Guide to Socratic Seminar What are the elements of Socratic Seminar?

1. Guide to Socratic Seminar What are the elements of Socratic Seminar? How does it differ from classroom engagement with text? 2. Models 3. Your turn to practice 4. Evaluation and feedback possibilities Presenter: Amy Benjamin www.amybenjamin.com

2. The 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, articulating their own thoughts and their responses to the thoughts of others. They learn to work cooperatively and to question intelligently and civilly.

3. Traditional Classroom Dialogue (Recitation Script) Socratic Seminar Meeting-style set-up Questions are open-ended Teacher does not necessarily know the answers; leads students to clarify or extend their responses Students offering responses are asked to justify them (“How do you know?” Class experience is unpredictable; cannot be replicated; may or may not work well Lesson ends without definitive closure, encouraging students to keep thinking Like a book club Lecture-style set-up Questions have right-or-wrong answers Teacher knows the answers; leads students to say them (“guess-what- I’m-thinking”) Students offering answers receive positive or negative feedback based on the rightness of their answer Class experience is predictable, can be replicated Lesson ends with pre-planned closure Like a worksheet

4. Socratic Seminar Debate Purpose: to prove others wrong Requires listening to find flaws in reasoning and inaccuracies in facts Demands bravado Looks for weaknesses in the opposition’s points and positions Requires closure Purpose: to develop a deeper understanding of a text, with the help of the insights of others Requires listening for further meaning Demands an open mind Looks for strength in all positions Discourages closure

5. Three Rules: Listen: You may not start a sentence until the previous speaker has finished. Display attentive body language. 2. Refer directly the the text and wait for others to find the place in the relevant part of the text. 3. Build on the comments of others.

6. Teacher’s Role in Socratic Seminar Set up a student-centered seating arrangement; be at eye level with the students 2. Select an appropriate text 3. Be prepared with a few kick-off questions 4. Keep the dialogue going with follow-up questions 5. Remind all students to refer to the text while others are speaking 6. Have a system for turn-taking that works for this group 7. Remain non-judgmental about responses; ask clarifying questions 8. Resist the temptation to be didactic 9. Model the behavior that you want the students to emulate 10. (Optional): Write a few literary and/or rhetorical terms on the board, to assist students in their use of academic language tone (ex: irony, ironic, refrain, motif, stanza, metaphor, contrast, juxtaposition, implication, connotation, …)

7. Seminar Starters If you asked the author what he/she wanted the reader to take away from this, what do you think the author would say? Why do you think the author chose to start with…? What do you think the author means by…..? What do you think the author would say about…? Why do you think the author chose to….? Why do you think the author chose the word _____? Which event in this passage do you think will turn out to be important later? Why do you think the author included____? Why do you think the author chose to end with…?

8. Suggestions: What do you notice? (Gets students looking for patterns, motifs, refrains, contrasts, etc.) 2. What are three abstract nouns that capture the author’s purpose? (-ment, -ness, -ity, -ism, -tion, -hood, -ance, -ence) What are the specific line that support your claim? 3. Focus on a specific word. Why do you think the author chose that word, rather than another one with a similar meaning? 4. Given what we know about the author, do you see anything in this text that reflects the author’s life, other works, or known beliefs?

9. Sentence Frames for Written Response: It connects me to… because… It gives me insight into… because… It helps me understand…because… It’s funny because… It changes how I think about…because… It validates how I’ve always thought about…because… ICE the Text I: Identify the point in the text to which you are referring. C: Cite that quotation properly. E: Explain its significance.

10. Socratic Seminar Evaluation: Excellent: Commendable: Inconsistent: Unsatisfactory: Makes insightful comments Refers directly to the text Builds on others’ comments Uses an academic language tone Appears to be listening

11. Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels for Socratic Seminar Who? What? When? Where? How? What are the key transitions in the piece? Summarize the piece. What do you think is the author’s purpose? What visuals stick with you? Does the author give examples to support his/her purpose? What patterns do you notice? How do these patterns contribute to meaning? Compare/contrast this piece to a piece on a similar subject. Are any words used in unusual ways? What might these words mean in this context? Level I: Literal Reading What, if anything, would you like to ask this author? Why? Level II: Inference Level IV: Extended Thinking What is the tone? How do you know? Does the tone change within the piece? Where? How do you know? Think about the way this piece is organized. Why do you think the author chose to organize it in this way? Level III: Strategic Thinking When and were was this piece written? Does knowing this illuminate its meaning? What would be an abstract noun that represents a “big idea” (theme) in this piece? (-ness, -ment, -ity, -ism, -tion, -sion, -hood, -ure, -ance, ence) Find a small detail. Why is this detail included? How does this detail support your abstract noun (theme)?

12. Metacogitive frame: (Interpretation…..). I To come to this conclusion, I (reread, considered, listened to, thought about…)….

13. Thesis Statement Frame: Part III Regents Exam: “…identify a central idea in the text and analyze how the author’s the use of one writing strategy develops the central idea…” In________________________, ______________________________ employs_______________________ to ______________________________________________________. (title of piece) (author’s name) (method: irony, sensory detail, dialogue, vivid descriptions of the setting, contrast, metaphor, first person point-of-view, a satirical tone, techniques of characterization, repetition, et. al. ) (effect:)

14. I gave them the white boards and told them to write all the feelings they think the narrator experienced. So they made quite the list: afraid, sorrowful, sad, grieving, annoyed, tortured. So we talked about why they wrote these words for about 10 min. They really were able to pull together that he was grieving for Lenore and that the bird was tormenting him about it. Then I asked them to erase and write anything that stood out to them, a theme, motif etc. they came up w midnight, animals that torment, hell/devil, nervousness, paranoia, “something always seems to be driving the narrator crazy.”   We stuck our toe in and only did this for about 25 min. I was so proud of them. I feel like presenting it w the Simpsons was less intimidating and they really came through. I mostly wanted them to appreciate it, instead of boring them. I’m not done with it yet, I’d like to give it a second run, since there’s so much there. No they don’t know about the team the Ravens... yet! I’ll get there. We’re using newsela mostly, I have an ELL who reads the article in Spanish, then does his HW in English, using the English copy. So, newsela’s perfect for this accommodation. We know you’re at Dodd, hope they’re appreciating you!  ELA/ENL Teacher Michelle Salerno, Freeport HS