Relevant Idea from Chapters 4-8

Chapter 5 discusses the use of nonlinguistic representations to "enhance students' ability to use mental images to represent and elaborate on knowledge" (p. 86). I think that this is most likely typically used in the elementary ages, but I believe that it could have strong benefits for students of all ages. This chapter describes mental images and physical sensations that can help students to learn more quickly and also retain that knowledge longer. This is also a great way for teachers to incorporate differentiated instruction and also reach out to students who learn in a variety of styles. By incorporating kinesthetic activities to give students a memory of a concept, they will be much more likely to enjoy the learning process and also engage in the learning process. There is a wide range of ways that teacher can help students to gain these nonlinguistic representations, which allows for more creativity in the instructional style. Although there are so many strong benefits to teaching in this way, it does have an added responsibility for the teacher. The teacher may have to work a bit harder to plan lessons that allow for kinesthetic activities and mental representations. The first few times a teacher teaches in this way will probably be more challenging and students may get out of control. But as the students become accustomed to these methods and the teacher becomes more comfortable teaching in this way, the benefits will out weigh the work involved.