Have you ever smelled something that instantly took you back to another time or place?  Perhaps you have tasted a particular food, felt a texture, or heard a song that brought back distant, but powerful, memories.

In this article, we will look at the science behind our 5 senses. and how this knowledge can help make our instruction more engaging and more memorable.  As always, I will offer a range of suggestions and strategies that you can immediately implement in your classroom.

While each of the 5 senses can influence memory recall in some form or fashion, there is a definite hierarchy.  Here they are, in order from strongest to weakest:

The term multisensory instruction is often associated with reading instruction, particularly for learners with dyslexia.  As with many supports that are typically offered to students with disabilities, multisensory instruction should be viewed through a lens of Universal Design for Learning, as is it can be beneficial to all learners.

Multisensory instruction involves lessons and activities that simultaneously engage multiple senses.  Educators commonly design lessons that are full of visual information such as text, pictures, diagrams, and videos.  Information is often presented auditorily as well, including teacher talk and class discussions.  It is equally important to purposefully build in opportunities for our learners to experience new information through touch, smell, and taste.

Multisensory instruction (using two or more senses):

*increases student engagement (Birsh & Cavendish, 2018);

*helps students connect to content (Suryarati et al., 2019);

*improves memory performance (Okray et al., 2022)

• When reading a book, offer items to smell, taste, and touch that are related to the story.
• Include tactile items as math manipulatives.
• Identify related things to hear, touch, smell, and taste when studying a historical figure or geographical location.
• Provide writing prompts that are paired with a particular smell or taste.