Helpful Tips for Educators

• Look through MI-colored glasses and analyze activities in terms of multiple intelligences
• Put your own spin on it and adapt appropriately
• Utilize multiple entry points and approach concepts in a variety of ways
• Incorporate project-based learning
• Personalize education and design activities and assessments that match student strengths

  Ideas for MI Activities in the Classroom

VERBAL-LINGUISTIC
word games, storytelling, speeches, debates, journals, dialogues, reading aloud, poetry writing, oral presentations

LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL
problem solving, math games, logic puzzles, creating codes, socratic questioning, computer programming, timelines

BODILY-KINESTHETIC
creative movement, dance, mime, field trips, imagery, manipulatives, hands-on activities, body language, role playing

VISUAL-SPATIAL
diagrams, visualization, maps, visual puzzles, mind mapping, patterns, pictorial metaphors, videotaping, photography

 MUSICAL-RHYTHMICAL
singing, humming, raps, chants, rhythms, listening to music, creating melodies for concepts, musical games, compose tunes

 NATURALIST
exploring outdoors, identifying flora/fauna, gardening, wildlife observation, studying natural phenomena, science projects

 INTERPERSONAL-SOCIAL
mediation, peer collaboration, simulations, cross-age tutoring, clubs, community projects, cooperative activities, interviews

 INTRAPERSONAL
individualized projects, journal writing, reflective time, quiet spaces, independent studies, self-evaluation, autobiographies
 

 Activities from MI Study Participants

adapted from Marty VanOpdorp

• Prepare a travel plan for a group of visitors and develop a class presentation (work cooperatively in teams)
  • Conduct research (travel brochures, Internet, guide books)
  • Plan 30-day itinerary, with sites to visit and the rationale for including each site
  • Develop a chart to display trip details
  • Schedule meals, lodging, business, recreation, and entertainment
  • Create a map of the visit with appropriate labels
  • Estimate costs for all aspects of the trip
  • Organize oral presentation with effective visuals and technology
  • Present travel plans to the class 
  • Use analytical rubric for grading purposes
• Remember to have fun, create, innovate, tolerate ambiguity, and take risks! Tie in multimedia tools, interest hooks, and multisensory activities to motivate and activate your language learners.

• Charades (in target language) - group acts out a sentence; class tries to decode the sentence
• Photo descriptions - each group transcribes action depicted in photo; class tries to match written sentences with appropriate photographs
• Poster maps - groups create a realistic town and map the details; write directions to go from place to place; other groups try to follow directions accordingly

 More Ideas

• Design travel brochures and present them to prospective travelers; calculate and chart travel costs
• Create a resume for a famous historical figure
• Develop puzzles and games for target vocabulary
• Represent numerical data kinesthetically (with human bar graphs)
• Write how-to directions with rhythmic patterns and musical melodies
• Interview school or community leaders
• Work together to create slogan and poster for an important national campaign (such as Students Against Drunk Driving)