Anthony Macario
PDS Inquiry 2008/2009
Dr. Jamie Myers
8 June 2009
“Breaking Out of the Basics: Using Multiple Intelligences to Make Learning Fun”
For as long as I can remember, English has always been my favorite subject. It’s
always come natural to me, and I’ve always found it to be fascinating how a piece of
literature could capture so many different feelings and thoughts of mine at the same time.
Not many people that I know share these same beliefs, though. Time and time again, my
friends have deemed me “crazy”, and I cannot begin to count how many instances when
I’ve heard people say, “Reading is boring. Nothing about English class is fun. All we do
is read stupid books and write long papers.” Nevertheless, although it bothers me, it has
never restrained my passion for this subject.
Last March, I was informed that I had been accepted into the PDS program here at
State College. To say the least, I was ecstatic! I would be given the opportunity to teach
the subject that I love for a full year before heading out into the job world. For as excited
as I was, I was equally as nervous. Throughout my whole life, I was the one who was
always asking teachers questions and searching for answers. Now, the roles would be
flipped. I was going to be responsible for over 70 students, all of who would be looking
to me for approval. I would actually be teaching these students!
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Immediately, an influx of thoughts began to flow into my head. I was well aware
that too many people associate English class with just books and papers, and they are too
blinded by these false assumptions to see anything else. I started to worry about a whole
array of things: Will the students like me? Will they respect me? How can I be the “cool”
teacher? What if they don’t listen to me? My thoughts were endless. Eventually I settled
myself down, and began to focus on one major concern: How can I make this subject fun
for my students? For years, I had loved English class, but could I get my students to feel
the same way? How could I get my students to think beyond the realms of “boring”
reading and writing and get them to actually enjoy class? The last thing that I wanted was
for my students to share the same viewpoints regarding English class as my friends did.
It’s safe to say that no one wants to be tagged as a monotonous teacher in a dull
classroom, and I certainly didn’t, so how on earth was I going to accomplish this task?
During the first week of school, my mentor teacher and I planned an activity that
started to trigger a few ideas in my mind. We gave our class a brief lecture about Howard
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory. In his theory, Gardner states that there are seven
different intelligences that drive the way people learn. He lists and describes these
intelligences as: Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Verbal, Logical, Intrapersonal, Visual, and
Musical. Kinesthetic learners usually prefer to move around and work well when there is
some sort of physical activity involved. Interpersonal learners work well with others, and
verbal learners tend to learn best primarily through discussion. Logical learners learn best
through utilizing numbers. Intrapersonal learners prefer to work alone, often reflecting on
their own work, and visual learners learn best through visualizing and mentally
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manipulating objects. Lastly, musical learners typically function well when working with
rhythm, music, and hearing.
We followed this lesson by asking each student write and hand in a journal entry
expressing what type of learner they felt they were. While looking over my students’
responses that night, I was captivated by the diversity in their answers. Some students
expressed how they like working with computers, while others said that they prefer to
work with music. Some liked to work alone, and others felt more comfortable working in
groups. Some students liked to be moving, whereas others enjoyed watching video clips.
Many students expressed that they learned best through a combination of intelligences.
Their responses covered a vast range of different ideas. Slowly, I began to piece a few
ideas together: If these students prefer to learn in so many different ways, then how can I
vary my instructional methods to connect with each type of learner and increase student
interest and engagement in the classroom?
Quickly, I became quite interested in Gardner’s theory. I did a little more research
on my own and came across an article that furthered my thinking even more. Gardner
wrote an article titled “Multiple Intelligences as a Catalyst,” in which he stresses the
importance of teaching to multiple intelligences. He explains, “The human species has
grown to be able to analyze at least seven different kinds of information in the world,
ranging from language to music to data about other persons and the self.” (p. 16, 1995)
Gardner also explains that although some are more prominent than others, every
individual possesses each of the intelligences in some form. As I thought back on my
students’ responses, I began to realize what he was talking about. Each student gave a
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variety of ways in which they prefer to learn. Everyone’s responses were different, and
no one tagged himself or herself as one specific type of learner.
