Tag: multiple intelligences

homeschool, learning styles

Multiple Intelligences: Conclusion

Bethany LaShell

I hope learned about multiple intelligences and how they can work for you in your homeschool! Current debate regards whether or not a spiritual and/or existential intelligence should be added. I could not find up-to-date documentation with information about either one, so I chose not to include it here on my blog.

Let’s do a quick recap of all of the multiple intelligences:

  • Linguistic Intelligence = word smart 
  • Logical-Mathematical Intelligence = logic smart 
  • Spatial Intelligence = picture smart 
  • Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence = body smart 
  • Musical Intelligence = music smart 
  • Interpersonal Intelligence = people smart 
  • Intrapersonal Intelligence = self smart 
  • Naturalist Intelligence = nature smart
If you want to learn more, visit my website, then click on “Portfolio Projects,” then click on the “Multiple Intelligences” tab.
homeschool, learning styles

Naturalist Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

Individuals with naturalist intelligence are very in tune with their surroundings, especially their living surroundings. They’re drawn to animals, plants, and ecology issues.

Curricula Planning

·         Nature study
·         Ecology
·         Take care of animals
·         Environmental awareness
·         Nature walks

Tools

·         Plants
·         Animals
·         Gardeners’ tools
·         Naturalists’ tools
·         Nature videos
·         Weather station

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate nature, living things, and ecological awareness
·         Connections to living things and natural phenomena
·         Emphasize awareness of surroundings

Assessments

·         Examine geographical features and contributions to history
·         Compare character development to an ecosystem development
·         Explain phenomena using animal analogies

homeschool, learning styles

Intrapersonal Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

A strong sense of self characterizes those with a high level of intrapersonal intelligence. These people feel deeply, can identify those feelings, and can express those feelings.

Curricula Planning

·         Individualized teaching
·         Independent study
·         Self-esteem building
·         Private place for studying
·         Goal-setting lessons

Tools

·         Self-checking materials
·         Journals

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate personal feelings, memories, and choices
·         Connect to personal life
·         Make choices
·         Reflection

Assessments                                                    

·         Journal writing
·         Relate characters and events to own life
·         Create scrapbook with facts learned

homeschool, learning styles

Interpersonal Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

Those individuals who appropriately and frequently hone in on others’ feelings, display empathy towards others, and interact with others are gifted with interpersonal intelligence. A tenderhearted child may often be in tears on behalf of others.

Curricula Planning

·         Cooperative learning
·         Peer tutoring
·         Social gatherings
·         Simulations
·         Apprenticeships
·         Academic clubs

Tools

·         Board games
·         Party supplies
·         Props for role plays
·         Interactive software

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate peer sharing, cooperative learning, and group discussions
·         Teach
·         Collaborate
·         Interact

Assessments

·         Design class simulation
·         Discuss events, details, facts, etc. learned
·         Demonstrate concepts using people placed in certain ways (act out)

homeschool, learning styles

Musical Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

People who exhibit a strong inclination to musical intelligence embody the definite pitch, rhythm, and timbre aspects of music. They love to listen to music, and they love to create (on different levels) music. They usually have strong emotional reactions to certain music as well.

Curricula Planning

·         Raps
·         Music
·         Facts set to music
·         Rhythms
·         Mood music (background)

Tools                                                                  

·         CD player/CDs/mp3s
·         Rhythm instruments
·         Musical (melody) instruments
·         Music software

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate music, environmental sounds, and rhythms
·         Sing
·         Rap
·         Listen
·         Play instrument

Assessments

·         Collect music from time period being studied
·         Create a song or rhythm for a set of facts
·         Choose music to depict characters, characteristics, movement

 

homeschool, learning styles

Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

People displaying bodily-kinesthetic intelligence can “use one’s body in highly differentiated and skilled ways, for expressive as well as goal-directed purposes,” (Gardner 1993, pg. 206). You may recognize them as the boys with ants in their pants or the girls who dance from room to room.

