Verbal-Linguistic

(Word Smart)

People Examples:

Shakespeare
Agatha Christie
Margery Williams
Maya Angelou
Hemingway
Longfellow
Louisa May Alcott
Robert Frost
Mark Twain
Mary Higgins Clark
Steinbeck
J. K. Rowlings
Elizabeth Barrett
     Browning

• The capacity to use language, your native language, and perhaps other languages, to express what's on your mind and to understand other people
• Poets really specialize in linguistic intelligence, but any kind of writer, orator, speaker, lawyer, or a person for whom language is an important stock in trade, highlights linguistic intelligence
• Well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words
• Occurs through written and spoken words, such as in essays, speeches, books, informal conversation, debates, and jokes

This intelligence involves the knowing that comes through the language, through reading, writing, and speaking.  It involves understanding the order and meaning of words in both speech and writing and how to properly use the language.  It involves understanding the socio-cultural nuances of a language, including idioms, plays on words, and linguistically based humor.

If this is a strong intelligence for you, you have highly developed skills for reading, speaking, and writing, and you tend to think in words.  You probably like various kinds of literature, playing word games, making up poetry and stories, getting into involved discussions with other people, debating, working crossword puzzles, formal speaking, creative writing, and the remembering of and art of telling jokes.  You are likely precise in expressing yourself and irritated when others are not.  You love learning new words, you do well with written assignments, and your comprehension of anything you read is high.

Careers:
Poets, public speakers, journalists, writers (authors, advertising, script and speech writers), speech pathologists, lawyers, secretaries, editors, proofreaders, comedians, debaters, archivists, translators, TV and radio newscasters, commentators, announcers

BENEFITS to you when you strengthen your WordSmarts include: 

• Enhanced capacities for communicating your ideas, thoughts, and feelings
• A greater appreciation of humor based on words, such as puns, jokes, limericks, and so on
• Improved abilities and confidence for expressing yourself through any kind of writing
• New abilities for persuading others to take a certain course of action
• Strengthened skills at leading meetings

Teaching Resources

• Diary entries
• Government documents
• Personal narratives
• Historical documents
• Letters

• Compose essays
• Poetry, etc. for publishing on web page
• Critique written resources through an annotated bibliography (hypertext)

• Discussion
• Narration
• Advanced organizers
• Writing activities

Linguistic-verbal intelligence is that ability to use words effectively either orally or in writing, that is, the ability to exhibit language development in its fullest form, in short, the overall structure of language.  This way of knowing and comprehending the real world is the ability to use language to achieve a goal and enhance understanding.  A core component of this traditional IQ-type intelligence is sensitivity to the meanings, rhythms, and sounds of words ... in short, sensitivity to the different functions of language.

• Young children with this dominance often demand story after story around bedtime.  When they enter school, they have highly developed verbal skills, enjoy developing rhymes, and often pun.  In short, they tend to think in words.  They like oral and silent reading exercises, playing word games, enjoying a variety of reading and writing materials at learning centers, making up poetry and stories, getting into involved discussions, debates, formal speaking, creative writing, and telling complicated jokes.  
• Older children possess strong vocabularies, and, at times, can get so lost in a thick book that they almost forget about their dinner.  At this age, they may subscribe to their favorite magazines, or use a word processing application to keep a personal diary or secret journal.
• Adults tend to be precise in expressing themselves; they love verbalizing and writing well.  Also, their understanding of what they have read  tends to be well above the norm.

 (Math Smart)

People Examples:

Archimedies
Sir  Isaac Newton
Galileo
Copernicus       
Einstein            
Pythagoras
Euclid          
Kepler
Pascal 

• Ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical or numerical patterns
• People with highly developed logical/mathematical intelligences understand the underlying principles of some kind of a causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does
• Can manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does
• Uses numbers, logic, scientific reasoning, and calculating to help solve problems and meet challenges

This intelligence uses numbers, math, and logic to find and understand the various patterns that occur in our lives:  thought patterns, number patterns, visual patterns, and color patterns.  It begins with concrete patterns in the real world but gets increasingly abstract as we try to understand relationships among patterns.

