Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic:
* "Word Smart" * Sensitive to spoken and written language * Good at learning languages * Use language for expression Spatial: * "Picture Smart" * Visual learner * Like graphs, charts, and visual representation * Aware of patterns * Photographic memory Musical: * "Music Smart" * Perform, create, and appreciate music and its patterns * Learn through songs Intrapersonal: * "Self Smart" * Self reflective * Self aware * Understand by relating concepts to themselves |
Mathematical / Logical:
* "Number / reasoning Smart" * Analyze problems logically * Solve problems mathematically * Investigates scientifically Bodily / Kinesthetic: * "Body Smart" * Use your whole body or parts to solve problems * Mental and physical activity are related * Relates concepts to their physical body Interpersonal: * "People Smart" * Like working in groups * Intuitive to the intentions, motivations, and desires of others Naturalist: * "Nature Smart" * Recognize, categorize, and draw on features of the environment * Interested in nature * Understands by relating concepts to nature |
How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child
Multiple intelligences theory is a way of identifying the natural strengths or styles of learning (intelligences) each one of us possesses. Intelligences shape the way we understand, process, and use information. According to Harvard educational theorist Howard Gardner, people have at least eight relatively independent forms of intelligence. To help you pinpoint your students' areas of strength, here are some brief descriptions of each different intelligence:
Logical/mathematical (analytical, concept-oriented)
Visual/spatial (image, picture-oriented)
Naturalist (enjoys organizing natural patterns)
Bodily/kinesthetic (excels at physical movement, both gross and fine motor)
Musical/rhythmic (oriented to tonal and rhythmic patterns)
Interpersonal (good person-to-person skills)
Intrapersonal (inner-directed, reflective)
Verbal/linguistic (oriented to words, language)
How multiple intelligences can work for you
All of us are strong in some intelligences and not as strong in others. Knowing a student's individual strengths will allow you to customize materials to match his or her natural aptitudes and interests.Traditionally, two intelligences – logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic – have been most emphasized in classroom curricula. To reach learners with strengths in other "nontraditional" areas takes some time and effort, but all students will benefit in the end.
Learning is more fun and productive when classroom activities and materials better match students' learning styles. Following are some tips to help you create lesson plans and activities to support students in the ways that they learn best.
Logical/mathematical: Enjoys working with numbers, doing experiments
Teaching tip: Use "science thinking": Ask students to identify scientific principles in areas other than science.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Find three random things (e.g., a blade of grass, the word long, and the process of jumping) and ask your students to invent an object that uses all three things.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Ask students to reinvent or improve upon the designs of everyday objects.
Visual/spatial: Enjoys drawing and painting
Teaching tip: Use colors as visual cues: Use a variety of colors of chalk and markers when writing in front of the class. Students can use different colored markers to "color code" materials they are studying.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Draw an unusual shape and have each student include it in a drawing of his or her own.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Play drawing games such as Pictionary or Win, Lose or Draw. Have students make rapid drawings to capture key points being discussed in a class lesson.
Naturalist: Enjoys studying things in nature, such as rocks, dinosaurs, insects, plants
Teaching tip: Noticing patterns: Encourage students to form their own systems for sorting and categorizing information.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Show pictures of various animals or plants and ask students to figure out what they have in common.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Given certain basic guiding principles, ask students to describe an animal, ecosystem, or other natural entity. To stimulate creativity, the entity need not exist at present, but should be theoretically imaginable.
Bodily/kinesthetic: Enjoys dancing, crafts, or sportsTeaching tip: Classroom theater: Students can act out the material to be learned through role playing.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Ask students what they like to eat for lunch, and have them act out the answers in a game of charades.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Use the human body as a "map" for learning new information in different subjects. In geography, for example, the body might represent Europe. If the head is Scandanavia, then where is Italy?
Musical/rhythmic: Enjoys listening to music
Teaching tip: Create discographies: Supplement bibliographies with lists of recorded music relating to class material. Also, as part of a homework assignment, have students select music that best demonstrates lesson themes.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Play unusual or difficult-to-recognize sounds and ask students to imagine what they might be.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Some students can more easily memorize information if they listen to a teacher's lesson against a musical background. Baroque and classical music can be particularly effective.
Interpersonal: Enjoys giving advice to friends who have problems
Teaching tip: Peer sharing: Set up a class "buddy system" so students can share and develop ideas with the same person over a period of time.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Make learning a fun and cooperative effort with class-made board games. Using file folders, markers, dice, and small game pieces, the information to be learned can be placed on squares of a winding road or on separate cards.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Ask students to think of the results of unlikely events. For example, "What if all of us could feel each other's feelings?"
