1. Empowering reading skills through visual strategy training Romina Sassara 2007-2008

2. Research questions  What is the Multiple Intelligences Theory and which are its implication in education?  What do we mean by visual thinking and spatial intelligence?  Which are the steps of a reading strategy training?  Which teaching methodologies should the teacher activate to enhance students’ potential in spatial intelligence while reading?

3. Contents ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 – From Multiple Intelligences Theory to the learner’s autonomy 1.1 The Multiple Intelligences Theory 1.2 MI theory and its implications in education 1.2.1 A learner-centred approach 1.3 Study skills and autonomous learning Chapter 2 – MI theory and strategy training: focusing on visual thinking and spatial intelligence 2.1 Cognitive styles and learning styles: a definition 2.2 Learning strategies: a definition 2.3 Spatial intelligence and visual literacy 2.4 Visual thinking 2.5. Exploiting visuals in reading

4. Chapter 3 – How to teach reading strategies 3.1 Stages of a strategy training 3.2.1 Exploiting questionnaires 3.2.2 Exploiting self-evaluating tests 3.3 Using strategy assessment results: class discussions 3.3.1 The role of metacognition 3.4 Stage two: strategy training 3.4.1 Different types of strategy training

5. Chapter 4 – Putting theory into practice 4.1 Activating background knowledge through spider diagrams 4.2 Guessing intelligently by looking at images 4.3 Undoing and recreating texts 4.3.1 Reading as a matter of relationship 4.3.2 Exploiting layout 4.3.3 Selecting and grouping: colour use and other ways of highlighting 4.3.4 Arrows and linkages 4.4 Exploiting visual art to teach poetry 4.5 Exploiting the Hot Potatoes software Conclusions Bibliography