If you happen to be a logical-mathematically inclined person, you think more conceptually and abstractly and are often able to see patterns and relationships that others miss.  You probably like to conduct experiments, solve puzzles and other problems, ask cosmic questions, and analyze circumstances and people's behavior.  You most likely enjoy working with numbers and mathematical formulas and operations, and you love the challenge of a complex problem to solve.  You are probably systematic and organized, and you likely always have a logical rationale or argument for what you are doing or thinking at any given time.

Careers:
Computer technicians and programmers, underwriters, accountants, statisticians, poll takers, stock brokers, auditors, actuaries, purchasing agents, bankers, accountants, professional debaters, math teachers, attorneys, scientific researchers, arbitrators, underwriters, medical professionals, data analysts, logicians

BENEFITS of developing LogicSmarts include:

• Becoming a better problem-solver
• Increasing organization and clarity of your thoughts and  ideas
• Learning to apply different thinking methods to different situations
• Gaining enhanced skills for seeing how to apply or use information you read or learn in your life
• Becoming better at reasoning and figuring out solutions to challenges which come into your life

• Charts
• Diagrams
• Government reports
• Statistical demographic and population data

• Analyze statistical historical data
• Create graphic representations of historical data
• Create hyper-linked timeline

• Problem solving
• Investigation
• Experimentation
• Questioning

Logical mathematical intelligence is all about using numbers effectively, improving inductive and deductive reasoning skills, and being able to appreciate, recognize, and use abstract patterns in problem solving situations.  Many mainstream psychologists continue to consider this intelligence, in conjunction with Gardner's linguistic-verbal intelligence, as the only form of smarts.  This (Jean) Piagetian-type ability that intellectual quotient (IQ) tests purport to measure, deals with inductive and deductive thinking, numbers, and patterns.

• Young children are always asking how things work; they learn to count easily.  They enjoy working with manipulative, puzzles, categorizing activities, and working on timelines.  Over the years, I have had many such learners in my classes.  They think conceptually and abstractly, and are often able to see patterns and relationships that ordinary students miss.  They like to experiment, solve puzzles and other problems, ask cosmic questions; in short, they tend to be the classroom thinkers.  They generally enjoy working with numbers, mathematical formulae and operations, continuously appreciating the challenge of a complex problem to solve.  They tend to be systematic and analytical, and they always have a logical rationale or argument for what they are doing or thinking.
• Older children often become quite skilled at many areas of mathematics, calculus, and science, perhaps even creating an hypothesis for the development of a new invention.  Students at this age also enjoy puzzles and recognize patterns in the world around them. 
• Adults are best able to use and appreciate abstract relationships.

(Music /Sound
Smart)

People Examples:

Mozart
Bach
Beethoven      
Debussy
Gershwin
Haydn
Tchaikovsky
Chopin
Scott Joplin
John Lennon
Stevie Wonder
Burt Bacharach
Carole King
John Williams
Carlos Santana

• Ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber
• The capacity to think in music, to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them
• People don't just remember music easily - they can't get it out of their minds, it's so omnipresent
• Learns through sounds, rhythms, tones, beats, music produced by other people or present in the environment

This is the knowing that happens through sound and vibration.  This intelligence is not limited to music and rhythm.  Some refer to this intelligence as auditory-vibrational, for it deals with the whole realm of sound, tones, beats, and vibrational patterns as well as music.  

If you are strong in this intelligence area, you likely have a love of music and rhythmic patters.  You are probably very sensitive to sounds in the environment;  the chirp of a cricket, rain on he roof, varying traffic patters.  You may study and work better with music in the background.  You can often reproduce a melody or rhythmic pattern after hearing it only once.  Various sounds, tones, and rhythms may have a visible effect on you-- others can often see a change in facial expression, body movement, or emotional response.  You probably like to create music and enjoy listening to a wide variety of music.  You may be skilled at mimicking sounds, language accents, and others' speech patterns, and you can probably readily recognize different musical instruments in a composition.

