Chapter 4: Teaching Students About MI Theory

Multiple Intelligence Theory can easily be explained to any age group; the concepts are easy to grasp because everyone has all of the intelligences. After explaining each intelligence in age-appropriate terms, one can ask questions of the students about the intelligence that all should be able to answer yes to (Who here can read? That makes your word smart.) This will help students realize that everyone really is smart in eight different ways. Another important way to concretely explain the intelligences is to get out of the classroom and experience each intelligence on a field trip. Other ideas are reading the biographies of famous people who are known for a certain intelligence, do quick activities in the classroom, and have students learn about each other’s intelligences. The main goal is to help the students to understand the intelligences and their roles inside and outside of the classroom and recognize that we are all smart, just in different ways. This means that when I teach, I need to familiarize my students with the multiple intelligences and help them to understand which ones they. By doing this, my students and myself will be better able to learn and expand our knowledge.