Many students with dyslexia confuse ‘b’ and ‘d’. Both have a stick with a circle at its base. But on which side does the circle sit?

Kinetic learning
A teacher at Fraser Academy gives students a kinetic experience of the letter ‘b’ by getting them to draw the letter as large as possible on the classroom carpet. To do so, pupils must use their sense of balance, their arms, even their whole body, to create the letter. They will remember the day their teacher had them “writing” on the carpet, making this great big shape, and can use that memory the next time they read or write ‘b’. illustration

Tactile reinforcement
The teacher might then reinforce that kinetic memory with a tactile one, by having students make the letter out of play dough
or clay. Or perhaps that instructor shows students how to hold up their index fingers on each hand, with the thumb and second finger touching, making the word ‘bed’, but without the ‘e’. Pupils can make this shape with their fingers whenever they need a ‘b’ or ‘d’ reminder. illustration

Visual embedding
To further embed the ‘b’ in memory, that teacher shows students the word ‘bed’ on a card. This word begins with ‘b’ and ends with ‘d’, so that if you draw a bed over the letters, the upright part of ‘b’ becomes the head of the bed, and the upright part of the ‘d’ becomes the foot. You can draw a child lying on the bed to complete the picture—creating a strong visual memory for students. illustration

Multisensory memory
The net result of these activities? Students have a visual memory from seeing the letters and drawing, an auditory memory from hearing the sound it makes, a tactile memory from writing the letter with play dough or positioning thumbs, and a kinetic memory from having drawn the letter really large on the carpet.