Careers:
Music therapist, advertising professionals, motion picture soundtrack creators, music teachers, piano tuners, music studio directors and recorders, song writers, music performers, conductors, sound engineers, music copyists

BENEFITS to you of developing and enhancing your Sound Smarts intelligence include: 

• Knowledge of how to lower stress through music and rhythm
• Enhanced abilities to promote greater creativity in yourself and others
• Discovering your hidden capacities for learning and for remembering information, peoples names, a shopping list, and so on
• Discovering how to use music, rhythm, and sound to shift moods to more optimal states of being
• Knowledge of how to use music and sound to deepen personal relationships with others

• Lyrics or audio files of patriotic protest
• Period and other historical music

• Analysis of song lyrics
• Composition of song lyrics
• Design and publish PowerPoint presentations which incorporate music and visual elements

• Simulations
• Song analysis
• Creative song writing
• Performances

Musical intelligence is that special ability to recognize tonal patterns, rhythm and beat.  In other words, it is the ability to understand and express well numerous musical forms.  Such learners are most sensitive to environmental sounds, the human voice and musical instruments.  In short, they possess a strong ear for music.  Unlike the average person, rhythms, musical patterns, tones, and various sounds often have a more visible effect on them, in that you can easily detect a change in their facial expressions, emotional responses, and/or specific body movements.  As a music teacher once said to me, they have music constantly 'swimming' in their heads.  They are sensitive to rhythm, pitch and melody, including sounds in the environment such as rain on a roof, various traffic patterns, even the chirp of a cricket.

• Young children can often be heard banging on pots and/or singing nonsense songs to themselves in the bathtub.  Children with a dominant musical intelligence may enjoy a hum and easily turn sounds into rhythms; they retain melodies and lyrics well. 
• Older children acquire good memories for lyrics, perhaps even emitting the odd wince here and there when their parents sing "Happy Birthday" off key.  Such children often play an instrument quite well. They are often quite skilled at mimicking language accents, sounds, the speech patterns of others, and recognizing different musical instruments in a composition.  
• Adults enjoy creating, singing and listening to a wide variety of music, in short, they love music and its various rhythmical patterns.  They can often reproduce a melody or rhythmic pattern after hearing it only once.

(Image Smart) 

People Examples:

Michelangelo
Leonardo Da Vinci
Picasso
Van Gogh
Monet
Mary  Cassatt
Rembrandt
Diane Arbus
Grandma Moses
I.M.  Pei
Frank  Lloyd  Wright
Meryl Streep
Annie Liebovitz
Steven Spielberg 
Georgia O'Keefe

• The ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind – the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world
• Can be used in the arts or in the sciences.  If you are spatially intelligent and oriented toward the arts, you are more likely to become a painter or sculptor or architect than, say a musician or a writer.  Similarly, certain sciences like anatomy or topology emphasize spatial intelligence
• Uses the sense of sight and being able to imagine and visualize an object, including making mental images inside our head

We often say, "A picture is worth a thousand words," or "Seeing is believing."  Visual-spatial intelligence represents the knowing that occurs through the shapes, images, patterns, designs, and textures we see with our external eyes, but it also includes the images we are able to conjure inside our heads.

If you are strong in this intelligence you tend to think in images and pictures.  You are likely very aware of objects, shapes, colors, textures, and patterns in the environment around you.  You probably like to draw, paint, make interesting designs and patters, and work with clay, colored markers, construction paper and fabric.  Many who are strong in visual-spatial intelligence love to work jigsaw puzzles, read maps, and find their way around new places.  You probably have definite opinions about colors that go together well, textures that are appropriate and leasing, and how a room should be decorated.  You also are probably excellent at performing tasks that require seeing with the mind's eyes, such as visualizing, pretending, imaging, and forming mental images.

Careers:
Interior decorators, graphic design artists, cartographers, photographers, architects, airline pilots, surgeons, painters, sculptors, chefs (with their food presentations), quilters, needle point embroiders, landscapers, theater set designers, professional drivers, cinematographers, book illustrators, tour guides, jewelry and clothing designers

BENEFITS to you of strengthening your Image Smarts intelligence include:

• Being able to visualize what you want in your life and make it happen
• Gaining the ability to express your ideas and make them clearer through visual representation
• Discovering powerful aids to memory–our brains naturally think in images and pictures before we have words
• Teaching yourself to "think outside the box"
• Accessing your own deep sources of inner wisdom and guidance

