Helen McGrath and Toni Noble (1995) Seven Ways At Once; Classroom Strategies Based on the Seven Intelligences, Books 1 and 2, Longman. ISBNs: 0 582 91561 9, 0 582 91562 7, $39.95 each.

If your budget for book buying is tight but you want a reference which will provide immediate resources, put these books high on your list. Many readers will recognise the authors from their earlier books Friendly Kids Friendly Classrooms and Different Kids Same Classroom. The two volumes Seven Ways at Once continue the themes of catering for the wide range of differences amongst learners and making their learning experiences positive and enjoyable. It should be obvious from the title that the framework used by the authors is multiple intelligences but in fact they also incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy and various thinking skills such as those espoused by de Bono (which sometimes appear under a different name). For me one of the positive features of these two volumes is the way the authors have integrated lots of different skills, skills which have usually been recognised as important but which have often remained isolated as 'stand alone' activities, and thus have lost much of their value. The integration has been done in a practical and readily useable fashion, another feature I look for when examining books for their potential value to teachers.

Most TalentEd readers are already familiar with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. In recent times the way in which people view 'intelligence' has changed and a theory which is currently 'in vogue' is Howard Gardner's theory that intelligence is not a single capacity which is innate and unalterable but rather consists of many separate domains or components, each of which deserves the title 'intelligence'. The seven he has identified as a working model are: verbal/linguistic intelligence; logical/mathematical intelligence; visual/spatial intelligence; musical/rhythmic intelligence; bodily/ kinaesthetic intelligence; interpersonal intelligence; intrapersonal intelligence.

It makes no sense, in his view, to view any individual in some sort of homogeneous fashion &endash; a composite picture should be formed by assessing the individual's relative strengths and weaknesses in the seven different areas, with the additional warning that a strength or weakness in one domain tells nothing about strength or weakness in the various other domains. Gardner's theory is often embraced as a positive advance because it is more inclusive &endash; more people can be described as 'intelligent' or 'worthwhile' than under a system where verbal and logical competence get the prizes in the intelligence stakes.

Bloom's Taxonomy is simply a way of classifying different ways of thinking, from simple recall and basic understanding through to more complex skills such as applying knowledge, analysing concepts or situations, synthesising information and creating new knowledge, and evaluating information. The headings used by Bloom to categorise these different levels of thinking, from least complex to most complex, are: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation.

Just as learners differ in their multiple intelligences make-up so they differ in their skills at each step of Bloom's hierarchy. Although there is some debate about the complexity of skills involved in thinking at each level, it is a common proposition that children talented in a particular intelligence should be given tasks in that intelligence which involve thinking at the higher levels of Bloom. In other words and by way of example, a child with an obvious strength in mathematics should be given mathematical tasks involving analysis, synthesis and evaluation in addition to the more usual exercises involving remembering and applying mathematical routines. Indeed, all children should be given exposure to more than recall and comprehension tasks but an over-reliance by teachers on activities at these levels has often been criticised, particularly in relationship to high-achieving or talented children.

Both Gardner's and Bloom's models provide a framework for the structuring of questions and activities. What these two volumes by McGrath and Noble do in a comprehensive fashion is combine the two frameworks and describe strategies which are suitable to use at their points of intersection, that is, for example, teaching strategies and classroom tasks which use skills of analysis within the bodily/kinaesthetic domain (and so on for the other forty-one points of intersection). A three-page table summarising appropriate teaching strategies and classroom tasks provides a 'ready reckoner' for the teacher. The remainder of Book 1 is primarily a description of the 110 core teaching strategies which were listed in the 'ready reckoner'.

The strategies are listed alphabetically for ease of finding and are described using a common format, comprising the following headings:

Main intelligence &endash; the intelligence most likely to be used, in the authors' opinion, to complete the activity.

Other intelligences &endash; other intelligences also likely to be used.

Grouping &endash; suggested ways of grouping the students to gain maximum benefit from the activity. The five categories of grouping are Individual, Pairs, Groups of 3, Groups of 4/5, and Whole Class.

