At first, differentiating instruction using multiple intelligence learning styles can be a challenging and time consuming process. The teacher will need to take at least one period to explain what multiple intelligence learning styles are to their students and have them take a multiple intelligence learning styles test. Once the multiple intelligence learning styles of their students are known, differentiated instruction using them can begin. You can find a free multiple intelligence learning test that I created at my store http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico.

When teachers first start planning differentiated lesson plans using multiple intelligence learning styles, it could take them days and sometimes weeks to do it correctly. I always start my planning with looking at the standards the students need to know and what content is contained in them. Once I know that, I can figure out how I’m going to present each piece of content using as many different multiple intelligence learning styles as possible. That means you should probably estimate using 7 times the amount of time it normally takes you to plan since there are seven original multiple intelligence learning styles according to Dr. Howard Gardner. There are now considered to be much more but I tend to focus on these. Each example must be short or you will never get to the activity work session needed each day in a classroom. I try to keep my examples to less than 30 seconds.

The next part of the planning process is the differentiated instruction activity work session. This can take even more time than the mini-lesson because you will need to offer choices of activities to your students in order to differentiate instruction using the multiple intelligence learning styles. Each activity should focus on about 2 of the multiple intelligence learning styles but must use the exact same content. Each of these differentiated instruction activities also requires a rubric and must be weighted similarly to the others in order to ensure consistency in the grading process. I try to offer four options of differentiated instruction activities based on the multiple intelligence learning styles for my students to choose from. I have them choose the day before the activity and also allow them to choose how they want to complete it; alone, with a partner, or with a group. This gives me enough time to put them in the grouping of their choice with the people I know they will work best with as well as run off enough copies of the differentiated instruction activities.

If you don’t wish to take a week or two to plan a two day lesson, there is help out there. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico offers over 50 multiple intelligence learning style templates for differentiated instruction that all contain a rubric. All the teacher has to do is write in the content they want their students to use and choose the four options they want their students to choose from. Each can be changed easily by you to meet exactly what you need to teach.

No matter how you plan, using originals, templates or finished lesson plans from the Internet, differentiated instruction based on multiple intelligence learning styles does seem to increase the interest of students in the classroom.

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico