Giving instructions
We can support students’ information processing by supplementing auditory information with visual clues. When we can provide students with multi-sensory experiences observing and communicating, it helps all students, especially emerging readers and English language learners. Instructions should be given using a variety of visual or aural support materials:
• drawings, diagrams, and pictures to support the spoken word
• written instructions on word cards or SmartBoard along with verbal instructions
• set-up examples to supplement written lab instructions
• audiotaped instructions alongside written directions
• pictures with words in stages of lab procedures that students can sequence