Browse socratic seminar guidelines resources on teachers pay teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources. The seminar is designed to enable students to explore a text, a problem, an experience. A socratic seminar is a discussion in which students help one another understand the ideas, issues, and values reflected in a text or about a topic using a specific discussion format. The role and responsibilities of the socratic seminar. Socratic seminar moves past opinions and experiences by including a common text to which everyone in the circle has equal access. The socratic seminar is a group activity intended to increase critical thinking, self responsibility and self reliance. Possible assessment and evaluation 1 students created questions. Throughout my nine years as a high school language arts teacher, ive refined a pivotal strategy called the socratic seminar. Socratic seminar rubric purpose the purpose of a socratic seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas and values in a text. Tx001015 provides the students with an overview of this process.
During the course of the discussion, you might ask a follow up question or ask a question that takes the discussion a different direction. Sample questions for guided notes are included in the question files, socratic seminar questions on persuasive texts and socratic seminar questions on short stories. Participants in a socratic seminar respond to one another with respect by carefully listening. You have to set the kids up in two concentric circles and go over the rules and do practice dialogues that last 1015 minutes several times a month to prepare for an actual dialoguewho has time for that. A fairly simple methodology is utilized to improve the complex interplay of. Socratic seminar template and samples generic template a. Socratic seminar rubric for individual participants name. Arnold schwarzenegger this speech broke the internet and most inspiring speech it changed my life. Much of your grade is based on your ability to listen and respond to what was just said. Socrates believed that the best way to achieve understanding came from developing and pursuing insightful questions. Of course, you can adapt these to fit the needs of your students. Opening questions should get the seminar off to a start. Listen actively by watching and refraining from distractions and side conversations. A full set of seminar rubrics is available in a separate handout.
Below are typical rules used to structure a socratic seminar activity. Socratic seminar is based on an intellectual tradition generally associated with the ancient greek philosopher socrates who lived during the fifth century b. Didactic 1015%, coaching 6070%, seminar 1520% defines a socratic seminar as a collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with openended questions about a text. During any socratic seminar or discussion that we have in class, you are expected to use academic language when you speak. You will prepare your thoughts on several different questions. See the tlc socratic seminars page for the socratic seminar observation checklist.
How to lead a socratic seminar this article about the socratic seminar includes the following handouts. Different situation can you describe a situation that would. Rules 1 teams of 4 to 6 students will be given a topic, text, or issue that will be the focus of the socratic smackdown, as well as a question set. Socratic seminar closure activity for middle grades or higher created by the house of roush. Planning for a socratic seminar pre seminar activities.
Some teachers like to also post the initial key question. In the seminar, participants systematically question and examine issues and principles related to a particular content, and articulate different pointsofview. They will participate in a civil, polite discussion, not a screaming match or a debate. Here are the general guidelines for participating in a socratic seminar and a rubric that will be used to assess your participation. Outcomes data, anecdotal observations, and student reports higher scores on constructedextended response. Dont forget ground rules for each socratic seminar. You will be responsible for asking questions, raising issues and referring to sources or text for evidence that supports your opinion. Choose a text related to content or an issue to be discussed in the seminar.
The easy way to do socratic seminars in your classroom. The socratic method also known as method of elenchus, elenctic method, or socratic debate, is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. Go straight to the heart of socratic circles with a summary of socratic seminar rules, a versatile socratic seminar questions, and a downloadable socratic seminar rubric. How to run a socratic seminar as a teaching methodology. A practical guide to effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening instructionjosseybass.
Socratic seminar discusses the important distinction between a student led discussion and an actual socratic seminar. These seminars have rules that may not apply to other forms of discussion, so before beginning the seminar, it is important that everyone is aware of the norms. Socratic seminar guidelines before the socratic seminar read and prepare your text before the seminar using the critical reading process. It is named after the classical greek philosopher socrates and is introduced by him in platos theaetetus as. Basic rules for socratic seminar and speaking frames are provided.
A socratic seminar for elementary learners user generated. The group sits in a circle, allowing all participants to make eye contact. The format of a socratic seminar can vary but at its essence, students prepare by reading a text or several texts ahead of time and write discussion questions. Socratic seminar tips your goal is to understand issues, concepts, the ideas, and values reflected in the text. Sarah has generously given our readers free access to the socratic seminar materials at her site via the links below. With these tools you can implement the strategy immediately and maximize its value by customizing it to your individual needs. The teacher may share all possible discussion questions with students before the seminar or the teacher may share only one question before the seminar starts, depending on the length of the text, complexity of the discussion questions and ideas presented in the text. Explain the rules for to the students so that they all understand their role during the socratic seminar. Socratic seminars international, all rights reserved. What little reading i had done about them showed that theyd take up a ton of class time. The role of the teacher is similar to that of a sergeant at arms in a courtroomno verbal or nonverbal feedback, no directions once the discussion begins. This type of studentled discussion based on socrates method of student inquiry rather than teacher lecture elicits student ownership, deep thinking, critical questioning pdf, academic vocabulary usage, and a rooted sense of community.
Sep 22, 2016 throughout my nine years as a high school language arts teacher, ive refined a pivotal strategy called the socratic seminar. Socratic seminar establishes a framework for holding discussions centered on this ideal while promoting equal. Socratic seminar template and samples social studieshumanities sample a socratic seminar named after socrates is a deep discourse led by questioning. Openended questions andor critical reasoning analysis sheet, discussion partner evaluation purpose the purpose of a socratic seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding. A socratic seminar is method to try to understand information by creating a dialectic in class in regards to a specific text. They will participate in a civil, polite discussion, not a screaming match or a. The socratic method of teaching is based on socrates theory that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with right answers. On the assigned day, make sure all students have their questions ready. This step can easily be skipped in the daily rush of classroom life. After reading both there will come soft rains and the veldt by ray bradbury, students can participate in this socratic seminar activity.
Seminar guidelines please listen and look at each other when you speak. In turn, you also expected to apply good listening skills during the activity. Socratic seminar discussion questions a good socratic question is open ended, encouraging discussion rather than regurgitation of facts. Those teachers who adapt a socratic seminar by not being in the circle do so by running a student led discussion.
Everyone else in the class takes guided notes on the discussion. Socratic questioning is a systematic process for examining the ideas, questions, and answers that form the basis of human belief. The class sits in a circle allowing all participants to make eye contact. Development of math reasoning collaboratively by ryan higgins, ph. Students will prepare answers to the questions prior to the socratic smackdown. The purpose of a socratic seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas and values in a text. Socratic seminar stems facing history and ourselves. Please utilize the following sentence frames while you speak in order to incorporate strong academic. Read and prepare your text before the seminar using the critical reading process. Paragraphs and lines or portions of a score or painting need to be easily identified and referenced. But no set of rules can substitute for your sound judgment, good ears and eyes, and tact. Bring notes and bookmarked pages that are relevant to the discussion.
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