Another area of Gardner’s article that I found particularly interesting was how he
related his theory directly to classroom practice by discussing how one could use multiple
intelligences within a classroom. By taking a multiple intelligence approach to teaching,
Gardner explains, “learning opportunities are maximized for every child.” By teaching to
multiple intelligences, Gardner explains further, “one could favor multiple means of
assessment, going well beyond standard language-logic instruments and give each child
the opportunity to exhibit what he or she has learned or understood.” (p. 17, 1995)
Slowly, I began to grasp a better idea of this concept. Somehow, I needed to generate
activities within my classroom that would appeal to all of my students and give everyone
an equal chance to express different ways in which they had learned.
About a week later, I brought this article to one of my consultant meetings. Upon
discussing the article with Jason Whitney, a PDS consultant, we both agreed that teaching
to multiple intelligences is central to having a constructive, positive classroom
environment. He referred me to a book called Teaching English by Design, written by
Peter Smagrinsky, to help me better understand some of the concepts that Gardner was
talking about.
Smagorinsky’s first chapter of his book, called “Students’ Ways of Knowing”
explores different ways in which students express themselves through literature. He states
that in a classroom, “Students will most likely exhibit a broad range of capacities. If you
allow for flexibility in the ways in which students can express themselves and come to
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know the discipline of English, you’ll be assessing students on their own terms and
through vehicles that suit their strengths.” (p. 4, 2007)
Immediately, I made a connection. When Smagorinsky wrote, “students will most
likely exhibit a broad range of capacities,” he was reiterating Gardner’s idea that
everyone learns in different ways. Therefore, we should allow for “flexibility in the ways
in which students can express themselves and come to know the discipline of English,” or
teach to multiple intelligences, so we can, as Gardner explained, “maximize learning
opportunities for every child.” (p. 17, 1995)
After I read through these articles and began to take everything into account, I
wasn’t really sure what I should do next. I was at a crossroad. Sure, I discovered the
significance and impact of teaching to multiple intelligences through the eyes of theorists,
and in my own head, I thought that it would be a solid way to engage everyone in class,
but would it indeed be effective? I decided on giving each of my students a short
questionnaire, asking them for feedback regarding my lessons and approach to class.
After all, who would know better about teaching to multiple intelligences than the
students themselves?
On the questionnaire, the first question that I asked my students was: Do you
prefer when teachers vary activities and assessments? Why or why not? By asking this
question, I would get a firm idea of whether or not my students preferred their teacher to
take a multiple intelligence approach to instruction. When I received all of the
questionnaires back from my students, 57 of them had answered every question. Out of
the 57, 51 students said that they prefer when teachers vary their instruction. Three
students said that it didn’t matter to them, and another three replied “no.” After doing the
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math, that means that 89.5% of my students prefer for their teacher to vary their
instructional style. Some of my their responses included:
-
“Yes because if learning is strict and monotonous, the kids feel forced
and don’t learn as much.”
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“I find it helpful when teachers use variation because students are being
challenged on more than one level. Also, everyone is given an equal
chance to learn in a way that works best for them.”
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“Yes, because otherwise I get bored and want to fall asleep.”
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“Yes because if you don’t, we’ll keep doing the same boring things every
day and it’s not fun.”
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“Yes, because everyone learns in different ways and it’s not fair to teach
the same way every day.”
At this point, it was fair for me to say that teaching to multiple intelligences
would be a successful way to teach. After all, I had thought it was a good idea in the first
place, theorists said it was effective, and most importantly, a vast majority of my students
approved of it. Despite all of this, everything was still somewhat unclear me. This still
needed to be implemented within my classroom. Somehow, I needed create different
types of activities and assessments that would appeal to different learners within my
classroom and make my class a fun and engaging learning environment for my students.
After weeks upon weeks of planning, preparing, and working with activities
appealing to multiple intelligences, I decided to look to my students for feedback yet
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again. Since we had established that varying activities and assessments was important, I
wanted to specifically know what my students enjoyed doing in class. More importantly,
I wanted to know if I had been right all along. I needed to know if teaching to multiple
intelligences was truly effective for my students, so I asked them: What types of things in
English class do you enjoy, or have helped you learn best? Out of all of their responses, I
will discuss four that specifically stood out to me, mainly because the particular activities
that were mentioned branched out to a plethora of intelligences.