Year &endash; the approximate year-level suitability has been designated as Junior (Beginners, Years 1 and 2), Middle (Years 3 and 4), and Senior (Years 5 through 9).

Difficulty &endash; the three categories within this heading have been described using Bloom's six levels of thinking. The lowest level of difficulty, Basic, implies that the strategy focuses mainly on the knowledge and comprehension levels of Bloom. An intermediate level of difficulty, Medium, means that skills of application and analysis are required, while a high level of difficulty, Challenge, requires students to create something new (synthesise) or evaluate.

Resources &endash; any special resources likely to be needed are listed.

In addition, and usefully, the authors also provide learning outcomes which can be expected from using the strategy. These are particularly handy for the teacher trying to integrate the curriculum or to use some sort of criterion-referenced, performance standards or competencies approach.

Many of the strategies are familiar and some simply formalise practices which many teachers follow without giving them a name or conceptualising them as an 'activity'. For example, many teachers regularly incorporate 'what if...?' questions and predictions in their teaching approach. At least two of the core teaching strategies discussed in these books involve such routine practice (What if...? and Predictor) but I thought their classification under the headings above and the inclusion of learning outcomes was a useful advantage for teachers when planning their approach to a particular topic.

Just for interest, I went through the list of 110 core strategies and tallied them by Main Intelligence. Although this is somewhat misleading (because in many activities the supporting intelligences are also strongly used), I was curious to know whether the authors had been able to counter-balance the traditional focus on verbal and logical skills-based activities. The tallies were as follows: Word 18, Logic and Maths 16, Space and Vision 19, Music 10, Body 13, People 15, Self 19.

Note the change of title in the intelligence domains. I must confess I am not convinced it is necessary to change the names for simplification reasons but I am prepared to accept that these titles are less cumbersome to pronounce! For the purposes of explanation to parents and children, and for labels in the classroom, I suspect most teachers would be happy to use the simplified versions. The people who 'trip' on the new names are likely to be those who are already familiar with Gardner's terminology and have to do a quick 'translation'.

The description so far should be enough to show that the authors have tried to produce a useable reference. As with any such reference, the reader is well advised to read the introductory sections and get an understanding of the structure of the books rather than turn immediately to the list of strategies or to the units of work in Book 2. I did not find these introductory sections difficult to read or time-consuming to complete and once I had a 'feel' for the structure of the books, I could immediately see their usefulness both as working documents and as reference guides. Once the structure is understood they are extremely easy to use in locating relevant information &endash; something which should be compulsory for all teaching aids! An added bonus is the use of cross-referencing to direct the reader to strategies of related usefulness.

As briefly mentioned above, Book 2 consists of 'Activity Units', seven (of course!) in all. Each Unit covers approximately thirty pages and is divided into seven sub-sections corresponding to the seven intelligences. Within each intelligence sub-section, the various strategies from Book 1 which are appropriate are related to the Unit topic. In other words, instead of being given the appropriate strategies but being left to work out the details of their implementation in relation to particular topics, the teacher is given a unit of work with this adaptation already done, ready to be used. When you remember that each strategy has an approximate level of difficulty and suitability by year as part of its description, you can appreciate that the teacher's job is simply to select the most appropriate teaching strategies and activities for his/her particular students. In many cases, the units could be used in a way similar to the contracts based on Bloom's Taxonomy which are regularly described in the units of work published in TalentEd. The Activity Units are entitled: Aboriginal Studies, Animals, Communication, Family, Fantasy, Humour, and Literature.

In keeping with the 'total package' presentation, the authors have provided (1) instructions for making the various items which are required for particular activities and (2) black line masters which can be used as teaching aids, for classroom display, for assessment checklists, or any other relevant use. For example,

(1) patterns have been included for making story flowers, sun visors (also good for Thinking Hats &endash; or Thinking Visors!), pop-up cards, Hand Hoppers (which my children call 'chatterboxes'), a Spinning Rainbow Serpent and a Web of Feelings; and

(2) black line masters have been included outlining:

• the steps of Report Writing, Problem Solving, Social Problem Solving, Goal Setting

• Do's and Don'ts in relation to Respecting Other People's Opinions, Expressing Your Own Opinion, Negotiating, Not Being Bossy, Mediating, Making Decisions in a Group, and Performing in Front of the Class

• ideas for making different musical sounds, for composing raps and sound stories

• Morse code

• drawings which can be photocopied and used for various activities, and

• lists of words for pictionary, card games, and so on.