Teaching Resources

• Map
• Diagrams
• Illustrations
• Battlefield representations
• Historical timelines

• Construct thematic web pages that include various visual images (e.g., posters, political cartoons, broadsides, photos, illustrations)
• Construct hyperlinked timelines and maps

• Imagery
• Map analysis
• Observation activities
• Construction of dioramas or posters

Visual spatial intelligence makes it possible for us to perceive visual and spatial data, to transform such data, as well as being able to recreate visual images from memory.  In other words, it is an ability to form a cerebral model of a spatial world by relying on the sense of sight.  This way of understanding the world includes the ability to create mental images and to use ones imagination.

• Young children might build cities out of blocks and create impromptu murals on the kitchen and bedroom walls.  They like to draw, paint, make interesting designs and patterns from fabric, colored construction paper, and clay.  As well, they love putting together jigsaw puzzles.  
• Older children tend to be good at reading maps and finding their way around new places, daydreaming, creating accurate drawings; they may find it easier to learn information that is presented in images rather than just by words.  Put a slightly different way, a strength here often means one does well at visualizing things. 
• Adults think in images and pictures.  They are often very aware of objects, colors, shapes and patterns in the environment.  They possess strong opinions about such things as colors that go together, textures that are pleasing and appropriate, and decorating.  To sum, they are excellent at performing tasks that require seeing with the mind's eye (visualizing, forming mental images, imagining, and pretending).

(Body Smart)

People Examples:

Barishnakov
Cathy Rigby
Tiger Woods
Michael Jordan
David Copperfield
Marcel Marceau
Charlie Chaplin
Harry Houdini
Mia Hamm

• The capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body: (your hands, your fingers, your arms), to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production
• The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly when dancing or acting
• Uses physical movement and performance (a.k.a. learning by doing) to understand

We often talk about learning by doing.  This way of knowing happens through physical movement and through the "knowings" of our physical body.. The body knows a great deal that is not necessarily known by the conscious, logical mind, such as how to ride a bike, parallel park a car, dance the waltz, catch a thrown object, maintain balance while walking, and type on a computer keyboard.

If you are strong in this intelligence area, you tend to have a keen sense of body awareness.  You like physical movement--dancing, making and inventing with your hands, and role-playing.  You probably communicate well through body language and other physical gestures.  You can often perform a task much better after seeing someone else do it first and then mimicking those actions.  You probably like physical games of all kinds. and you like to demonstrate how to do something for someone else.  You may find it difficult to sit still for long periods of time and are easily bored or distracted if you are not actively involved in what is going on around you.

Careers:
Gymnasts, physical therapists, models, mechanics, choreographers, actors, recreation directors, crafts persons, athletes, invertors, builders, dancers, circus artists, bodybuilders, doctors, nurses, exercise instructors, sport coaches, law enforcement personnel

BENEFITS to you when you strengthen Body Smarts in your life include: 

• Improving over-all functioning of your body and your physical movements
• Strengthening connections between the mind and body–we know they profoundly effect each other
• Gaining greater awareness of your "body language" and how to use your body to become a better communicator with others
• Discovering the innate abilities to train the body to "multi-track" or to perform a variety of tasks at the same time
• Gaining an awareness of how  to reduce stress in various regions of the body

• Illustrations and descriptions of historical costumes
• Cooking
• Dance
• Role playing or simulation

• Internet based simulations
• Cooperative web searches or web quests
• Role playing activities that incorporate Web resources
• Classroom presentations

• Simulations
• Modeling
• Role playing
• Analyzing manipulative

Bodily kinesthetic intelligence is related to physical movement and the knowledge of the body and how it functions; it includes the ability to use many parts of the body to express emotion, to play a game, and to interpret and invoke effective "body" language.  Those "at promise" in this domain enjoy and learn best from activities that use the body and involve movement, such as dance, crafts, mime, sports, acting and using manipulatives.

