Multiple Intelligences Grid

1 (chap 1-5) 2 (chap 6-10) 3 (chap 11-14) 4 (chap 15-18)

Linguistic Write a Write a Create your Create an
character persuasive own ending to acrostic poem
profile for one response as to the story. It about your
of the whether Mr. could be what favourite
characters Fox or the they think character from
shown in the farmers are in might happen, the story.
front of the the wrong in or they could
book. Talk this story. Give take it in their
about their three reasons to own unique
personalities, back your direction. The
likes and response. Are last few
dislikes, and fun the farmers in sentences of
facts or the wrong for chapter 14 will
significant attacking Mr. be given to you
events that Fox and his to provide
have happened family, and not inspiration
to them in the sharing their
story so far. food, or is Mr.
Fox in the
wrong for
stealing from
the farmers?

Logical- Predict whether Investigate the Plan a feast for Conduct a

Mathematical Mr. Fox would different the animals. survey in the
be able to sources of What food and classroom on
survive if he nutrition foxes drink will you whether or not
and his family can live off. need? How the foxes will
had to move Would any of much of each get caught.
away from the these likely be will you have? Represent the
farmers. What available to Mr. How much research, once
would be a Fox near the might this cost? collected, in a
good farms? Use shop graph form of
alternative? catalogues to your choice.
get some
inspiration and
help with prices
for the food
and drink you
plan to have.
Visual (spatial) Design a fourth Create a Design a living Create a map of
farmer. What wanted poster space for the Mr. Fox’s
might they look for Mr. Fox. You Fox Family’s underground
like? What can do this underground tunnel system,
might their using whatever home. including
personality be materials you Remember that Boggis, Bunce
like? Reflect may wish. You there are two and Bean’s
this as best you may like to parents and Farms, Badger’s
can in your include four children house, Mr.
drawing. information on that would be Fox’s House
appearance, a living there and the big
reward price hole dug by the
and who to farmers.
deliver Mr. Fox
to if found

Bodily- Make a Create a dance Using your wide Act out and
Kinaesthetic costume for a that reflects the knowledge of record a short
character of way the foxes the story’s scene from
your choice feel about being characters, play your favourite
using scrap ‘dug out’ by the a game of part of the
materials in the farmers charades, book.
classroom. acting out all
your favourite
characters for
your group to
guess

Musical Create a Create a rhythm Create a song Create sound

backing track that the to tempt effects for the
for the song the different forms Badger to join recorded scene
children sing of digging tools Mr. Fox in to overlay or
about the may make using stealing food play during the
farmers in drums and for the feast. recording (links
chapter 1 using other musical to bodily-
either musical instruments kinaesthetic
instruments activity #4)
that you can
record yourself
playing or
GarageBand on
your iPads.
Interpersonal In pairs, discuss Negotiate in Discuss with In a group,
how you would teams of two your classmates reflect on Mr.
feel if you were whether or not whether the Fox’s journey in
in Mr. Fox’s the farmers stealing in the the story. Was
position. What should use big story is wrong. he successful?
might you do if machinery to Take into Did he escape
you were in his catch the foxes. account that, in from the
situation? Is this case, Mr. Farmers?
there anything Fox is stealing
you might do to provide for
the same? Is his family.
there anything
you might do
differently?

Intrapersonal Write a diary Pretend that Create a list of What were Mr.
entry from Mr. you are one of goals for one of Fox’s strengths
Fox’s the farmers. the farmers to and
perspective. Create a speech achieve to weaknesses in
Remember to to defend your catch Mr. Fox. the story? Was
include the reasoning for Outline which he able to get
most exciting going after Mr. farmer you out of the hole
parts from the Fox and his have chosen with his family?
story so far, family. when you do Did he manage
such as the this. to get anything
digging of the to eat?
hole, the
tractors and the
loss of Mr. Fox’s
tail.

Naturalist Research and Find out the Walk around Mr. Fox used
gather environmental the school. his sense of
information on impact of Where is the smell to avoid
foxes. Find out machinery best place for being caught.
their Habitat, digging up the Mr. Fox’s Find out about
physical land. How does home? the different
features, life it affect people senses that
Describe the
cycle and other and wildlife people have.
scenery and
interesting nearby?
information location.
Rationale:
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory (1983) has been studied and used in classrooms for
over thirty years, making it highly evident that it is of great relevancy to today’s teachers
and their classrooms. Gardner’s (1983) theory is based on the idea that we all retain
information better in a specific way. He lists eight intelligences: linguistic, logical-
mathematical, visual (spatial), bodily-kinaesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and
naturalist. We have opted to link the text Fantastic Mr. Fox to these intelligences for our
focus unit, as it is a highly notable and flexible text that can cater fully for all personality
types in the classroom.

