mode: 13,18  Mode: 22
The results did agree with the research on general. However, I
believe that although kinesthetic and tactile learning is a great
strategy, not all students may find this particular strategy as
beneficial in their learning. Kinesthetic learning helped ELL
students the most.

23. Would I Use This Learning
Strategy Again?
 Yes, through practice, constant exposure, linking
prior knowledge to a more physical
representation, and encouragement, students
can become both actively involved and have fun
while learning as well.
 Kinesthetic and Tactile learning can be flexible
and can be used in interdisciplinary areas as well.
 Kinesthetic learning can appeal to all age groups.

24. Keeping the Old, Changing for the New
 I loved the exercise  I would have liked to try
to this strategy with a
activities and the larger group in order to
energy level of the get more data and
compare to see how
students during the effective this strategy for
activity. a classroom setting.
 Change the amount of
 I will continue to time spent on each
activity. (i.e. one day
have the students focused primarily on
participate in a kinesthetic and the other
day on tactile activities)
round robin game-
like setting.  Incorporate creative
group activity for letter
exercises

25. Web Handouts and Resources
 Alphabet Mat and Kid Games
http://www.uptoten.com/kids/coloringpag
e-mixedbag-print-abc.html
 Alphabet Exercises
http://thehometeacher.wikispaces.com/file
/view/Body%20-%20exercise%20abc.pdf

26.  Bohrer, R. K. (1970). Kinesthetic Reinforcement- Is It a Boon to Learning? Foreign Language
Beacon, 5(5),12-14.
 Brand, E. (1999). Effects of learning-style based homework on urban 11th-grade low-achieving
students in vocabulary (Doctoral dissertation, St. John’s University, 1999). Dissertation
Abstracts International, vol. 60 (02), 319A.
 Carbo, M., Thomasson, R., & Christian K. (1993). “Sharply Accelerating the Reading
Achievement of Students at Risk.” Mini-conferece, Northbrook, II. 12-13 March, 1993.
 Faryadi, Q. (Jan- Feb 2012). Effective Teaching and Effective Learning: Instructional Design
Perspective. IJERA (International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications,
2(1), 222-228.
 James, W. (2010) VARK Learning Styles Theory, e-How contributor.
http://www.inspiration.com/blog/2010/10/how-to-reach-every-learner/. Retrieved
from the World Wide Web on February 12, 2012.
 Kirk, S.A. The Influence of Manual Testing on the Learning of Simple Words in the Case of
Subnormal Boys. The Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol. 24 (1933), pp.525-535.
 Pulliam, R.A. Indented Word Cards as a Sensori-Motor Aid in Vocabulary Development.
Peabody Journal of Education, vol.23 (1945), pp.38-42.