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.
Multiple Intelligences Overview
How to Use Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child
Use Multiple Intelligences to Enhance Self-Esteem
