Direct Indirect Speech - Learn English Grammar

16 Characteristics of Kinesthetic and Tactile Learners

Posted by Sarah Major on August 20, 2014

What does it mean if my child is a kinesthetic or tactile learner? Kinesthetic learners learn best when they are moving. If they are using their hands and bodies in learning, their attention will be focused right on the learning they are doing. Conversely, if they are expected to sit very still and pay attention and listen, success will not follow. The more they have to sit still, the less they can focus and learn!

In traditional classrooms, often children are expected to sit quietly in their seats, listen, and then learn what they are hearing. Many times there is not the opportunity for students to experience the learning with their bodies and hands, apart from writing with a pencil on paper. While some people believe that a teacher would have to teach several different ways in order to accommodate the various learning styles, we don't think so.

Teachers will be successful in reaching all their learners at one time if they will develop a teaching style that is a synthesis of methods that target the whole brain. 

Child1st exists to help provide teaching materials that are multisensory; materials that make this task of teaching to the whole brain easier for the parent and teacher! Resources for Math, Reading, Sight Words, and Letters & Sounds are designed specifically for visual, tactile, kinesthetic learners.

Learners who need body movement and hands-on work include tactile, kinesthetic learners, and children who have been labeled dyslexic, ADD, and ADHD.

16 Characteristics of kinesthetic and tactile learners

• Kinesthetic learners need to move. They wiggle, tap, swing their leg, bounce, and sometimes just don't seem able to "stay in their seat"
• They will struggle with focus unless their hands are working on the learning
• They will benefit greatly from motions that are directly tied to learning
• They will do better if given actual objects to manipulate in learning to replace pencil and paper
• Their attention follows their hands. If their attention wanders, pointing to the next math problem to be solved will focus their minds on their immediate task
• As with visual learners, kinesthetic learners learn best in a way that is highly automatic: that of body motions stored in the body and cerebellum
• Kinesthetic learners are often gifted performers as athletes, dancers, and any skill that uses their hands
• Kinesthetic learners generally are very coordinated and have an excellent sense of body timing
• Kinesthetic learners will learn and remember best when allowed to move
• They can be taught to not disturb those around them while they move during learning
• Tactile learners are closely related to kinesthetic learners
• The tactile style is more moderate, involving fine motor movements, rather than the whole-body movements
• Tactile learners take in information through the sense of touch and feeling
• Tactile learners may feel like they have to touch, and explore objects in order to know them
• Tactile learners learn best with hands-on activities
• Tactile learners enjoy manipulatives, using different media such as finger-paints, art materials, building projects, blocks or objects for math, hands-on science experiments, lap-booking (making their own books), games, making models, dioramas, etc. If your child is a tactile-based learner, you will find a project-oriented method of learning will probably appeal to your child's need to have active hands. Their motto? "Don't TELL me, let me DO it!" 

Examples of Colons and Semicolons in Sentences

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Colons and semicolons are two types of punctuation. Colons (:) are used in sentences to introduce that something follows like a quotation, example or a list. Semicolons (;) are used to join two independent clauses, to separate main clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb or to separate items in a list that already uses commas. Still confused?

Check out the YourDictionary Punctuation Jungle infographic on punctuation for an easy-to-understand visual explanation.

Colons Used in Sentences

• There are two choices at this time: run away or fight.
• We knew who would win the game: the Eagles
• He wanted to see three cities in Italy: Rome, Florence and Venice
• Remember: Two can play at that game.
• She kept repeating: “I really want that car!”
• Barry wanted to know why I didn’t respond to his text: I hadn’t received it.
• Here are three states that begin with M: Michigan, Mississippi and Maine.
• You can come pick me up now: I am feeling much better.
• Never forget this point: Think before you speak.
• This house has everything I need: two bedrooms, a backyard and a garage.
• The town reminded me of my childhood vacations: both were on the beach.
• I have several favorite genres of movies: drama, science fiction and mystery.
• This was first said by Shakespeare: “To thine own self be true.”
• I bought a lot of meat at the store: bacon, turkey, chicken and tuna.
• The world is a stage: play your role well.
• The new boss has many nice traits: friendly, outgoing and fair.
• These are my favorite colors: purple, turquoise, pink and yellow.

Semicolons in Sentences 

• Dad is going bald; his hair is getting thinner and thinner.
• I really like beef, with mushroom sauce; pasta, with Alfredo sauce; and salad, with French dressing.
• You should stop eating so much food; you will have to go on a diet.
• You need new brakes; otherwise you may not be able to stop in time.
• Star Trek was my favorite television show during the 1960s; in fact, it is my favorite television show of all time.
• I had a huge meal; however, I am already hungry again.
• The Christmas ornaments are finally packed away: small, shiny ones; big, bright ones; and the homemade ones.
• She had self-defense training; consequently she warded off the assailant.
• We had students from Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; and Caracas, Venezuela.
• We had too many fumbles; we lost the game.
• I know you don’t like broccoli; nevertheless it is very good for you.
• Michelle drives a Jaguar; Sonya drives a Porsche.
• I have finished the main course; now I have to make dessert.
• Spring brings gentle rains and warmer weather; in addition to thunderstorms and hail.
• She calls it the bathroom; I call it the loo.
• Mom wants the chores completed; moreover she wants them done properly.
• I will be there as soon as I finish working; that is a promise I will definitely keep.
• She didn’t see the other car coming; now her car has a huge dent.
• There is mounting evidence of global warning; of course some people will never believe it.

