https://nifa.usda.gov/ 

program/4-h-positive-youthdevelopment 

National Institute 

of Food 

and Agriculture 

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

lesson plan: activity 2.3 

lesson details introduction 

What is Your Learning PersonaLitY? 

A FederAl PArtnershiP For steM educAtion 

expeditionary

skiLLs

for life 

 

 

National Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 

age/grade level 

Middle School 

learner outcoMes 

Youth will be able to understand how 

their perspective affects 

relationships and how they 

communicate with others. They will 

be able to understand why others 

may have a different perspective and 

utilize this understanding to improve 

relationships. 

success indicators 

Youth will identify and demonstrate 

how to utilize personality types to 

improve interpersonal 

communication. 

life skills 

Communication, critical thinking, 

social skills, learning to learn 

national standards 

21st Century Skills / Life and Career 

Skills / INITIATIVE AND SELFDIRECTION / manage goals and 

time, work independently, be 

self-directed learners 

21st Century Skills / Life and Career 

Skills / FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY / adapt to change, be 

flexible 

21st Century Skills / Learning and 

Innovation Skills / COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION / 

communicate clearly, collaborate 

with others 

prep tiMe 

15 minutes 

activity tiMe 

2 hours 25 minutes (all activities 

combined) 

Materials list 

Index cards, writing utensils 

Handouts 

Handouts:
 

What Type of Learner Am I?
 

suggested space 

Any 

suggested group size 

Any 

references 

So Each May Learn 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/ 

books/100058/chapters/TeachingLearning-Styles-and-Multiple-Intelligences-to-Students.aspx 

Teaching to Kids’ Unique Learning 

Style 

http://www.youthworker.com/ 

teaching-to-kids-unique-learningstyles/ 

Learning Styles 

http://www.funderstanding.com/ 

theory/child-development/learningstyles-2/ 

Learning Styles and Teaching 

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ 

article/learning-styles-teaching 

CA learning style is like a fingerprint– 

unique to each person. Your learning style will be influenced by your 

genetic make-up, your previous learning 

experiences, your culture and the society 

you live in. A learning style is the way you 

understand, think about, organize, and 

remember information. 

People of equal intelligence may learn in very 

different ways. When we teach someone 

something, be it a friend, a sibling, someone our 

own age or a different age, we tend to teach in a 

way that reflects how we like to learn. But not 

everyone learns the same way. By understanding our own learning style, and knowing about 

other learning styles, we can become both 

better learners and better teachers. 

Learning styles can be categorized into four 

groups. 

1.	 Analytic Learners follow their head to study 

things and figure out how they work. 

2.	 Innovative Learners follow their heart to 

work collaboratively and help others. 

3.	 Mastery Learners use their hands to take 

things apart and put them back together in 

order. 

4.	 Dynamic Learners use their imagination to 

transform what around them into something 

new. 

Each learning style is valuable and most people 

use a combination of styles. Although we 

usually learn how to use multiple styles, each 

ofus has one style that is easiest and most 

comfortable for us. 

continued next page >> 
page 2

lesson plan: activity 2.3 

What is Your Learning PersonaLitY?, Continued 

expeditionary

skiLLs

for life 

 

>> continued from previous page 

activity instructions
 

activity: My learning style (60 Minutes)
 

1.	 Distribute the What Type of Learner Am I? handout to 

each youth. 

2.	 Allow youth to read through each of the learner 

descriptions and to rank order the descriptions in 

relation to their preferred style. 

3.	 Divide the youth into four groups based on learning 

style they ranked first. Each group will represent one of 

the learning styles. It is okay if the groups are different 

sizes or if one group does not have anyone in it. If one 

type group is very large (more than 8), you may want 

to form two of that learning style group. 

4.	 Have each group determine what animal best represents their learning style. Example: cats or monkeys 

because they’re curious, fox because they’re smart, 

elephants because they have good memory, etc. 

5.	 Then have each group create a 60 second infomercial 

that explains why that animal represents their learning 

style. 

6. Allow each group to present their infomercial. 

Discussion Questions 

•	 Did anything surprise you about the different styles of 

learning? 

•	 How can understanding your learning style help you 

when you want to learn something? 

debrief activity: index card castles 

(25 Minutes) 

1.	 Divide youth into groups of 4-6 per group 

2.	 Give each group a stack of index cards and 2-3 writing 

utensils 

3.	 Have groups set up close to each other 

4.	 Ask youth to write down something they learned 

about learning styles or themselves (one idea per 

card) 

5.	 Give them 6-7 minutes to write, then have each group 

start building a castle out of their cards (tape can be 

provided but it is more challenging without tape) 

6.	 If castles fall, encourage those groups to consider how 

they might make a stronger “base” to their structure. 

