Multiple Intelligences

Who is the Most Intelligent?

Oprah Winfrey Michael Jordan Madonna Albert Einstein President Obama Thomas Edison

What is your definition of intelligence?

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Everyone possesses all eight intelligences to some degree

Most people can develop competence in all eight

The intelligences usually work together and there are many ways to be intelligent in each

Incorporating activities that address the eight identified intelligences is an important teaching strategy

Definition

Intelligence is the ability to solve problems that face you in life and produce things that are of value to your culture.

Verbal/Linguistic

The ability to think in words and to use language to express complex meanings.

Verbal/Linguistic People who exhibit linguistic intelligence:

poets, journalists, speakers, newscasters. Examples:

Likes to: talk, read, write, tell stories. Good at: written communication, oral

communication, memorizing (names, places, dates, trivia).

Learns best by: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Logical/Mathematical

Makes it possible to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complex mathematical operations.

Logical/Mathematical People who exhibit logical/mathematical

intelligence: scientists, mathematicians, accountants, engineers, and computer programmers.

Examples: Likes to: do experiments, figure things out,

work with numbers, ask questions, explore relationships and patterns.

Is good at: math, science, reasoning, logical, problem solving.

Learns best by: working with numbers, working with abstract patterns, classifying, categorizing.

Visual/Spatial

Instills the capacity to think in three-dimensional ways to recreate, transform, or modify images, to navigate oneself and objects through space, and to produce or decode graphic information.

Visual/Spatial People who exhibit visual/spatial

intelligence: pilots, sculptors, painters, and architects.

Examples: Like to draw, build, design and create things,

daydream, look at pictures, watch movies. Good at: visual arts, imagining things, sensing

changes, mazes/puzzles, reading maps, charts. Learns best by: working with images, spatial

organization, visualizing/imagining, drawing.

Musical

Possess sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone.

Musical People who exhibit musical intelligence:

composers, conductors, musicians, critics, instrument makers.

Examples: Likes to: sing, hum, tap, listen to music, play an

instrument, respond to music. Good at: picking up sounds, remembering

melodies, noticing pitches/rhythms, keeping time.

Learns best: by rhythm, melody, patterned sounds, sounds, dance.

Bodily/Kinesthetic

Enables one to manipulate objects and fine tune physical skills.

Bodily/Kinesthetic

People who exhibit bodily/kinesthetic intelligence: athletes, dancers, surgeons, craftspeople.

Examples: likes to: move around, talk, and use body language. Good at: physical activities, hands on projects. Learns best by processing knowledge through bodily sensations, dance.

Interpersonal

The capacity to understand and interact effectively with others.

Interpersonal People who exhibit interpersonal

intelligence: teachers, social workers, actors, politicians.

Examples: Like to: have lots of friends, talk to people, join

groups. Good at: understanding people, leading others,

organizing, communicating, manipulating, mediating conflicts.

Learns best by: sharing, comparing, relating, cooperating, teaching.

Intrapersonal

The ability to understand yourself, know who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward.

Intrapersonal People who exhibit intrapersonal

intelligence: psychologists and philosophers. Examples:

Likes to: work alone, pursue own interests, reflect on feelings and emotions

Good at: understanding self, focusing inward on feelings and dreams

Learns best by: working alone, working intuitively, individualized projects, having own space.

Naturalist

Consists of observing patterns in nature, identifying and classifying objects, and understanding natural and human-made systems.

Naturalist People who exhibit naturalist

intelligence: farmers, botanists, hunters, ecologists, and landscapers.

Examples Likes to: be outdoors, collect and

categorize, travel, be around animals, garden.

Is good at: sensing things around them, understanding plants and animals.

Learns best by: hands on activities.

Multiple Intelligence Inventory-complete each category to determine your dominant intelligence.

With your elbow partner, discuss how each MI would apply to something with that particular strength:

What helps this student learn What hinders this student An example of an activity a teacher could use to

engage the student