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Student spelled "face" with Play-Doh.

Engaging Multiple Intelligences with Play-Doh: Our Balsz Community Education Foundation Mini-Grant Project

Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences proposes, "There are many ways to be smart,and we have the ability to develop the intellectual capacity of our students." He identifies eight areas of intelligence which are: Verbal/Linguistic (word smart), Logical/Mathematical (logic/math smart), Visual/Spatial (art/space smart), Musical/Rhythm (music smart), Bodily/Kinesthetic (body smart), Naturalist (nature smart), Interpersonal (people smart), and Intrapersonal (self smart).

Esteban spelled “out” 3 dimensionally!

My goal is to use Play-Doh in my class to accommodate Visual/Spatial and Bodily/ Kinesthetic Learners.  To meet those students' needs I use Play-Doh in many lessons in place of a worksheet. My primary focus will be to use Play-Doh in spelling and vocabulary lessons. Each student gets a can of Play-Dohh and rolls it into a "snake." From there it can be formed into letters and then into words.