Guide 5: Sensory study
Multi sensory learning is important for everyone. By stimulating our senses during learn more of our brain
becomes involved in our learning, thus increasing our chances of understanding and remembering.
Sensory stimulation and repetition is especially important for students who access their learning in a sensory
way. Such students (for example students with PMLD) need repetition of stimuli in order to maximise their
chances of building neural pathways, this guidance will show you ways to do this to support your students’
cognitive development.
If you are working with students who are operating above P level 3 you can choose to be a bit more flexible
in the delivery of the stimuli. You can look to get your students involved in the delivery of the stimuli, and may
find that after a couple of run throughs they are able to deliver the whole study collaboratively themselves.
Guidance for delivering the sensory study
Resources.
You will need:
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A bucket
Loose soil
Potatoes
A light source, such as a torch, with a halo of yellow card stuck around it
to indicate that it represents the sun.
A large bottle or jug to hold water.
A glass or drinking beaker, preferably clear.
A small watering can.
The ability to play sound from the computer.
A small portion of mashed potatoes.
Ideally you will use exactly the same resources each time you deliver the study. With the non perishable
items keeping them together in a bag or box until you’ve finished studying this topic is a good way of
ensuring you always have them to hand. If this isn’t possible try to make a note of precisely which beaker
you used (e.g. if your school canteen has several colours of beaker use the same colour each time).
It will not be possible to use the same potatoes each time, but endeavour to get potatoes as similar to each
other as possible, e.g. by choosing a particular variety. Also aim to make the mash to the same consistency.
You are also aiming for the same temperature of mash each time you deliver the story, the easiest way to do
this may well be to serve it cold.
continued...
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Guide 5: Sensory study continued...
Power Point Presentation
We have provided a power point presentation of the ten sentences that make up the potato study. If working
with a mixed ability class you may like to use this as a prompt to let students know which sentence you are
on, and also to support their reading; they can follow the words on screen as you read them aloud. Students
could also use this resource to deliver the story themselves.
If you are working with students who access the curriculum in a sensory way, for example students with
PMLD, be mindful that the powerpoint may present a significant visual stimuli in itself. Consider where your
students will be best positioned. You could have students form a semi circle that faces away from the
Interactive White Board (IWB) or face the laptop upon which the powerpoint is running so that it is behind
students but in view for staff.
You may be working in a team of staff who will all be delivering stimuli to individual students. Turning the
pages on the powerpoint can be a way of telling everyone which stimuli to get ready without having to do so
verbally. This is a much better option for students who will benefit from a crisp reading of the story without
background noises or conversations about “Oo where have we put...?” “Can you pass me...?” “How are we
going to do...?” With a minimum amount of preparation you and your staff can work in a synchronised
manner without disrupting the flow of the sentences.
Be prepared
Before you begin to share the sensory study with your students/student lay out all the resources you will
need in a place where they will be easy for you to reach as you share the study.
Be consistent
Aim to deliver each of the stimuli in the same way every time. Think about variables such as:
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Timing of delivery with sentence: are you going to deliver the stimuli on a particular word in the
sentence, or wait until the end of the sentence?
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Number of students in the group: this won’t be a concern if working 1:1 with a student, but if you
have a group of students consider when they experience the stimuli in relation to hearing the
sentence.
For example; if on the first telling Lucy hears the sentence and immediately afterwards
experiences the stimuli, this will be a very different experience from hearing the sentence and then
waiting whilst three other people experience the stimuli in order for it to be her turn.
Do you have support staff who will be able to deliver stimuli to students?
Will you be doing it?
Are the numbers of staff available to you liable to change between readings of the study?
Who will work with who?
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Manner of delivery: think about how you will deliver the experience to the student, for example:
where will you shine the light, will the mashed potato be on a spoon, what will that spoon be made
of, how loudly will you speak the words, will it always be you speaking the words?
continued...
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Guide 5: Sensory study continued...
Be consistent - contd./...
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Pace: you will need to allow time for your students to process the experiences you are providing
them with. Offering them an object to touch and removing it as soon as it has been touched is not
a rich sensory experience.
Your students may also need time to respond to an experience, and time to process their
experience afterwards, for example when delivering a touch experience if you place the
experience against your student’s hand leave it there for a while, wait, and your student may begin
to respond and feel and explore the experience.
Once you have removed the experience allow a little pause, this time will allow the student to finish
digesting the experience they’ve had.
Imagine you were in a conversation that was a bit challenging for you, if the person talking to you
told you a really interesting fact you’d welcome a pause to take in that new information. Hopefully
the learning experiences you are delivering to your students are challenging to them, so allow
them time to take them in and secure their learning.
Strategies such as making a recording of the study being read and then playing this each time, or getting
someone to make notes about what you do during the first delivery of the story and then using these to
prompt you on subsequent deliveries, can help you to ensure consistency.
“Consistency is an aspiration, we are only human, you’ll find that a little
effort can go a long way to supporting the learning of your students.”
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