Intrapersonal: Enjoys being by himself and thinking
Teaching tip: Personal connections: To make learning more directly relevant, make connections between class material and students' lives. To spark discussion, ask: "How many of you have ever…" or "Can you tell about a time when you…"
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Start individual or class scrapbooks for remembering special events.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Provide opportunities for setting goals and charting progress toward these goals. Goals may be short-term ("List three things you'd like to learn today") or long-term ("What do you want to be doing ten years from now?").
Verbal/linguistic: Enjoys storytelling, reading books
Teaching tip: Tape recording: To help students clarify their thinking, have them use a tape recorder to talk out loud about a problem or project. Recordings can also be used as a writing tool.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Have students think of as many things as possible that share a certain property, such as things that are round (sun, balloons, a squashed soda can), and encourage creative answers.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Invent nicknames for well-known people that capture features that make the individuals unique.
Dr. Tracy Heibeck, a specialist on learning on the Web, is a child psychologist who has been an instructor at Harvard Medical School for over a decade. She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University.
(Source: TeacherVision "How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child)
Logical/mathematical (analytical, concept-oriented)
Visual/spatial (image, picture-oriented)
Naturalist (enjoys organizing natural patterns)
Bodily/kinesthetic (excels at physical movement, both gross and fine motor)
Musical/rhythmic (oriented to tonal and rhythmic patterns)
Interpersonal (good person-to-person skills)
Intrapersonal (inner-directed, reflective)
Verbal/linguistic (oriented to words, language)
How multiple intelligences can work for you
All of us are strong in some intelligences and not as strong in others. Knowing a student's individual strengths will allow you to customize materials to match his or her natural aptitudes and interests.Traditionally, two intelligences – logical/mathematical and verbal/linguistic – have been most emphasized in classroom curricula. To reach learners with strengths in other "nontraditional" areas takes some time and effort, but all students will benefit in the end.
Learning is more fun and productive when classroom activities and materials better match students' learning styles. Following are some tips to help you create lesson plans and activities to support students in the ways that they learn best.
Logical/mathematical: Enjoys working with numbers, doing experiments
Teaching tip: Use "science thinking": Ask students to identify scientific principles in areas other than science.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Find three random things (e.g., a blade of grass, the word long, and the process of jumping) and ask your students to invent an object that uses all three things.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Ask students to reinvent or improve upon the designs of everyday objects.
Visual/spatial: Enjoys drawing and painting
Teaching tip: Use colors as visual cues: Use a variety of colors of chalk and markers when writing in front of the class. Students can use different colored markers to "color code" materials they are studying.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Draw an unusual shape and have each student include it in a drawing of his or her own.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Play drawing games such as Pictionary or Win, Lose or Draw. Have students make rapid drawings to capture key points being discussed in a class lesson.
Naturalist: Enjoys studying things in nature, such as rocks, dinosaurs, insects, plants
Teaching tip: Noticing patterns: Encourage students to form their own systems for sorting and categorizing information.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Show pictures of various animals or plants and ask students to figure out what they have in common.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Given certain basic guiding principles, ask students to describe an animal, ecosystem, or other natural entity. To stimulate creativity, the entity need not exist at present, but should be theoretically imaginable.
Bodily/kinesthetic: Enjoys dancing, crafts, or sportsTeaching tip: Classroom theater: Students can act out the material to be learned through role playing.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Ask students what they like to eat for lunch, and have them act out the answers in a game of charades.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Use the human body as a "map" for learning new information in different subjects. In geography, for example, the body might represent Europe. If the head is Scandanavia, then where is Italy?
Musical/rhythmic: Enjoys listening to music
Teaching tip: Create discographies: Supplement bibliographies with lists of recorded music relating to class material. Also, as part of a homework assignment, have students select music that best demonstrates lesson themes.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Play unusual or difficult-to-recognize sounds and ask students to imagine what they might be.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Some students can more easily memorize information if they listen to a teacher's lesson against a musical background. Baroque and classical music can be particularly effective.
Interpersonal: Enjoys giving advice to friends who have problems
Teaching tip: Peer sharing: Set up a class "buddy system" so students can share and develop ideas with the same person over a period of time.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Make learning a fun and cooperative effort with class-made board games. Using file folders, markers, dice, and small game pieces, the information to be learned can be placed on squares of a winding road or on separate cards.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Ask students to think of the results of unlikely events. For example, "What if all of us could feel each other's feelings?"
Intrapersonal: Enjoys being by himself and thinking
Teaching tip: Personal connections: To make learning more directly relevant, make connections between class material and students' lives. To spark discussion, ask: "How many of you have ever…" or "Can you tell about a time when you…"
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Start individual or class scrapbooks for remembering special events.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Provide opportunities for setting goals and charting progress toward these goals. Goals may be short-term ("List three things you'd like to learn today") or long-term ("What do you want to be doing ten years from now?").