Because of the authors' deliberate focus on Bloom's taxonomy as well as Gardner's multiple intelligences framework, creative thinking skills have not been overlooked. Some of the core teaching strategies specifically target creativity. Those of you familiar with SCAMPER will recognise elements of it, for example, in BAR, an activity where students are given an item and asked to change it by redrawing it and B &endash; making some aspect Bigger (or smaller); Adding something to it; and Replacing or rearranging an aspect of it.

Similarly, social skills are identified as valid outcomes and resources are provided to aid in their teaching and practice. In activities where a group approach is suggested as appropriate, variations in group roles are suggested.

For teachers or parents serious about adopting a multiple intelligences approach, the authors have included checklists of identification and observation strategies suitable for different age groups. These checklists have been designed by the authors and have been given the (seemingly inevitable) acronyms so beloved of educators. They are, however, clearly set out and the ones I gave to my children did produce an accurate profile of their overall make-up. My youngest son had trouble choosing an answer in the Checklist for Beginners to Grade 1 &endash; each question asked for a choice between two activities in terms of (a) perceived competence and (b) liking for the activity, and he was unable to choose in quite a few of the questions. It was not clear whether such cases should be scored twice (ie, as competence in both activities and a liking for both activities) or ignored. As well, there were no questions relating to Intrapersonal (or Self) Intelligence, hence only six intelligences were being rated. I did learn that he likes singing better than some other activities and sees himself as more competent at singing than some other pursuits. This was a surprise, and of course such surprises are one reason for bothering to ask such questions and determine a child's perceived profile.

Teachers are encouraged to use these checklists to determine their own intelligence profile on the grounds that most teachers naturally prefer teaching using their own areas of strength. By identifying their less-well-developed intelligence areas, teachers can hone in on those strategies advocated as useful for developing such areas. The strategies and resources presented will enable teachers to feel more confident about teaching in less favoured or less practised ways, with the added and important benefit that students whose areas of strength do not match those of the teacher will be given an opportunity to demonstrate their competence and students whose profile more closely matches the teacher's will be encouraged to become more adept in their weaker areas as well. These are familiar claims from the proponents of variety in teaching but claims which have intuitive merit and, to a growing extent, research evidence to support them. Learning can occur in many ways, limited only by the imagination of teachers. These books go some way towards fostering such imagination by providing ideas and resources rather than just ideas. Indeed, in a section entitled 'Plugging up the holes in your teaching', the authors provide a list of activities suitable to develop skills in each intelligence area.

For teachers who do decide to adopt a multiple intelligences approach in their teaching, suggestions are given for a letter home to parents and activities to use at a parent information evening. For parents who would like to adopt a multiple intelligences approach at home, a five-page section, 'What Parents Can Do At Home', lists 'Things to encourage' and 'Good presents to buy' by intelligence.

A further real advantage of these volumes, in my opinion, is their explicit targetting of particular activities as suitable for secondary students. On a daily basis I am confronted by 'black hat' claims that exciting new ideas and strategies are 'great for primary but you can't do things like that in high school'. By specifically including teaching strategies suitable for secondary students the authors have, I hope, gone some way towards breaking down this sort of mindset. There are, of course, many secondary teachers who use a wide variety of teaching techniques and they could extend their repertoire with these two resource books; there are many others who could perhaps be encouraged to trial some of the strategies because everything they need is provided. (I am sure the authors had such a motive in mind when designing their books as a useable package.)

We would be happy to publish in TalentEd any accounts of your experiences using such strategies.

Linley Lloyd, University of New England

TalentEd No. 53, Autumn 1996

©TalentEd is located at the School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

This page updated: 23 January 2006 Webmaker: Howard Smith. hsmith4@une.edu.au