Curricula Planning

·         Hands-on learning
·         Drama
·         Dance
·         Sports
·         Tactile activities
·         Field trips
·         Crafts

Tools

·         Building tools
·         Clay
·         sports equipment
·         manipulatives
·         gestures

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate the whole body and hands-on experiences
·         Build
·         Act
·         Touch
·         Feel
·         Dance
·         Move

Assessments

·         Create 3-D maps and dioramas
·         Pantomime roles/characters
·         Build structures and models
·         Create a cheer or dance

homeschool, learning styles

Spatial Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

“Central to spatial intelligence are the capacities to perceive the visual world accurately, to perform transformations and modifications upon one’s initial perceptions, and to be able to recreate aspects of one’s visual experience, even in the absence of relevant physical stimuli,” (Gardner 1993, pg. 173).

Curricula Planning

·         Visual presentations
·         Art
·         Imagination games
·         Mind mapping
·         Metaphors
·         Visualizations

Tools

·         Graphs
·         Maps
·         Videos
·         Art materials
·         Optical illusions
·         Pictures
·         Digital cameras
·         Color cues
·         Graphic symbols

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate visual aids, color, art, shapes, metaphors, and visualizations
·         See
·         Draw
·         Visualize
·         Color
·         Mind map

Assessments

·         Draw maps
·         Develop flow charts
·         Draw a series of sketches
·         Draw diagrams

homeschool, learning styles

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

The logical-mathematical intelligence has at its roots “a confrontation with the world of objects,” (Gardner 1993, pg. 129). People displaying a high level of logical-mathematical intelligence can usually perform calculate arithmetic problems very quickly, even advanced problems. A high affinity for scientific endeavors also falls into this category. These individuals are attracted to order and patterns, especially as it relates to numbers and mathematical and scientific symbols.

Curricula Planning

·         Brain teasers
·         Problem solving
·         Science experiments
·         Number games

Tools

·         Calculators
·         Math manipulatives
·         Math games
·         Science equipment

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate numbers, calculations, logic, classifications, and critical thinking skills
·         Quantify
·         Think critically
·         Logical framework
·         Experiments
·         Socratic questioning

Assessments

·         Present statistics
·         Present sequential cause-effect chart
·         Write down formulas
·         Quantify

homeschool, learning styles

Linguistic Intelligence

Bethany LaShell

General Characteristics

A person with a high degree of linguistic intelligence displays “a sensitivity to the meaning of words . . . a sensitivity to the order among words . . . a sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, inflections, and meters of words . . . and a sensitivity to the different functions of language,” (Gardner 1993, pg. 77).

Curricula Planning

·         Lectures
·         Discussions
·         Storytelling
·         Journaling

Tools

·         Books
·         Computers
·         Stamp sets
·         Books on tape/CD/mp3

Teaching Strategies

Objective: Incorporate spoken and/or written words
·         Read it
·         Write it
·         Talk about it
·         Listen to it (words)

Assessments

·         Give an oral or written report
·         Give an oral interpretation/commentary
·         Explain a concept verbally or in writing
homeschool, learning styles

Multiple Intelligences: FAQ

Bethany LaShell

What are multiple intelligences (MI)?
A: “Human beings possess a range of capacities and potentials—multiple intelligences—that, both individually and in consort, can be put to many productive uses,” (Gardner, 1999, pg. 4).
Why should we think about MI?
A: Students learn more difficult (for them) academic subjects better when teachers use their primary intelligences to present new information.
Who should use MI strategies?
A: The short answer is everyone! Teachers of all ages, including young college students, and parents need to be especially in tune with the intelligences of those whom they teach and/or influence.
When should we start/stop employing MI theories?
A:We should start employing specific MI theories as soon as our children show preferences toward certain intelligences. New approaches can be added to our teaching repertoire as we notice new aptitudes. As long as we are teaching, we shouldn’t stop using MI theories.
Where can we employ MI strategies?
A: We can employ MI strategies at home during homeschooling (or during the early years and homework time for nonhomeschoolers). We can utilize them in every classroom, including college classrooms.
How can we utilize MI for academic success?
A: Everyone has some measure of all of the eight intelligences. People are more strongly inclined to one or two than to the rest. All of the intelligences can be cultivated by everyone.