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Tapping into Your Students’ Individual Intelligences in the Classroom

addressing individual intelligences in the classroom are key to effective learning
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences changed the world of education. Before Gardner proposed that a student could have an affinity towards more than one intelligence, a student was usually put into one category that would define him for the rest of his life. The thought that “Johnny is good at math” or “Susie is good at music” grouped kids into categories that, while likely accurate, implied they were weak in all other areas.

Gardner realized children have the potential for eight different intelligences.  These aren’t to be confused with learning styles, but rather Gardner simply meant that we all have different areas in which we excel. As teachers, we should find out each student’s capabilities and individualize our teaching as much as possible.

During the first week of school, have your students take a multiple intelligence test at the literacynet.org website or the bgfl.org website to find their strengths. From there, use the data to help incorporate new ways of expression in the classrooms.

Once you know where students’ intelligences lie, you can help them build their strengths and find their weaknesses by giving them choices on how to present an assignment, project, or test, instead of using the same kind of assessment for every subject. Giving students control over their assignments can create a strong sense of pride and ownership.

The following are descriptions of the individual intelligences to help you, as teachers, recognize these in your students, and ideas to help encourage and use them to assess understanding in the classroom.

See Our List of How to Address Individual Intelligences in the Classroom

1. Musical

Those with musical intelligence are more inclined to play an instrument or sing. They are able to understand, hear, and respond with understanding to rhythm, pitch, meter, melody, and other elements of music. Composers, arrangers, and professional musicians share this trait. Music centers can include CD’s, books on composers, blank composition paper and pencils to create their own music, or music software. Teachers can also present a song at the beginning of class that would go well with the lesson, for example “We Will Rock You” for a Geology lesson (the lyrics may not have much to do with it, but the students’ excitement will be at a high level).

Assessment options:

  • Finding music to go with a story or lesson in class
  • Creating or rapping a song about a lesson
  • Help Teaching’s  music worksheets available

2. Spatial

Those high in this intelligence are able to mentally and physically understand, manipulate, rotate, and transform 3D shapes. This intelligence is associated with architects, engineers, and physicists. Strengthening spatial intelligence is important for all students and can be done by practicing with graphs, spatial rotation exercises, and maps.

Assessment options:

  • Creating a montage
  • Designing a sculpture
  • Creating a 3D puzzle
  • Making a map of a lesson or concept
  • Hands-on net printables at HelpTeaching.com

3. Bodily-Kinesthetic

Students with bodily – kinesthetic intelligence use their bodies to create or solve problems. Those that like to touch and feel different textures, are physically coordinated, enjoy dance, sports, and/or other types of movement are strong in this intelligence. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is associated with dancers, sculptors, and actors. Teachers can help build this intelligence in the classroom by having students work with their hands, create letters with their bodies, or dance and find rhythms with their feet.

Assessment options:

4. Interpersonal

These students are comfortable with others, like to interact with people, and are sensitive to others’ moods and feelings. They tend to be peacemakers in the classroom, are empathetic, and what others would call “a natural born leader”. This intelligence is associated with psychologists, counselors, and politicians. These students benefit from group projects, mentoring, and being around others.

Assessment options:

  • Oral explanations
  • Role playing of a lesson or concept
  • Work with another student to solve a problem and work out the steps together
  • Worksheets on Peer Relationships and Social Skills available at HelpTeaching.com.

5. Logical-mathematical

Students with logical-mathematical intelligence are rational, logical thinkers and have the ability to reason. They can see the logical relationships between actions and also the relationship between symbols. This intelligence is associated with accountants, engineers, and scientists.  Those with this type of intelligence enjoy solving mysteries and puzzles, working on experiments, working with math problems, and principles of science.

Assessment options:

6. Linguistic

Those with a higher linguistic intelligence have strong verbal skills, a larger and advanced vocabulary, and like to order, play, and understand the meaning of words. They are also sensitive to meter, rhythm, and inflection of rhymes and poetry.  They are also good at entertaining and persuading with their words. This intelligence is associated with writers, poets, politicians, actors, comedians, and journalists. Linguistic intelligence can be strengthened through crossword puzzles with vocabulary words, playing Scrabble or Boggle, giving speeches, and having debates in the classroom.

Assessment options:

  • Essays
  • Writing a poem about the lesson
  • Journals
  • Write a newspaper article
  • Explain the lesson to the class in story form
  • Allowing a student to teach a lesson

7. Intrapersonal

Those with intrapersonal intelligence are very aware and in touch with their own feelings, and often need to be alone to process their thoughts, study, and plan.  Philosophers, theorists, and writers are associated with intrapersonal intelligence. This should be cultivated as much as possible in every student, as introspection and self-reflection will help them make better decisions for themselves in life. Teachers can use a quiet, reflective time in the classroom for students to write down thoughts and feelings, autobiographies, goals for the year, or journal writing with specific topics to get the students to think inward.

Assessment options:

  • Essays written from the perspective of a literary or historical figure
  • Scrapbook reflecting what they have learned from a lesson
  • Questionnaire designed for higher order thinking

8. Naturalistic

Students with a naturalistic intelligence are good at spotting differences in plants, flowers, clouds, rocks, and other items that exist in nature. They are usually interested in the environment and may be told they have a “green thumb”. Archaeologists, landscapers, fisherman, animal trainers, and forest rangers are associated with this intelligence. Students can learn to care for a class pet or plant, classify and sort objects in nature, and visit pet stores and zoos to cultivate this intelligence. We have a multitude of  Environmental Science printables that can aid in the classroom on Help Teaching’s Earth Science Worksheets page.

Assessment options:

  • Reports from the perspective of an object in nature (the life of a rock)
  • Growing a plant from seed
  • Making a photo scrapbook of different animal habitats
  • Allowing them to teach a lesson

There is no “one size fits all” assessment for students, and teachers should make the effort to allow their students to excel in areas in which they have a high intelligence. Strengthening and fortifying their weaknesses will help them be well rounded individuals, and may allow a student to find an area they are strong in they never knew existed.