• Young children who demonstrate a strong bodily kinesthetic intelligence are highly coordinated and often quite tactile.  They enjoy all sorts of athletics and would rather be a participant than a spectator.  Also, this way of understanding the world is most evident in young children who have a hard time sitting still and are well coordinated.  
• Older children who demonstrate this type of intelligence may be good dancers or athletes, or particularly good at mimicking the classroom teacher.  
• Adults have a keen body awareness.  They enjoy physical movement, dancing, hugging, making and inventing things with their hands, including role playing.  They are easily bored if they are not actively involved in what is going on around them.  They communicate well through body language and similar physical gestures.  In general, those who are "at promise" in this intelligence like physical games of all kinds and demonstrating how to do things.  In fact, they can often perform a task after seeing someone else do it only once.

(People Smart)

People Examples:

Abraham Lincoln       George Washington        Ghandi
Dr. Joyce Brothers        Oprah  Winfrey       Jesse  Jackson
Martin  Luther   King       Rev. Billy Graham

• Understanding other people
• An ability we all need, but is at a premium if you are a teacher, clinician, salesperson, or a politician.  Anybody who deals with other people has to be skilled in the interpersonal sphere
• Uses person-to-person relating, communication, teamwork, and collaboration with others

This is the person-to-person way of knowing.  It is the knowing that happens when we work with and relate to other people, often as part of a team.  This way of knowing also requires developing a whole range of social skills that are needed for effective person-to-person communication and relating.

If this person-to-person way knowing is more developed in you, you learn through personal interactions.  You probably have lots of friends  show a great deal of empathy for other people, and exhibit a deep understand of others points of view.  You probably love team activities of all kinds and are  a good team member--you pull your own weight and often much more.  You are sensitive to other people's feelings and ideas and are good at piggybacking your ideas on others' thoughts.  You are also likely skilled drawing others out in a discussion and you probably are skilled in conflict resolution, mediation, and finding compromise when people are in radical opposition to each other.

Careers:
Teachers, administrators, arbitrators, anthropologists, organization leaders (presidents and CEOs), sociologists, talk show hosts, politicians, public relations or customer service personnel, salespersons, travel agents, consultants, social affairs directors

BENEFITS to you of developing People Smarts include:

• Developing the ability to understand other people, their perspectives, and their motivations
• Having deeper and more satisfying relationships with others
• Gaining a genuine empathy for others
• Enhanced leadership skills, including becoming a better communicator
• Enhanced quality of the time you spend and relationship you have with your family

• All of the above resources that might be used in cooperative MI activities

• All of the above activities that might be designed to incorporate cooperative learning groups

• Cooperative learning
• Peer teaching
• Brainstorming
• Shared inquiry

Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to value, understand, and respond appropriately to the motivations, moods, and feelings of others.  Or more simply put, these people learn best through person-to-person interaction.  They usually have many friends, show a considerable degree of empathy and are able to understand viewpoints of others.  They appreciate differences in their neighborhoods and around the world and they recognize and make distinctions among others' feelings and intentions very easily.

• Young children with interpersonal intelligence enjoy playing with other children; they hate to be left alone.  They love team activities of all kinds and are very good team members, pulling their own weight, often much more.  
• Older children then to become natural leaders, picking up on subtle social cues and knowing how to put others at ease.  In short, they work well within groups and often end up in leadership role.  
• Adults are sensitive to the ideas and feelings of others and are adept at drawing others out in a discussion.  When individuals are in radical opposition to each other, these are the ones who are often quite skillful in conflict resolution.

(Self Smart)

People Examples:

NEIL ARMSTRONG
HELEN  KELLER
COLUMBUS
CHARLES LINDBERGH
JOAN OF ARC
CLARA BARTON        CLEOPATRA
LEIF  ERICSSON
SIR  EDMOND  HIlLARY 

• Having an understanding of yourself, of knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward
• We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves because those people tend not to screw up.  They tend to know what they can do, what they can’t do, and they tend to know where to go if they need help
• The knowing which comes from introspection, self-reflection, and raising questions about life’s meaning and purpose

At the heart of this intelligence are our human self-reflective abilities by which we can step outside of ourselves and think about our own lives.  This is the introspective intelligence.  It involves our uniquely human propensity to want to know the meaning, purpose , and significance life.  It involves our awareness of the inner world of the self, emotions, values, beliefs, and our various quests for genuine spirituality.