One student said: “Internet projects are my favorite. I feel like I learn best when I
work with computers in groups. I really liked the Macbeth project that we did.”
The activity that this particular student was referring to was a final assessment for
my English 10 class upon completion of our Macbeth unit. Students worked with Comic
Life and were given digital cameras to re-capture a particular scene of the play. Working
in pairs, students were given a scene of the play to re-create in their own way. Their only
requirements were to have at least two pictures per page, use at least one line from
Shakespeare’s language on each page, and to label each character. The rest of the project
was for the students to decide. A few pictures from this project are shown below and on
the following page:
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This particular example displayed how students created themselves as the
characters Malcom, Donalbain, Macduff, and Macbeth. They used props such as the flag
in the second picture to enhance their comic, and changed locations continuously to
demonstrate where different actions were taking place. This activity required students to
think ahead and carefully plan their scenes before constructing their comic.
The Macbeth Comic Life assessment appealed to interpersonal, verbal, logical,
kinesthetic, and visual learners. Students had to work together in groups, use both modern
language and Shakespearian language, work with tools and effects on a computer, use
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body movement to produce their best interpretation of their scene, and make their project
visually appealing as they re-created their scene.
_______________________________________________________________________
Another student replied to the question by saying, “I love doing small activities
with the computers. The Facebook project that we did was great because it helped me
think about my character but was so relevant at the same time.”
I particularly liked how this student used the word “relevant.” Facebook has
become increasingly popular over the past few years, but I’d argue that it is a safe bet that
no one has ever associated it with an English class before. In this particular activity, my
English 9 class had just finished reading The Outsiders. Before assigning our students to
write a formal character analysis paper, I decided to use this Facebook activity in Comic
Life to get students to generate ideas about a character of their choice from the novel.
Students were assigned to choose a character, and then created a mock-Facebook page for
their character based on what they had read in the book.
Based on what students had read in the novel, students had to generate ideas for
their character’s favorite movies, books, television shows, interests and activities.
Judging by this student’s example pictured below, one of the character Ponyboy’s
favorite books was Gone With the Wind, his favorite musician was Elvis, and he enjoyed
being with his friends and helping his brothers around the house.
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The Facebook activity from our Outsiders unit appealed to intrapersonal learners,
as well as verbal learners, logical learners, and visual learners. Rather than working in
groups, students worked alone to complete this project. Similar to the Macbeth
assignment, students were required to use proper grammar. Additionally, they not only
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had to thoroughly analyze their character, but they were also required to work with tools
and effects on computers, thus making their project visually appealing.
________________________________________________________________________
Another student said, “I really liked working in groups and acting out scenes. It’s
more fun than just reading it out loud because it gives you a chance to move out of your
seat and it gives you a better feel for the play.”
This particular activity occurred during my Romeo and Juliet unit with my
Advanced 9 class. Rather than give my students a formal paper to write as a final
assessment, their task consisted of choosing a particular scene from the play to act out for
the class in the auditorium. Students worked together in groups and created promptbooks
that would serve as their guide on stage. The promptbooks controlled students’
movements, voice inflections, as well as any other action that took place. Students
brought their own props and materials with them to class when acting out their scenes,
and re-enacted their entire scene using Shakespeare’s language. Their acts also served as
springboards for follow-up class discussions.
Some students’ promptbooks included specific stage directions and/or voice
inflections for specific characters. Some of these directions included: Put hand on
forehead, bang fist in hand, speak in sarcastic tone, clench fists, walk with hesitation, yell
in an enraged tone, move to stage left after yelling, cross stage right enthusiastically,
walk with head down.
These were only a few examples out of the many different, significant stage
directions that each group designed. Each stage direction prompted further discussion
questions such as: What would cause Romeo speak in a sarcastic tone? Why wouldn’t the
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nurse look at the other characters when she crosses the stage? Not only were the
promptbooks vital to each student’s performance, but they were also crucial to the
students’ overall comprehension of the play.
The students’ acting skits from our Romeo and Juliet unit appealed to
interpersonal learners, intrapersonal learners, verbal learners, kinesthetic learners, as well
as visual learners. Students not only worked in groups, but some students also chose parts
of a scene that required them to act alone. Students also worked directly with
Shakespeare’s language, thus enabling them to gain a better understanding of it. By
acting the entire scene, they were able to comprehend what it feels like to be in the
“action” of the play, and they also used props to make their scene as visually appealing as
possible.
