Socratic Seminar 1
Socratic Seminar: Curiosity and Community
Ashley Terada
Los Angeles Institute 2009
Table of Contents Page 2
Overview Page 3
Guidelines Page 4
Set-up Page 5
Preparation for Students Page 6
Pre-reading Page 7
Types of Questions Page 9
Preparation for Teachers Page 10
Scoring and Rubrics Page 11
Ideas for Different Subject Areas Page 13
English/Language Arts Page 14
Math Page 15
Science Page 16
Social Science Page 17
General Page 18
Overview
What is a Socratic Seminar?
A Socratic Seminar is a form of teaching. Socrates believed that students learned best when they had to think for themselves. Socrates would respond to student questions not with answers, but rather with more questions. Rather than the teacher simply filling the students’ heads with ideas students form their own thoughts and share them with the rest of the class. Students examine a similar piece of text or problem and then share a dialogue to come to a better understanding.
How do you make sure students keep discussing?
Always, always, always have a pre-discussion activity. This will ensure students come prepared and ready to discuss (see “Preparation for Students” on page 6). Also, it will be important for the teacher to have some open-ended questions ready (see “Preparation for Teachers” on page ).
Do students actually like this?
Yes! Students love having those “Ah-HA!” moments. The Socratic Seminar is the perfect place for them to take place. They love that they are running the class and answering (and asking) the questions that interest them.
There is no way that this works.
That’s not a question, and yes it does. Since expectations are always made clear ahead of time students know what they are supposed to do, plus they like it! Management is rarely a problem when students are doing something they enjoy. While some students may be hesitant to offer opinions and add to the dialogue at first, with continued practice they will become pros! It is also a great way to build a culture of collaboration in a class!!
Guidelines
· It is not a debate, but rather a discussion.
· Students must address each other by name and use “I” phrases.
o I agree with ______because______
o I disagree with ______because ______
· No raising hands (everyone’s favorite rule)
· You must back up statements with textual evidence (with specific page numbers) or theories/methods discussed in class.
· No side discussions.
· No talking over each other.
· Respect everyone’s opinions.
· Anyone may ask questions of the group at any time.
· Talk to the group, not to the teacher.
Because this is a dialogue and not a debate we must:
· Suspend judgment
· Explain reasoning and be able to see its limits
· Communicate assumptions
· Exploring many viewpoints
It is important to post these guidelines in the room or have individual copies for each student to look over.
Set-Up
For classes of 20 or fewer:
· Students should arrange desks in a circle facing inward.
For classes of more than 20
Option A:
· Students should split in half and arrange two sets of circles—an inner circle and an outer circle.
· The inner circle will participate while the outer circle does a related activity.
o Take notes
o Keep “score” for a partner in the inner circle (see “Scoring and Rubrics” on page ).
o Fill out a graphic organizer related to the seminar
· Circles will switch halfway through so all students get a chance to complete all activities.
Option B:
· Have half the class participate in a Socratic Seminar while the other half of the class does an Independent Practice activity and then have them switch halfway through.
Preparation for Students
Students will need to come to the seminar ahead of time prepared. They should have already become familiar with the material—whether it’s reading a text, reviewing theories, or completing a homework or class assignment that fits with the Seminar—and should have something to discuss. In order to find things to discuss the work that they did beforehand should help focus their ideas.
This can be done in a few ways. The teacher can create an assignment that will focus their thinking. On page 7 there is an example of a pre-reading assignment for Shirley Jackson’s short story entitled “The Lottery.” This is a great story to start using Socratic Seminars as a class; its surprise ending grabs the students and gives them a lot to talk about. Due to copyright issues the story cannot be added to this packet, but it is easily found online. With this particular activity the students completed the pre-reading assignment for homework, the next day read the story as class, and then engaged in a Socratic Seminar. The teacher should have some open-ended questions prepared, but often the students have the same questions. Ideas include: Why do the townspeople love the lottery? Why do they continue with the tradition? What does the box represent?
Another way to prepare students is to have them compile a list of questions (see page 9 for some ideas). They can keep them and ask them during the course of the seminar, they can shuffle the questions so they have a different student’s questions to ask, or the teacher can collect them and ask them. It is important to let students know that they are not constrained to the questions that they have in front of them—they are always welcome to ask different questions if they come up.
The Lottery (Pre-reading Activity)
Name______
Read the following sections from the story and answer the questions.
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.
Who participates in the lottery?
______
What do you think the atmosphere is on the day of the lottery, according to the first paragraph of the story?