If this intelligence is one of your strong points, you may like to work alone and sometimes you may shy away for others.  You are probably self-reflective n self-aware, and thus you tend to be in tune with your inner feelings, values, beliefs, and thinking processes.  You are frequently a bearer of creative wisdom and insight, you are highly intuitive, and you are inwardly motivated rather than needing external rewards to keep you going.  You are often strong willed, self-confident, and have definite, well=though-out opinions on almost any issue.  Other people will often come to you for advice and counsel.

Careers:
Therapists, psychologists, human potential researchers, philosophers, religious leaders (pastors and priests), social workers, mediation guides, counselors, self-help advisors, cognitive pattern researchers, mental health professionals

BENEFITS of developing Self Smarts include:

• Clarity about your life and where you are headed
• Control of your destiny and the directions in which you want your life to move
• Improved self-confidence and self esteem
• A deeper understanding of your core values and how to make them the center of all you do
• Getting in touch with your "inner self" and learning how to trust it

• All of the above resources that might be used in reflective, individual MI activities

• All of the above activities that might be completed through reflective individual projects

• Decision making
• Journal writing
• Self-discovery
• Independent learning projects

Intrapersonal intelligence deals with the development and understanding of the self and using this knowledge to live well; it includes personal goals, feelings, anxieties and strengths and subsequently drawing from that awareness to guide personal behavior.  These people often enjoy working alone, sometimes even shying away from others and off quietly by themselves.  They are often strong willed, self-confident, and possess definite, well-thought-out opinions on various issues. 

• Young children can be left on their own to play happily, and may be a bit shy or stubborn.  
• Older children may keep journals or logs, express strong emotions and well developed opinions, and seem blithely unconcerned by other kids' notions of what's "in" and what's "out." 
• Adults are self-reflective and self-aware, thus they often tend to be in tune with their inner feelings, beliefs, thinking processes, and values.  They are frequent bearers of creative wisdom and insight, are highly intuitive, and are inwardly motivated rather than requiring external rewards to keep them going.

(Nature Smart)

People Examples:

Galileo
Rachael Carson
John Audubon
Lewis & Clark
Jane Goodall
Jacques Costeau
Diana Fossey
John Muir
 Sacajawea

• Weather conditions of the natural world
• Recognize patterns and distinctions in the natural world

This intelligence involves understanding the natural world of plants and animals, noticing their characteristics, and categorizing them; it generally involves keen observation and the ability to classify other things as well.  It may be exercised by exploring nature, making collections of objects, studying them, and grouping them. 

Careers:
Forest rangers, nature guides, animal trainers, zoo keepers, landscape designers, gardeners, scientists investigating the biological and physical worlds, bird watchers, veterinarians, farmers, people involved in scouting and camping, botanists, horticulturists, florists, meteorologists, conservations

BENEFITS of developing and strengthening Nature Smarts include: 

• Gaining an awareness of how  nature effects and shapes who you are as a person
• Developing a respect for other creatures which inhabit our world
• Acquiring a greater sensitivity to larger patterns in the environment, such as the weather, changing seasons, phases of the moon, etc. 
• Nurturing the ability to grow things
• Caring for and conserving the natural environment

Teaching Resources

• Illustrations
• Paintings
• Maps
• Personal narratives and photographs of historical
• Contemporary environments

• Design virtual landscapes
• Analyze computer simulated topographic battlefields, cities, maps, etc.

• Recognize and classify cultural and natural artifacts
• Data gathering in natural setting

Naturalist intelligence is the ability to recognize and classify elements of the natural world.  That is, this intelligence enables us to classify, understand, and explain the elements of nature.  Those "at promise" in this domain have an understanding of the environment; they learn well through outdoor activities, including those that involve interacting with natural and environmental materials and concepts.

• Young children may be fascinated by all kinds of creatures, including the ants crawling along a picnic blanket. 
• Older children love to learn the names of trees and flowers, and have a good eye for the differences between them.  They spend hours compiling science reports on their favorite animals and exotic plants.  
• Adults tend to be aware of the subtleties in appearance, texture, and sounds that those weaker in this intelligence may not grasp.  Stated a slightly different way, this intelligence has to do with observing, understanding and organizing patterns in the natural environment.