1.5 Differentiation Options

Have students look up what “synesthesia” is and present it to the class.

Ask them to think about situations where there is a lot of sensory input (e.g., supermarket, fairground) and how that feels.

When you mention that more than five senses will be discussed, some students may mention “the sixth sense,” meaning intuition.

Discuss what it means to “sense” something: that by having very sensitive senses, one may notice things like someone’s smell (sweat out of fear?), tone of voice (tension or joy?), or body posture. These cues allow someone to know more about how another person feels.

Then consider what you could still “sense” if your senses no longer worked — if you could not see, hear, smell, or feel anything. Probably nothing. So someone with a “sixth sense” is most likely very perceptive using the existing eight senses, not an additional mysterious sense.