Intro to Socratic Seminar

Today, we introduced our upcoming activity, a Socratic Seminar over "Anthem."

According to ReadThinkWrite.org, a Socratic Seminar is...

a formal discussion, based on a text, in which the leader asks open-ended questions. Within the context of the discussion, students listen closely to the comments of others, thinking critically for themselves, and articulate their own thoughts and their responses to the thoughts of others.

Below is the information packet students received today regarding the purpose, process, preparations, and expectations of our Socratic Seminar. We reviewed it in class and discussed what students were responsible for doing to prepare and participate and what I as the teacher will do to prepare them for their participation.



To summarize, we condensed it down to these responsibilities:

Students are responsible for... Writing questions to pose during the seminar BEFORE the seminar date Preparing to respond to questions by marking text evidence Having knowledge of the text and of the overall plot Communicating with peers in a grade-appropriate and respectful manner Articulating ideas and supporting with evidence as necessary Taking notes over the their own participation and the participation of their partner

Ms. Hamman is responsible for... Providing feedback to guide question writing Structuring preparation time to assist students with writing quality questions Creating and providing materials to assist students in question writing Creating and providing materials to allow for self-evaluation during the seminar

On Friday, students will receive a prep packet to help them collect their best questions from their study guides as well as the tracking sheet for use on the day of the seminar. These handouts will both be turned in at the end of the seminar and will contribute to the student's overall grade.