Let 100 flowers bloom - tips on developing the intellectual capacity of children

Draw on the multiple intelligences to develop every child's literacy skills in new ways

Perhaps you've taught a child who is a genius on the athletic field, moving with elegance and grace, or a child who excels at playing the saxophone. Yet, strengths and intelligence aren't always this simple and discrete. In reality, children are complex and highly individualistic.

Susie, for example, is an excellent math student. But no student who excels in math sits down to tackle an assignment and uses only her or his math-logic intelligence. Susie achieves by drawing on the rich resources of her multiple intelligences, or different learning styles. She uses intrapersonal intelligence when she realizes that she needs a quiet place to do the math. And when she comes to a difficult problem, she uses interpersonal intelligence by asking the right person in the right way for assistance. Word problems draw upon her verbal-linguistic intelligence. Geometry and graphs require her to use spatial intelligence. Therefore, we can't label Susie as a math-logic-intelligent student but as an intelligent student.

My desire to avoid separating intelligences was bolstered upon hearing a 1995 speech given by Howard Gardner, Ph.D., the Harvard professor who developed the multiple intelligences theory. He spoke about the importance of recognizing that students need all the intelligences, interacting with one another, to achieve genuine understanding. With this in mind, I set out to develop a classroom environment that would help students see themselves as wonderful amalgamations of different intelligences.

More Then One Way to Be Smart

There are now eight recognized types of intelligence - math-logic, verbal-linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalistic (the latter recently added to the list by Gardner). As individuals, students bring all the intelligences to bear upon their daily activities, although each person has distinct areas of strength. Knowing where students' natural talents and interests lie may help us tailor lessons to their particular way of seeing the world, as well as introduce them to fresh, creative ways of approaching a subject. Use the chart on page 35, "Eight Ways of Being Smart," as a reproducible guide - to refer to and share with colleagues and parents. It should help you become sensitive to each individual's preferred learning style.

The following are ideas for activities and strategies to develop literacy skills through the multiple intelligences. For the majority of my students, these techniques have opened doors to the world of language.

Primary Literacy Strategies

Body-Smart

* Have students write before reading.

* Make letters with clay or paint, in sand or flour, with a typewriter and on the computer.

* Have students use hand movements and body formations to form letters.

* As they read, have students touch once under each word (not syllable).

Music-Smart

* Recite simple poems and rhythmic, repetitive stories.

* Sing song lyrics to practice letters and reading.

* Repeat tongue twisters to practice and isolate specific sounds.

Picture-Smart

* Have students use rulers or strips of paper to underline what they're reading.

* Use different colors on bulletin boards to represent specific sounds.

* Design pictures out of letters or groups of letters, such as a camel out of the capital letter B.

* Draw "word pictures" to show the meaning of the words. For example, tall would be written with tall letters, and rain with drops around it.

* Have students draw a picture to represent a word and write the word inside the picture.

* Share big books (oversize storybooks).

Number-Smart

* Make dice with letters on them instead of dots. Use them to play letter and sound games.

* Display a flannel board with cloth letters, or a metal board with magnetic letters. Show students how new words are formed when one letter is changed (fine, dine, line). Then have them practice.

* Locate letters numerically in the alphabet by creating a poster that shows letters ordered that way (A = 1, B = 2, and so forth).

Word-Smart

* Provide language experiences by writing down stories as children tell them to you. Read them aloud and encourage students to read them back to you.

* Use word flash cards.

* Teach prereading skills - having your students hold books, turn pages, and read from left to right.

* Have children learn word families - words that are phonetically alike or sound similar.

* Have students "echo," or repeat, what is read aloud.

People-Smart

* Encourage partners, groups, or the entire class to read aloud together.

* Have students teach younger children the alphabet and sight words.

* Host reading parties at which students read in small groups and listen to guest readers.

Self-Smart

* Provide a quiet, cozy reading corner.

* Give students opportunities to read silently.

* Keep special bulletin-board "Book Favorites" lists on which students can write their own favorites.