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Lastly, one student had this to say about our class activities: “The vocabulary
videos were the best! Usually that stuff is really boring but making the videos made
vocabulary fun and easier to learn. It was also really cool that we got to make the quizzes
too.”
During a vocabulary unit with my Advanced 9 class, I allowed my students to
take charge of their learning. Rather than taking a traditional approach to vocabulary and
reciting different words and definitions in front of the class each day, I gave the students
the opportunity to “teach” the class. Students were assigned to work in groups, and each
group was assigned to choose two root words. From these root words, each group was
assigned to pick 3-5 words and, while using video cameras, create an iMovie by using the
words in everyday situations. This not only helped everyone learn the words, but it also
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gave each student a visualization of each word in an everyday life situation. Additionally,
each group was responsible for creating a quiz for the class, which would be distributed
after their movie. Grades for each group on the project were based on how well the class
performed on the quiz that the group created.
For example, one group of students chose the root word “flu” to use for their
video. One of the words that they had chosen was “superfluous,” which means additional;
more than necessary. To display an example of the word’s definition, one student
pretended to continuously sneeze in her hand. She proceeded to the hand sanitizer
dispenser where she poured an extreme overabundance of hand sanitizer into her hands.
The next clip of the video showed the same student standing in behind the podium
located at the front of the room, where she gave her explanation behind the most recent
skit. She said:
“The word superfluous means additional, or more than necessary. In the past skit,
after I stopped sneezing, I used much more hand sanitizer than I needed to. That was the
point. I used a superfluous amount of hand sanitizer when I didn’t need to.”
The vocabulary video exercise appealed to interpersonal learners, as well as
verbal, logical, kinesthetic, musical, and visual learners. Students worked together in
groups to create their videos. Obviously, being that they were making vocabulary videos,
students used proper pronunciations of their vocabulary words when reciting them to the
class through their movies. They used different effects, transitions, and other tools on the
iMovie software to create the films, and even added some music to make enhance their
work. Also, the students had to use their words by acting in everyday life situations, so
their videos had to be visually appealing and concise as well.
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______________________________________________________________________
By looking at the chart below, one could see how each one of these activities
appeals to several different intelligences.
Interpersonal Intrapersonal Verbal Logical Kinesthetic Musical Visual
Comic
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Life
Face -
X
Book
Acting
X
Vocab.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Videos
Although some of these activities don’t seem like traditional Language Arts
exercises, they still hold value and have proven to be effective. Does this mean that books
and papers shouldn’t be included in English class? No, absolutely not. Is this a way to get
every single student to enjoy class and be full of energy and excitement? I don’t think so.
There are always going to be times when students may disagree or disapprove of a
particular lesson or activity. That comes with the job, and it is up to the teacher to be able
to take on the challenge and provide balance within a classroom.
What these activities can do, however, is engage more learners and provide
different opportunities for students to display their learning capabilities. In his article,
Gardner writes, “By teaching to multiple intelligences in their classrooms, students are
treated as individuals, multiple approaches to literature and literary expression are
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invited, the variety of forms of mental representation are honored, and students have the
opportunity to show what they have understood in ways that are comfortable to them.”
(p. 17, 1995)
Sometimes it just takes a little creativity to involve every student in a classroom.
Teachers need to think abstractly and “outside the box” in order to try and meet the needs
of different learners. These lessons, or any others that appeal to multiple intelligences,
create a respectable balance within a classroom that allows everyone to participate and
learn. An English classroom doesn’t always require a pen and paper for students to learn.
There can be different options. By reaching out and teaching to multiple intelligences, the
classroom can be a place where everyone gets an equal chance to display what he or she
has learned while having fun in the process.
When responding to one of my questionnaire sheets, one of my students had this
to say about my class: “The reason that I like this class so much is because you make
learning fun. We do different things every day, and you don’t force us to learn, but
influence us.” To me, that is what learning is all about.
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Works Cited
Gardner, Howard. "'Multiple Intelligences' as a Catalyst." English Journal 84.8
(1995): 16-18.
Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching English by Design. University of Georgia, 2007. 2-16.
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