Measures of intelligences were first measured by Howard Gardner. According to him there are nine intelligences and each person has her own strengths and weaknesses.

If you like words and language and are a good listener,

If you like to read, to spell, to tell stories, and to tell jokes,

If you like to journal, to listen to audio books, and to talk about books

You Are Word Smart.

People who are word smart love language. They may be a strong speller. They may love to read. They may love to write. They may be a good storyteller. Someone who is word smart might not necessarily be able to read really fast or spell really well but he/she can spin a really good story. There are many different ways to be word smart and someone who is word smart won't necessarily be good in every aspect of this intelligence.

Kids who are word smart might grow up to be writers, journalists, comedians, politicians, speechwriters, teachers, librarians, proofreaders, publicist/public relations specialists, radio or television announcers, and storytellers.

Programming for Word Smart Learners

In schools and in libraries creating programs for word smart learners is probably the easiest to do because it is the intelligence that is used the most to teach kids information. The trick is to take an activity that is geared for kids who are word smart and to add some things to it that will also reach other learners.

Here is a list of potential program ideas

·         Tell a joke

·         Do a skit or puppet show or reader's theater (if you have kids join you in the skit that allows them to be a part of the story, to personalize it , and to move around)

·         Teach kids how to be storytellers

·         Tell a story (reading a story is great but telling a story to kids, especially telling a story that you really love and connect with, will keep them spellbound)

·         Read a story

·         Talk to kids about the meaning of a book (discussions after folktales can be very interesting. A lot of kids will ask what it means and if the story is true.)

·         Invite guests to read their favorite story

·         Bring in people who can read a story in a different language and then talk to the kids about it

·         Incorporate poetry or finger play/action rhymes into the program

·         Randomly stop your program and yell, "Poetry Break!" and read a favorite poem.

·         Book talk

·         Do a creative writing activity

·         Do a book discussion

·         Incorporate word games into a program