Verbal/linguistic: Enjoys storytelling, reading books
Teaching tip: Tape recording: To help students clarify their thinking, have them use a tape recorder to talk out loud about a problem or project. Recordings can also be used as a writing tool.
Fun activity (grades 4-6): Have students think of as many things as possible that share a certain property, such as things that are round (sun, balloons, a squashed soda can), and encourage creative answers.
Fun activity (grades 6-8): Invent nicknames for well-known people that capture features that make the individuals unique.
Dr. Tracy Heibeck, a specialist on learning on the Web, is a child psychologist who has been an instructor at Harvard Medical School for over a decade. She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University.
(Source: TeacherVision "How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child)
What a teacher can do to nurture positive self-esteem by keying in to the MI
While often overlooked in children's learning, self-esteem affects many important areas of children's lives. Research shows that what children actually do both in school and in life is influenced by self-esteem. Self-esteem impacts areas such as:
So, what can a teacher do to nurture positive self-esteem by keying in to their "Multiple Intelligences"(MI)?
AssignmentIntelligenceWrite and present a story (for older students, a research paper).Verbal/linguisticDesign a visual aid for your story (or research paper).Visual/spatialDevelop a chart or graph for your research paper.Logical/mathematicalOrganize/participate in an environmental clean-up.Bodily/kinestheticCreate a song or music video on the topic.Musical/rhythmicWork on a group project.InterpersonalUse a journal to record your thoughts on the topic. IntrapersonalTeaching to children's strengths goes a long way toward creating a learning environment that increases the possibilities for success. This is where a child can experience very real, positive achievements resulting directly from his or her own efforts. By giving your students this sense of mastery and control, you do more than just offer encouragement – you actively strengthen self-esteem.
Dr. Tracy Heibeck, a specialist on learning on the Web, is a child psychologist who has been an Instructor at Harvard Medical School for over a decade. She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University.
(Source: TeacherVision "How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child)
- children's motivation and performance in school and sports.
- the quality of peer relationships.
- the ability to persevere with tasks.
- the capacity to bounce back from adversity or failure.
So, what can a teacher do to nurture positive self-esteem by keying in to their "Multiple Intelligences"(MI)?
- Children have many areas of intelligence and each child is different.
- Every learner possesses at least one island of competence. Take a good look at each student. Every child has inborn abilities and strengths, areas that can potentially be sources of pride and accomplishment.
- Use strengths to help weaknesses.
- Reinforcing areas of natural strength gives students a positive sense of accomplishment.
- Emphasizing strengths also maximizes the possibility that students will view successes as based on their own resources and efforts.
- By directing students toward activities that build on their natural strengths, you can create a "ripple effect" where children may try challenges in areas that are not as natural or easy for them. For example, a child whose artistic talents are recognized and encouraged may be able to extend these skills into a weaker area, perhaps reading, when given an opportunity such as writing and illustrating personalized stories.
- Create a classroom for learning success. Here are two specific ideas to help you create an environment that maximizes the possibility that children will succeed:
- Set up mentor partnerships.
- Form pairs of students to work together, while trying to match students with different learning styles. A good combination would be to match a student strong in verbal skills with a student strong in mathematical or visual/spatial skills.
- After the pairs have completed the assigned work, have them work together to develop two or three new problems that they can later present to their classmates as "challenges."
- Teach thematic units with an MI approach.
- When teaching thematic units, offer a variety of assignments that touch on different intelligences. Some students may be willing to "stretch" themselves and try projects in areas that are not necessarily their strengths.
- When using an MI approach with your thematic unit, you might consider implementing it in various ways:
- Make one or two activities mandatory, then assign point values to the others and let students attempt the number of projects they would like that add up to a minimum total point value.
- Assign point values to activities and total point values for letter grades; then students can decide if they want to attempt more activities to get a higher grade.
- Allow students to choose any three or four projects they would like to do. The following is an example:
- Set up mentor partnerships.
AssignmentIntelligenceWrite and present a story (for older students, a research paper).Verbal/linguisticDesign a visual aid for your story (or research paper).Visual/spatialDevelop a chart or graph for your research paper.Logical/mathematicalOrganize/participate in an environmental clean-up.Bodily/kinestheticCreate a song or music video on the topic.Musical/rhythmicWork on a group project.InterpersonalUse a journal to record your thoughts on the topic. IntrapersonalTeaching to children's strengths goes a long way toward creating a learning environment that increases the possibilities for success. This is where a child can experience very real, positive achievements resulting directly from his or her own efforts. By giving your students this sense of mastery and control, you do more than just offer encouragement – you actively strengthen self-esteem.
Dr. Tracy Heibeck, a specialist on learning on the Web, is a child psychologist who has been an Instructor at Harvard Medical School for over a decade. She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University.
(Source: TeacherVision "How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child)
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