Multiple IntelligencesMultiple IntelligencesMultiple IntelligencesMultiple Intelligences

Howard GardnerHoward Gardner

Georgia CTAE Resource NetworkInstructional Resources Office

July 2009

• Thus far Gardner's work suggests nine intelligences. He speculates that there may be many more yet to be identified. Time will tell. These are the paths to children's learning that teachers can address in their classrooms right now.

INTRAPERSONAL • Children who are especially in

touch with their own feelings, values and ideas. They may tend to be more reserved, but they are actually quite intuitive about what they learn and how it relates to themselves.

Self Smart• Displays a sense of independence• Has a realistic sense of strengths• Has a good sense of self-direction• Prefers working alone to working

with others• Learns from failures and successes• Has high self-esteem

INTERPERSONAL • Children who are noticeably people

oriented and outgoing, and do their learning cooperatively in groups or with a partner. These children may have typically been identified as "talkative" or " too concerned about being social" in a traditional setting.

People Smart• Enjoys socializing with peers• Acts a natural leader• Gives advice to friends who have problems• Seems to be street-smart• Belongs to clubs, committees, and other

organizations• Likes to play games with other kids• Has one or more close friends• Shows concern for others• Likes group projects

VISUAL/SPATIAL • Children who learn best visually and

organizing things spatially. They like to see what you are talking about in order to understand. They enjoy charts, graphs, maps, tables, illustrations, art, puzzles, costumes - anything eye catching.

Picture Smart• Reports seeing clear mental pictures• Read map, charts, diagrams easily• Daydreams more than peers• Enjoys art activities• Likes visual presentations• Enjoys puzzles and mazes• Understands more from pictures than words

while reading• Doodles on paper

VERBAL/LINGUISTIC • Children who demonstrate strength

in the language arts: speaking, writing, reading, listening. These students have always been successful in traditional classrooms because their intelligence lends itself to traditional teaching.

Word Smart• Tells tall tales, jokes, and stories• Has a good memory• Enjoys word games• Good vocabulary for age• Good verbal communication

MATHEMATICAL/LOGICAL • Children who display an aptitude for

numbers, reasoning and problem solving. This is the other half of the children who typically do well in traditional classrooms where teaching is logically sequenced and students are asked to conform.

Number Smart• Quickly does mental math• Enjoys strategy and math games• Enjoys logic puzzles or brain

teasers• Uses higher-order thinking skills

BODILY/KINESTHETIC • Children who experience learning

best through activity: games, movement, hands-on tasks, building. These children were often labeled "overly active" in traditional classrooms where they were told to sit and be still!

Body Smart• Excels in one or more sports• Moves, twitches, taps, or fidgets

while seated for a long time• Touches new objects• Enjoys running, jumping or wrestling• Expresses self dramatically• Enjoys clay and finger painting

MUSICAL/RHYTHMIC • Children who learn well through

songs, patterns, rhythms, instruments and musical expression. It is easy to overlook children with this intelligence in traditional education.

Music Smart• Recognizes off-key music• Remembers melodies• Speaks or moves rhythmically• Taps rhythmically as he or she works• Is sensitive to environmental noises• Responds favorably to music

NATURALIST • Children who love the outdoors,

animals, field trips. More than this, though, these students love to pick up on subtle differences in meanings. The traditional classroom has not been accommodating to these children.

Nature Smart• Would prefer to study or hold class

outside• Will choose subjects from nature for

projects and reports• Is aware of surroundings and what goes

on around them• Sensitivity to plants and animals• Monitors the weather• Identifies things by species and category

EXISTENTIALIST • Children who learn in the context

of where humankind stands in the "big picture" of existence. They ask "Why are we here?" and "What is our role in the world?" This intelligence is seen in the discipline of philosophy.

Spiritually Smart• Wondering people• Ability to question our existence and

meaning of life• Very philosophical• Always wondering why• One answer frequently contradicts

another and therefore gives justification for additional searching

Adapt a Lesson (Spelling)

• Say the word aloud (word smart)• Show a set of objects (number

smart)• Illustrate it with drawings or

pictures from magazines (picture smart)

• Pantomine it (body smart)

Lesson cont.• Sing the word or divide it into syllables

(music smart)• Have each group member explain to

the rest of the group what the word means to him (people smart)

• Have each group member think of his own meaning or image for the word (self smart)

Lesson Planning Ideas• http://www.lth3.k12.il.us/rhampton

/mi/LessonPlanIdeas.htm