Tossing Activity
Overview
Tossing a ball, beanbag, or other small object activates physical focus in support of mental focus. A ball toss stimulates blood flow and activates several brain areas, which in turn increases energy levels and recall for learning.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this elementary classroom teacher uses a tossing activity to practice Vocabulary. During this activity, students focus their Attention on the ball and speaker while quickly recalling antonyms.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
See how Super Why! Phonics Fair includes a wonder words ball toss game to encourage Decoding and Sight Recognition. As learners throw word balls to the corresponding pictures, they develop their Vocabulary and Decoding skills.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Multisensory Supports Strategies
Listening comprehension and Decoding are the foundational components of reading comprehension.
Communication boards are displays of graphics (e.g., pictures, symbols, illustrations) and/or words where learners can gesture or point to the displays to extend their expressive language potential.
Dictionaries and thesauruses can serve as resources for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge.
Adding motions to complement learning activates more cognitive processes for recall and understanding.
Providing physical representations of concepts helps activate mental processes.
Brain breaks that include movement allow learners to refresh their thinking and focus on learning new information.
We take in information through all our senses.
Connecting information to music and dance can support Short-term and Long-term Memory by engaging auditory processes, Emotions, and physical activity.
Research shows physical activity improves focus and creativity.
Incorporating multiple senses with strategies like chewing gum, using a vibrating pen, and sitting on a ball chair supports focus and Attention.
Using earplugs or headphones can increase focus and comfort.
Providing tools so learners can choose to listen to a text supports individual strengths and needs.
Visual supports, like text magnification, colored overlays, and guided reading strips, help students focus and properly track as they read.
Web-based dictionaries and thesauruses can serve as visual and audio resources for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge.
Word sorts are multisensory activities that help learners identify patterns and group words based on different categories.