Homework Center: How to Write a Research Paper

Homework Center: How to Write a Research Paper

Transformative Technology in Education

Useful rhetorical devices

Useful rhetorical devices

The use of rhetoric in essays allows improving and crystallizing argument as well as making them more persuasive. The first rhetorical technique to learn is litotes, a form of understatement which denies the opposite statement. For instance, saying that "Daily exercises are not easy", the author uses litotes, which allows placing emphasis upon the sentence of perceived importance.

The second d technique is parallelism, a very flexible method, which can be used practically in all types of academic papers. Parallelism brings together similar components or aspects of the same object or issue. For instance, "learning new and unusual experience is similar to diving into cold water" or "the researcher assumes that the percentage of suicides is lower in White American population, confirms his hypothesis through conducting his own study and automatically repudiates the argument of his predecessors". Parallelism can be used with nouns, verbs and adjectives, its main aspect is listing similar elements.

Zeugma is a similar rhetorical device, which implies using a connection between several parts of speech by another part of speech. This means, zeugma might include using several verbs with one subject or several objects with one verb. For instance: "Jenny excels at mathematics, Tom at sports, Mary at literature". Zeugma, as one can see, involves using a briefer version of the sentence and avoids repetition of the same verb, so this device is aimed at improving the composition and syntax of the sentence.

Antithesis is another interesting and convenient tool, as it two or more elements to each other. It is common for individuals to categorize and organize their thoughts searching for similarity or opposition, and antithesis allows reinforcing the sentence as a key issue to discuss without asking a question. For instance: "John's short and allegedly boring journey had a strong and long-lasting influence on his worldview". Further, the author can discuss the reasons for the lack of correspondence between the nature of the trip and the strength of John's experience without explaining "The essay will be discussing the reasons…" or asking questions that overload the essay. The meaning of antithesis lies in its major properties, which are combination and contrast of two elements, which thus help the reader notice this antithetical relationship (which might be overlooked if this technique is not used).

Historical present is a technique that involves the use of present tense when citing works, written in the past. For instance, one can state: "Machiavelli assumes that Christianity made people lazy". This technique places the events of the past into the present times and thus increases their relevance nowadays. When speaking about historical facts, biographical information about the birth and death should be used in past tense, whereas it is acceptable to say: "In 1986 the poet leaves England" (writes a book, marries and so forth). The major advantage of this technique is that it approaches the event to the writer.

Appeals to ethos, logos and pathos are the basic techniques to employ when creating a speech, persuasive and argumentative papers. In academic writing, the use of unsubstantiated emotional claims (pathos) is barely acceptable, and in order to appeal to emotions, it would be reasonable to include a striking or interesting fact, which would be relevant in the paper. For instance, when speaking about a war, it is useful to provide the number of lives the conflict took. In order to influence the reader's ethos, it is necessary to include the ethical side of the issue, argue the degree of its appropriateness to the society. Appealing to logos, the writer normally uses research data, references to credible sources as a logical support for the argument. Logos is "responsible" for knowledge, so it is the object of appeal in research and informative papers.

Procatalepsis is a device that refers to making prognoses, deriving from factual situation. These prognoses ca be both positive and negative, and it is recommended that the writer, employing this technique, is able to foresee the threats and dangers of the situation. For instance, "This development campaign is generally successful, but it is unlikely to have a cultural influence on national minorities because acculturation-related measures are not included". Importantly, procatalepsis relies on pure facts, which become the source of prognosis, but it would be unreasonable to build predictions on the basis of assumptions or hypotheses.

Personifcation is one of the strongest techniques to employ in descriptive papers or narratives. This tool allows metaphorically representing animals, inanimate objects or events as human-beings. For instance, in order to reinforce the role of revolution the author can refer to it as to a person: "She substantially improved the state of underprivileged". This tool can also be viewed as a legitimate appeal to the reader's pathos.

Finally, historical analogy as a rhetorical device can be used to exemplify the situations, which took place in the past, and compare them to the current events, find similarity and, if necessary, create a prognosis. Historical analogy is a vital part of national identity, so the use of this technique is likely to be noticed and appreciated. Historical analogy can be applied to practically any science, it allows finding the trends of development and compare certain periods to the present day. For instance, the war on terrorism could be compared to a crusade,. Apart from historical analogy, the writer can use metaphorical analogy as well as contrast, e.g. events can be compared or contrasted to natural phenomena, both from the position of the nature of the process and its outcomes.

How to Rapidly Improve Speaking Skills

How to Rapidly Improve Speaking Skills