DIVERSITY: Second Grade
- Differentiates instruction and assessments to accommodate the needs of all learners including special needs, gifted, and ELL.
- Differentiates instruction based on learning style assessments.
- Embraces cultural, ethnic, and social differences to enrich the learning environment.
- Makes appropriate accommodations for students with IEPs and/or 504 Plans.
- Collaborates with resource personnel to increase the learning of students with special needs, including ELL.
Description & Rationale
I gave the second graders in Jan Ingram’s class a child-friendly version of a learning styles inventory. This inventory is from JumpStart, which produces a series of educational computer and video games for elementary-aged children. The questionnaire can be taken on-line; however, I printed the relevant pages and administered the assessment in a traditional paper/pencil format. The learning style categories are based upon Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and the sensory-based modalities he developed according to his theory.
The questions are directed toward the parents of young children who want to discern how their children learn and process information. I explained to the students that they were to answer the questions about themselves and ignore the way that the questions were posed. When I read each question out loud, I phrased them in terms of the children responding about their likes and preferences. The children had no trouble understanding this distinction.
The computer format is really cute with the animated characters that represent each learning style asking a particular question. For each question, the children responded by choosing three options from a list of seven. In all, there were seven questions. Since the students did not take the survey on-line, I had to input the data for each student into the computer program. After submitting the responses of a single child, the program automatically classifies the child according to two learning styles or modalities.
As an example, see the responses and results for Student 4.
The questions are directed toward the parents of young children who want to discern how their children learn and process information. I explained to the students that they were to answer the questions about themselves and ignore the way that the questions were posed. When I read each question out loud, I phrased them in terms of the children responding about their likes and preferences. The children had no trouble understanding this distinction.
The computer format is really cute with the animated characters that represent each learning style asking a particular question. For each question, the children responded by choosing three options from a list of seven. In all, there were seven questions. Since the students did not take the survey on-line, I had to input the data for each student into the computer program. After submitting the responses of a single child, the program automatically classifies the child according to two learning styles or modalities.
As an example, see the responses and results for Student 4.
For page one, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven:
* Putting together puzzles * Playing catch with a ball * Playing tag and hide & seek For page two, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * Be a famous sports star or dancer * Figure out how to make a rocket go to another planet * Write a book that everyone wants to read For page three, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * Go to the library to read books * Go to a playground to play on the equipment * Go to the zoo to see animals For page four, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * Bring a zebra home * Fill the house with 5 of everything * Beat a drum & have a special parade For page five, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * Stories of people you like * Mystery stories * Stories with people doing lots of things For page six, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * A machine that makes you stronger and faster * A machine that can change the color of anything * A machine that can build anything you want For page seven, the student chose the following three options from the list of seven: * Someone who likes to explore outdoors * Someone who likes to play sports * Someone who is nice |
The documents/images above can also be viewed as PDF documents. To access them in PDF format, click the blue links below.
Learning Styles Inventory Pages 1-7 Results Page for Student 4 To see all of the characters and the different learning styles they represent, below are the results for Students 15, 11, 16, and 23. Documents may be viewed as pictures or PDFs |
Student 15 Results Page
Primary Learning Style is Frankie, the Leader Secondary Learning Style is Hopsalot, the Math Whiz Student 16 Results Page Primary Learning Style is Casey, the Athlete Secondary Learning Style is Kisha, the Artist |
Student 11 Results Page
Primary Learning Style is Pierre, the Musician Secondary Learning Style is C.J., the Scientist Student 23 Results Page Primary Learning Styleis Pierre, the Musician Secondary Learning Style is Eleanor, the Reader |
Analysis of Results from Learning Styles Inventory
Each student was classified into two modalities based upon his/her responses. As the pages above reveal, each student has a primary learning style and a secondary learning style. The chart below organizes the results for each student. The number 1 indicates that student's primary learning style. The number 2 indicates that student's secondary learning style. At the top of the chart, the character name appears along with the corresponding modality as defined in Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. At the bottom of the chart, I have calculated percentages by the whole class and by gender. Sixty-four percent of the class are Bodily-Kinesthetic Learners and 83% of the boys are. That comes as no surprise for seven year olds. None of the girls registered in the Logical-Mathematical modality, which did surprise me. I also expected to see a higher percentage of students in the Visual-Spatial modality and a higher number of girls in the Linguistic/Verbal modality. The one person who is in that category is the only girl in the Green reading group. She struggles with reading and writing, but this signifies that her secondary learning style is Linguistic Intelligence. This particular learning styles inventory is far from scientific, and it is difficult to determine its accuracy. However, it does give some preliminary insight, perhaps, into where these students are in their learning styles. The chart below can also be viewed as a PDF document by clicking here.
Reflection
When designing my unit or any other lessons for these second grade students, I thought about ways of integrating all kinds of activities that would encompass all of these learning modalities at one point or another. Since I did a writing unit, it was not always easy to incorporate kinesthetic activities. In many cases, I found times in various lessons to just stop and have the students stand up and stretch. I also added some active games related to grammar or the mechanics of writing, such as "Is It a Pronoun or Not" game. In my writing unit, I taught different parts of the lesson in different places in the room, thus requiring the students to move around. As a part of the writing process, we used graphic organizers to organize information and ideas in very specific ways. I am sure that appealed to the logical learners; yet we did very creative things with clip art and designing stationary. I used BrainPopJr videos to connect more thoroughly with visual learners. For verbal, auditory, and linguistic learners, I began every lesson by reading the book "Dear Teacher." By allowing the students to write about whatever they wanted, as long as it was something they had done or learned in second grade, I gave each child an opportunity to focus on what appealed to him/her. Additionally, there were several lessons in the unit where the students had to work in pairs, groups, or with me, which allowed them to learn through interaction and interpersonal relations.