Tip #16 - Listen—and Hear

Today’s students often are called “screenagers” because their lives are dominated by looking at screens, from the gigantic (think three-story IMAX) to the minuscule (on a mobile phone). Their sensory input is overwhelmingly visual, though an audio undercurrent often forms the backbeat. Even before modern culture became overwhelmed by electronic screens, vision was dominant among our human senses.

Visual dominance is evidenced in common language: “I see” (I understand), “I’ll see you to the door” (walk with you), “We’ll see” (maybe), and so forth. Consequently, when students are asked to write descriptions, their compositions usually are filled with visual imagery and little attention is paid to the other senses. In life, all of the senses work together, but even the next most prominent, hearing, can be neglected.

To awaken students to the auditory sense—that backbeat so often taken for granted—try this:

• Ask students to take out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.
• Next ask them to close their eyes and simply listen.
• Begin by guiding their hearing: “What sounds come from nearby?” “What sounds rise from beneath you, behind you, above you, to one side or the other?” “What sounds come from a distance?” “Are the sounds loud or soft, mellow or sharp?”
• Then let silence settle in the classroom so that students can listen. Stretch this for two to five minutes, depending on the group.
• Finally, ask students to open their eyes and write down as many auditory impressions as they can remember.

This exercise is a good stand-alone to create greater awareness of sensory input that can be translated into richer written descriptions, or students might immediately follow this experience by writing a “sounds of our classroom” composition that they can share.

Tip #7 - Sensory Reportage

All writing, to some extent, involves translation of observations or ideas into words set into sentences and paragraphs. Writing prompts that call for “sensory reportage” recognize that individual students process ideas in different ways. Three of these ways are the visual, the auditory, and the kinesthetic.

Let’s say that the topic for a writing exercise is camping. One way to acknowledge that some students may be visual learners, others auditory learners, and still others kinesthetic learners is to develop a selection of prompts that allow students to choose. For example:

• Design a campsite layout. Draw the layout and then write a description. (Visual)
• Create a key to birdsongs or calls. Try to imitate the sounds and then write a description. (Auditory)
• Roll and store a sleeping bag. Experiment with a sleeping bag to discover how best to roll it and then write a description. (Kinesthetic)

Each of these prompts requires the student to make a translation — that is, to translate a visual design, birdcalls, or a physical activity (rolling a sleeping bag) into words. For this assignment the translation is a description. For others the required writing might entail explication or analysis.

Like any sort of translation, part of the process will entail identifying words to use. Translating from a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic plan, observation, or experience will involve a prewriting process of gathering words to use, in this case, descriptive words — strong verbs, adjective, adverbs, and so on. This process can be compared to a chef preparing to cook. Having decided on the meal, the chef must gather the ingredients before preparing the dishes.

Sensory reportage is a strategy that helps make students aware of language and how writers translate ideas into words.