A Curricular Solution

In class today I brought up the idea of matching learning styles with curricular topics. Here is a visual demonstration of the process I was talking about.

1. Make a list of the typical curricular topics
2. Make a list of learning styles/ ways to learn
3. Take each curricular topic and match them with all of the learning styles that logically correspond.

*Think of eighth grade when looking at the following*

Curricular topics
Language arts
Math
Social studies

Science

Learning styles (Stahl & Garlikov)
Analytical- learning by parts
Global- learning by whole

Auditory- learning by sound

Visual- learning by sight

Kinesthetic/ tactile- learning by moving body or hands on activities

linguistic- learning by speech and writing

Musical presentation- learning through song

Curricular topics and their corresponding styles
Language arts
Analytical- Interpreting the parts of a book, for example the characters and specific events.
Global- Interpreting a book as a whole, for example the storyline and theme.
Auditory- Hear sentences and point out which sound grammatically incorrect.
Visual- See sentences and correct grammatical errors.
Kinesthetic- role play
Linguistic- reading and writing
Music- Make a parody about the theme of a book or grammar rules using a popular song.

Math
Analytical and Global- Figure out mathematical problems using a formula. (Mathematical problem solving could be seen as either or both).
Visual- seeing the problem
Linguistic- word problems
*tactile in the form of using manipulatives may be helpful in earlier grades, but it is not useful for algebra. Music and auditory also do not apply.

Social studies
Global- for subjects like history, I see it more as learning the whole picture rather than the parts. When you learn about the civil war, you learn about all of the aspects.
Auditory- listening to a recording of a famous speech
Visual- Pictures of past events or watching a movie
Linguistic- reading about history
Kinesthetic- role play an event in history
* I do not really see music as being effective in this area, music history is a large subject on it's own. I guess one could make a song to help remember past events though.

Science
Analytical- Learning the parts of a cell
Global- Learning what the cell as a whole does
Visual- Seeing pictures of cells under microscope as well as diagrams
Linguistic- read about different cells
*Auditory, Kinesthetic, and musical learning do not fit in the science realm.

Questions: Do you think that math is the most difficult to understand? Do you think that it is the most difficult because there are less ways to understand it?

Alternate questions: How do your eighth grade subjects reflect these types of learning? Have you learned each of these subjects through all of or most of the corresponding methods I paired them with? Does this make you think differently about learning styles?