Guidance Lesson “Multiple Intelligences”

Guidance Lesson

“Multiple Intelligences”
 Mary Mattea K., Pahoran M., and Hannah B.

Grade level: 5th Grade

Time: 25 minutes

Lesson Objectives:

1. To gain awareness of and identify different ways of learning
2. To experience different ways of learning
3. To gain insight into personal strengths and preferences of learning styles

Rationale/Purpose:

            This guidance lesson incorporates Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and focuses specifically on word, person, self, and visual ways of learning. The information included in this lesson is meant for students at the 5th grade level. It is important to provide students with knowledge about different ways of being intelligent, as many students associate being “smart” with academic achievement, grades, GPAs, and test scores. Therefore, this is an opportunity to educate students about the different ways someone might be smart, and that all ways are valuable, important, and special. Further, this introductory lesson can help students gain insight about how they learn best, and apply it to future knowledge and learning. The following activities will help students identify and discover their unique strengths, and will give them an opportunity to develop further insight about themselves.

While developing a deeper understanding of friendship, this lesson will also give students hands-on experience learning about the same topic in different ways. This will help students appreciate and notice how different ways of thinking can produce different outcomes for each individual. The three stations that students will rotate through (discussion, writing, and collage) will push them to experience a variety of ways in which people can learn. At the end of the lesson we will ask the students how their understanding has changed for both friendship and multiple intelligences. Along with that, we will be asking about their experience during the activities and how each station felt for them.

Materials/Resources:

●     Glue sticks, magazines, plain white or colored paper, lined paper, pens/pencils, scissors, powerpoint, computer, timer

Introduction (Power Point Presentation):

●   Introduce yourself:

○ “Hello, we are..., and we are excited to do some activities with you today!”

●  Activate previous and current knowledge:

○“Do you know what ‘Multiple Intelligences’ might mean?

○ What does being ‘smart’ mean?

○ What are some ways a person can be smart? Is there only one way, or multiple?

●   Allow a brief amount of time for students to share answers with the group.

●  “As you can tell, there are many ways of describing ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’. Often people describe being smart through having good grades, a high GPA, and doing well on tests. However, there are more ways a person can be smart!”

Developmental Learning Activities:

●   Definition and brief description of multiple intelligences and the 4 we will cover today

●   Explain the 3 stations

○ At this station, you will create a collage from magazines about what friendship means to you and your understanding of what it is

○ At this station, you will write about what friendship means to you and your understanding of what it is (prompts at station)

○  At this station, you will talk with a group about what friendship means to you and your understanding of what it is (prompts at station)

●   Divide the class into 3 groups.

●   Each group will be at each station for 5 minutes each, and then will rotate to the next station

●   Students will be asked to keep what they create at each station (except the discussion station, they can be asked to remember a little bit of what they talked about and what prompt they chose)

           

            Station 1: Visual (Magazines/Collage)

●  There will be varying magazines, glue, scissors, blank paper, and markers spread out on the table for students to create their own collages

●   Prompt: What does friendship look like to you?

            Station 2: Word/Self (Writing Prompt)

●   The students will have lined paper set out on the table, and can choose from one of the three prompts to write about:

●   Prompt:

○       What does friendship mean to you?

○       What makes a good friend?

○       Who is your best friend, and why?

            Station 3: Word/Person (Discussion)

●   The students will have the ability to choose between three topics to discuss together      as a group:

●    Prompt:

○       What does friendship mean to you?

○       What makes a good friend?

○       Who is your best friend, and why?

●       Set a timer for 5 minutes, and when the timer goes off ask the students to rotate to the next station.

○       Repeat until all groups have experienced each station

Assessment/Evaluation:

●    Ask the students to return to their seats for a reflection and discussion with the whole class

●    Provide a brief summary of what they did (describe what you taught them)

●   This will be an opportunity where volunteers can choose to share what they created, wrote about, or talked about in their small groups.

○ “Would anyone like to share what they made, wrote about, or discussed?”

●   Then ask, “Where did you use the multiple intelligences we discussed in this activity?”

○ People, self, art, word

●   “Which one do you feel like you enjoyed the most?”

●   “What was the easiest for you?”

●   “What was the most difficult? What did that feel like? Is it okay to not be good at all the stations?”

●   “How has your understanding of friendship and multiple intelligences changed during this lesson?”

Closing/Follow up:

●    Mention and normalize that we all have areas that we can grow in and work on

●    Encourage them to think of opportunities where they can use the information they just learned about themselves, and any areas of growth that they can work on

●    Mention the location of the counseling office, and encourage them to come talk if they need anything