______
Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times.
What other details do you learn about the town from this paragraph?
______
Guess what the possible prize for winning the Lottery could be if it is held in all of the neighboring towns.
______
______
Types of Questions
The questions that students should ask move up Bloom’s Taxonomy. This gets the students thinking critically about the text, but starts them off easily. An effective way of using these questions is to tell students they need to write one of each in preparation for the Socratic Seminar. How the teacher uses these questions can vary, but often times the students will have questions that connect but address varying levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Often it is best to let the dialogue flow organically rather than trying to get all the low level questions first and then move up.
The types of questions:
Closed-ended question: This question has a definite answer that can be found in the text. (Knowledge/Comprehension level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Open-ended question: This question will require dialogue and some reasoning. The answer will have textual support, but will not be answered explicitly in the text. (Analysis level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Connection question: This question will connect the text or problem to the student’s lives, their community, the country, the world, etc. We also call these “real world” questions. (Application level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Process question: This question asks why something is done a certain way. Why did the author do it this way? Why did the president make this decision? Why should scientists have to go through this process before they can do that? Why should this mathematical equation be used rather than another? These questions are a bit more difficult to come up with, but create the best dialogue. (Synthesis/Evaluation level of Bloom’s Taxonomy)
Teacher Preparation
Teachers will have to be extremely prepared the first few times they conduct Socratic Seminars. This means coming up with a pretty long list of questions in case students are hesitant to ask (see page 9 for the types of questions). Additionally, figuring out a way to score the Socratic Seminar the first few times will also be difficult. Should points be given each time the students speak? Should points be given for the quality of their answers? Should a grade be given at all?
Some teachers do not like to give grades for Socratic Seminars for fear that it will make the dialogue more of a competition. If no grade is given then the students must be completely invested in the Socratic Seminar or they may use the opportunity to zone out.
On the following page is an example of two different types of rubric and a system that is quick and easy to use—and are easily manipulated. Ultimately the scoring is up to the individual teacher.
Level A
· Participant offers enough solid analysis, without prompting, to move the conversation forward
· Participant, through her comments, demonstrates a deep knowledge of the text and the question
· Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes and a marked/annotated text
· Participant, through her comments, shows that she is actively listening to other participants
· Participant offers clarification and/or follow-up that extends the conversation
· Participant’s remarks often refer back to specific parts of the text.
Level B
· Participant offers solid analysis without prompting
· Through comments, participant demonstrates a good knowledge of the text and the question
· Participant has come to the seminar prepared, with notes or a marked/annotated text
· Participant shows that he/she is actively listening to others and offers clarification and/or follow-up
Level C
· Participant offers some analysis, but needs prompting from the seminar leader
· Through comments, participant demonstrates a general knowledge of the text and question
· Participant is less prepared, with few notes and no marked/annotated text
· Participant is actively listening to others, but does not offer clarification and/or follow-up to others’ comments
· Participant relies more upon his or her opinion, and less on the text to drive her comments
Level D/F
· Participant offers little commentary
· Participant comes to the seminar ill-prepared with little understanding of the text and question
· Participant does not listen to others, offers no commentary to further the discussion
· Participant distracts the group by interrupting other speakers or by offering off topic questions and comments.
Student Name / Level A / Level B / Level C / Level D· Participant ignores the discussion and its participants
One way to use this table is to place checks in each column for different types of behaviors and then averaged. Usage is flexible.
The following is another type of rubric that is more in-depth. This works great if there is an outer circle and an inner circle. One student can be assigned to watch another student during the Socratic Seminar. That student can take notes and ultimately evaluate the other student. Teachers can use this as part of both students’ grades. The teacher should NOT rely only on what the students say about each other.
Beginning / Developing / Accomplished / ExemplaryGives evidence and makes inferences. / Locates factual evidence with page number. / Locates evidence in support of an idea under discussion. / Uses evidence in the text to expand on, analyze or critique an idea. / Uses the text to create a new idea or draw connections among ideas.
Asks questions which lead to rich discussion and deeper group understanding. / Asks a question related to the current discussion. / Asks questions that evoke deeper responses from others. / Asks questions that connect ideas in the current discussion to previous comments. / Asks questions that relate the current discussion to bigger themes or ideas.
Acts in ways which contribute to building a group that is collaboratively searching for meaning. / Listens to others. / Asks questions to clarify what someone has said / Builds on another person's idea. / Connects the ideas of several students.
Ideas for Different Subject Areas