The Socratic Seminar for Students Discussions in Middle School and Upper Elementary Classrooms | Part One

 WHAT IS THE SOCRATIC SEMINAR?

The Socratic seminar is a formal way to have student discussions, based on a text, in which the leader asks open-ended questions. Within the context of the student 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 (ReadWriteThink.org). Students sit in a circle, or honestly just around the classroom to save time, and basically just have a discussion about the novel based on the guiding and interpretive questions that I come up with. The idea is to get students thinking critically and having discussions that dig deeper into the novels that we are reading in our classroom. The teacher jots notes while the students discuss so that students can expand on their thinking in their reading responses. 

WHY A BLOG POST ABOUT SOCRATIC SEMINARS?

I have been making reading units (not novel studies) that use the Socratic Seminar to guide and facilitate questions and student discussions. I have utilized the Socratic Seminar in a ton of different ways in grades fifth through eighth, but especially with my reading units that I create in my store:

1. Fifth Grade Socratic Seminar Reading Units 
2. Sixth Grade Socratic Seminar Reading Units
3. Middle School Socratic Seminar Reading Units

HOW DID YOU LEARN TO DO THE SOCRATIC SEMINAR?

During my second year of teaching fifth grade, I was blessed with the most amazing teaching partner. She had spent 5 years teaching in the Tacoma, WA area. Cute little charter school me, was still working her way through how to teach. Technically, my charter school didn’t have a reading or writing curriculum. I had implemented daily 5, a lot of interactive notebooking, and a writing workshop *kind of. But in terms of thinking about how to teach my students to think, have quality discussions, problem solve, and be critical readers… I was kind of just trying to keep my head above water. Shelly explained The Socratic Seminar to me, and she changed my life. Kind of*. At first, I just didn’t get it. She had been trained in something called “Literacy Studio. She had working knowledge of how to create guiding and interpretive questions. After she made her first “Socratic Seminar” reading unit with Swiss Family Robinson, she emailed it to me (I think to look it over… possibly because I had kept telling her about doing the seller side of TPT ha!). I read through the unit, the questions, the idea, and was like, “OH MY GOSH. THIS IS AMAZING!” I watched her students have this incredible discussions, and I was changed. I loved the idea of using my favorite novels to teach the kids. Often times, people will ask me how I come up with my questions and units The honest answer is that I read Shelly’s units and then have since created units based on that. I asked Shelly when I had questions. I have no other training, but I have seen it’s effectiveness, and have improved and adapted from there.

SOMETHING I WANT TO MAKE VERY CLEAR:

Shelly and I did not EVER set out to teach novels. We set out to teach our students, by using novels. We DO NOT create novel studies, nor do we really believe in them. The goal was to get our students to have authentic discussions.

As a middle school ELA teacher, that required to teach some novels, I still believe the same thing. I could care less if they “learn” the novel (this happens naturally, if you aren’t forcing it on them. Promise). I care that they learn how to think, discuss, analyze, and question. The novel is basically a resource.

HOW DO YOU USE THE SOCRATIC SEMINAR IN THE CLASSROOM?

If you were asking me this question personally, I would say, “For basically anything and everything!” The best way to think of use in the classroom is like the biggest, best discussion ever. The questions are open-ended. They don’t have a wrong or right answer.

You are the facilitator of the discussion, in that you ask the questions, teach them how to be respectful and how to discuss, and then chart their thinking. The students then use information from their discussion, and your charting, to write thoughtful responses.

USING THIS CONCEPT IN ANY SUBJECT

1. Reading: What character traits do you think you need to survive at Camp Green Lake? (In the book, Holes)
2. Writing: We are going to write an argumentative piece on whether or not pit bulls should be banned from certain neighborhoods. What do you think of this issue?
3. Math: How do we use fractions in our everyday lives?
4. Science: What would happen if animals and plants didn’t adapt? Why?
5. Social Studies: Do you think it was right for settlers to take the lands from the Native Americans? Why or why not?

SOCRATIC SEMINAR RESEARCH BASIS

The following information can all be found at ReadWriteThink.org:

• Socratic seminars are named for their embodiment of Socrates’ belief in the power of asking questions. The goal is inquiry over information and discussion over debate.
• Socratic seminars acknowledge the highly social nature of learning and align with the work of John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, and Paulo Friere. Elfie Israel succinctly defines Socratic seminars and implies their rich benefits for students: They learn to work cooperatively and to question intelligently and civilly. (89)
• Israel, Elfie. “Examining Multiple Perspectives in Literature.” In Inquiry and the Literary Text: Constructing Discussions n the English Classroom. James Holden and John S. Schmit, eds. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2002.

STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SOCRATIC SEMINAR IN THE CLASSROOM.

I do think you can use the Socratic seminar for just about anything. Personally, I use them most consistently with my reading units and writing is continually integrated into all them. These are all the things that we make sure are in place, before we try to jump in with Socratic Seminars. I will go into more specific examples in Part II of this series, but this is a general overview.

PREP WORK FOR A SUCCESSFUL SOCRATIC SEMINAR

1. Choosing the Text: Socratic seminars work best with authentic texts that invite authentic inquiry.
2. Preparing the Students: While students should read carefully and prepare well for every class session, it is usually best to tell students ahead of time when they will be expected to participate in a Socratic seminar. Because seminars ask students to keep focusing back on the text, you may distribute sticky notes for students to use to annotate the text as they read.
3. Preparing the Questions: Though students may eventually be given responsibility for running the entire session, the teacher usually fills the role of discussion leader as students learn about seminars and questioning.  Generate as many open-ended questions as possible, aiming for questions whose value lies in their exploration, not their answer.  Start and end with questions that relate more directly to students’ lives so the entire conversation is rooted in the context of their real experiences.

ESTABLISHING ROLES FOR A SUCCESSFUL SOCRATIC SEMINAR

1. Establishing Student Expectations: Student inquiry and thinking are central to the philosophy of Socratic seminars. It is an authentic move to include students integrally in the establishment of norms for the seminar.  Begin by asking students to differentiate between behaviors that characterize debate (persuasion, prepared rebuttals, clear sides) and those that characterize discussion (inquiry, responses that grow from the thoughts of others, communal spirit).  Ask students to hold themselves accountable for the norms they agree upon.
2. Establishing Your Role: You may assume leadership through determining which open-ended questions students will explore (at first). The teacher should not see him or herself as a significant participant in the pursuit of those questions.  You may find it useful to limit your intrusions to helpful reminders about procedures (e.g. “Maybe this is a good time to turn our attention back the text?”  “Do we feel ready to explore a different aspect of the text?”).  Resist the urge to correct or redirect.  Rely instead on other students to respectfully challenge their peers’ interpretations or offer alternative views.
3. Assessing Effectiveness: Socratic seminars require assessment that respects the central nature of student-centered inquiry to their success.  The most global measure of success is reflection, both on the part of the teacher and students. Text-centered student talk dominated the time and work of the session.  Reflective writing asking students to describe their participation. They set their own goals for future seminars can be effective as well. The process of gaining capacity for inquiring into text is more important than “getting it right” at any particular point.

RELATED BLOG POSTS

• One: The Socratic Seminar for Student Discussions in Middle School ELA | Part One
• Two: The Socratic Seminar with Novels | Part Two
• Three: The Socratic Seminar | Grading and Assessing Student Reading Response | Part Three 

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