Clarke & Pittaway (2014) state that schools tend to ignore the strengths students may have
in areas other than linguistic and logical-mathematical, such as those outlined in Gardner’s
(1983) Multiple Intelligences. With the knowledge that we have been given from Gardner
via his 1983 research into Multiple Intelligence theory, we are aware that there are many
more areas that students may have a higher level of strength in, indicating that we should
be incorporating this theory in our classrooms. Stanford (2003) states that the Multiple
Intelligence theory “opens the door to a wide variety of teaching strategies that can easily
be implemented in the classroom” (Stanford, 2003, p. 82). Stanford (2003) further suggests
that the Multiple Intelligence theory can provide the teacher with many important teaching
strategies that cover multiple areas, such as shifting “intelligence emphasis from
presentation to presentation” (Stanford, 2003, p. 82) and expanding on assessment
methods (Stanford, 2003, p. 82). Hanafin (2014) reports on a research project that
implemented the Multiple Intelligence theory into classrooms. She reveals that teachers
reported a positive change in their students after the implementation of the theory,
“including more interest and motivation, better recall and deeper understanding, higher
attainment, improved self-esteem, and more fun and enjoyable classroom experiences”
(Hanafin, 2014, p. 126). With these facts in mind, it is highly evident that it is of a great
importance that Gardner’s (1983) Multiple Intelligence theory is employed into the
classroom setting as much as possible, as it has multiple layers of benefits for our students.

Within every classroom there is diversity. Aiming to use the Multiple Intelligences is crucial
in maintaining a diverse classroom as all students will have more enjoyable classroom
experiences. Moore (2012) contends that the Multiple Intelligence theory gives teachers
assistance in assessing students' abilities and strengths and it also helps them immeasurably
in designing classroom activities that will help students develop their talents. Howard
Gardener (1983) developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences and it has had a strong
appeal from educators as schools tend to not recognise the strengths that students have in
such areas as spatial thinking, musical or kinaesthetic (Ong & Borich, 2006). By using these
eight intelligences, teachers can help students discover and develop their individual talents.
Using the verbal linguistic intelligence, students can express what is on their mind. The
logical-mathematical intelligence is described as the capacity to manipulate numbers,
quantities and operations and to understand principles (Clark & Pittaway, 2014, p. 249). The
spatial intelligence can be used by students to represent the spatial world in their minds.
When a student is using their whole body or part of their body to solve problems, the
intelligence of bodily-kinaesthetic is used. The musical intelligence is described as the
capacity to think in music, to hear patterns, to recognise them and to remember them. The
interpersonal intelligence is utilised by students to understand other people, where
intrapersonal intelligence is to have an understanding of yourself and what you can do.
Finally, the naturalistic intelligence is used by students who have the ability to recognise
patterns among living things. These intelligences are all important to implement in the
classroom to create diversity.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is an excellent text written by world-famous children’s author Roald Dahl
and has been used in many classrooms since its original release in 1970. It carries multiple
levels of teaching points for classroom use such as stealing, the protection of nature and the
importance of family. On a year three level in particular, it allows for the discussion of
morals, a topic that tends to come up frequently for this age group, for example, ‘why is it
okay for Mr. Fox to kill the chickens, but it is not okay for the farmers to kill Mr. Fox?’. It is a
well-loved text that is enjoyable for all ages, meaning that it can be flexible across the
different year levels, giving the option to adapt the base of an activity to suit the age group
studying the text. From a literary perspective, Dahl (1970) has used multiple techniques
taught in the English classroom such as alliteration, imagery, metaphors, similes and many
more, which can help teach students more about the breakdown of the English language.
The text provides the opportunity to teach character analysis to students from a younger
age, opening the possibility for classroom discussion on an analytical level, engaging
student’s linguistic and visual minds specifically. The text has also been adapted into a
cinematic version by Wes Anderson in 2009, offering an entirely new realm of teaching
opportunities that are not otherwise present in the study of the book alone. It is highly
evident that Fantastic Mr. Fox is an excellent option for teachers to use as a focus unit in the
classroom, not only for year threes, but for all ages, due to its broadness in topics and high
adaptability options.

It is evident that Gardner’s (1983) Multiply Intelligence theory is one that is highly
appropriate and useful to aid students’ learning and development in the classroom, giving
them the opportunity to succeed to their best ability. It allows us, as teachers, to cater for
the diversity that we are presented with in the classroom. The text Fantastic Mr. Fox
complements the Multiple Intelligence theory (1983) well and allows teacher to adapt their
activities to suit each individual intelligence equally as well as the others, catering for
diversity in the classroom.
References:
Blake, Q. (n.d.). Fantastic Mr. Fox [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://www.renniesgallery.co.uk/product/fantastic-mr-fox-quentin-blake/
Blake, Q. (n.d.). Roald Dahl Fantastic Mr. Fox - Looked at the Four Small Foxes [Photograph].
Retrieved from https://www.yardgallery.com/roadl-dahl-mr-fox-looked-at-the-four-
small-foxes.html
Clarke, M. & Pittaway, S. (2014). Marsh’s becoming a teacher (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW:
Pearson Australia.
Dahl, R. (2001). Fantastic Mr. Fox. (4th ed.). London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.
ESL-Bits. (n.d.). The three farmers [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://esl-
bits.net/ESL.English.Listening.Short.Stories/Fantastic.Mr.Fox/01/default.html
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York, NY: Basic Book Inc.
Hanafin, J. (2014). Multiple intelligences theory, action research, and teacher professional
development: The Irish MI project. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online),
39(4), 126-141. doi:10.14221/ajte.2014v39n4.8
Ong, A. & Borich, G. (2006). Teaching strategies that promote thinking: Models and
curriculum approaches. Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
ReadingResourcesforTeachers. (2017). Fantastic Mr. Fox [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/fantastic-mr-fox-reading-comprehension-
11728412
Stanford, P. (2003). Multiple intelligence for every classroom. Intervention in School and
Clinic, 39(2), 80-85. doi:10.1177/10534512030390020301
Trish’s Reviews. (2016). Introducing... [Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1495441460