7.	 After about 10 minutes of construction time, encourage groups to consider making their castles join each 

other creating a “village” (connecting castles can be 

done with blank cards) 

8.	 Once the village is created ask a few of the youth to 

share one idea they listed on the cards and then ask 

how many others listed the same idea/ statement 

applied cHallenge:
 

learning to teacHing (60 Minutes)
 

1.	 Divide the youth into small teams. Try to have as many 

different learning styles represented on each team as 

possible. 

2.	 Explain that each team is going to have 2-3 minutes to 

teach the full group about a specific topic that at least 

one member of the group is an expert at doing. These 

should be simple topics that need little preparation to 

teach. Example topics include: 

a.	 Tying a shoelace 

b.	 Braiding hair 

c.	 Making a paper airplane 

d.	 Playing Tic-Tac-Toe 

e.	 Washing your hands 

f.	 Drawing a unique smiley face 

3.	 Allow teams 15 minutes to identify their topic and plan 

their teaching. Remind them to think about the 

different ways each of them learns best and challenge 

them to incorporate those styles into their teaching. 

4.	 Have teams present their training. 

5.	 After each presentation ask the group if they can 

identify something in the training that targets each of 

the learning styles. 

6.	 At the conclusion of all the teaching presentations, ask 

the youth to describe any challenges they had in 

including the different learning styles into their teaching presentation. 

continued next page >> 
page 3

lesson plan: activity 2.3 

What is Your Learning PersonaLitY?, Continued 

expeditionary

skiLLs

for life 

>> continued from previous page	 instructor’s notes 

7.	 Ask the youth if they will do anything differently the 

next time they are giving any type of presentation to 

others. 

did you know? 

If you are assigned to fly aboard the space station as an 

Expedition crewmember, you will need about 18 months of 

training. You may require additional training in specific 

space systems and foreign langauage - especially Russian. 

fun fact 

Realistic simulators and virtual reality environments help 

International Space Station crewmembers prepare for 

long-duration missions. 

Learn more at https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/ 

support/training/isstraining/index.html 
page4

lesson plan: activity 2.3 

What is Your Learning PersonaLitY?, Continued 

expeditionary

skiLLs

for life 

wHat type of learner aM i? 

Read the descriptions below and decide which one sounds the most like you. Rank order the descriptions from most like 

you to least like you. Number one should be the description most like you and number four the one least like you. Place 

your ranking on the line next to the description title. 

Analytic Learner ____ 

•	 I am good at organizing things. 

•	 I like to figure out how things work. 

•	 I focus on the facts while learning. 

•	 I am patient and reflect on ideas. 

•	 I want to know “important things”. 

•	 I want to fully understand things. 

Innovative Learner ____ 

•	 I want to make the world a better place. 

•	 I am good at helping others. 

•	 I am good at understanding people’s feelings. 

•	 I like cooperating with others on group projects. 

•	 I like to personally connect with what I am learning. 

•	 I like games that everyone can play and nobody loses. 

Mastery Learner ____ 

•	 I enjoy doing things I know about. 

•	 I am good at getting things done. 

•	 I like to use common sense. 

•	 I follow a routine every day. 

•	 I like making things. 

•	 I want to find practical solutions. 

Dynamic Learner ____ 

•	 I enjoy trying new things. 

•	 I am good at discovering things. 

•	 I like to use my imagination. 

•	 I look for hidden possibilities. 

•	 I judge things by my gut reaction. 

•	 I like “what if” questions better than “yes or no” questions. 
activity 2.3: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 2.3: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 2.3: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 2.3: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

expeditionary

skiLLs


for life

expeditionary

skiLLs


for life 

I can describe my learning personality. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand ways of learning that are different from my 

own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can explain something in different ways for different 

types of learners. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can describe my learning personality. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand ways of learning that are different from my 

own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can explain something in different ways for different 

types of learners. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

expeditionary

skiLLs


for life

expeditionary

skiLLs


for life 

I can describe my learning personality. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand ways of learning that are different from my 

own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can explain something in different ways for different 

types of learners. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

Q1
 

Q2
 

Q3
 

I can describe my learning personality. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I understand ways of learning that are different from my 

own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can explain something in different ways for different 

types of learners. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me