1. What is a Socratic Seminar?
A way of teaching founded by the Greek philosopher Socrates.
Socrates believed that:
students learn best by asking questions.

2. What is the Rationale?
power of asking questions
inquiry over information
discussion over debate
acknowledge the highly social nature of learning
Learn to work cooperatively and to question intelligently and civilly.
----National Council of Teachers of English

3. Benefits of Socratic Circles
Advances critical reading
Improves discussion and listening skills
Provides student ownership, voice, and empowerment
Allows synthesis of knowledge and skills
Increases vocabulary

4. Questioning is the key Original Questions Follow-up Questions
DOK levels
Jarratt, Susan C. Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured. Southern Illinois University Press, 1991.

5. Preparing for a Socratic Seminar
It is essential that you
read the text
annotate
prepare leveled questions

6. What type of questions should I ask during the seminar?
There are three levels of questions.
You should come up with a minimum of 1 question per level.

7. Level 1 (Knowledge Questions):
Knowledge means being able to show understanding by talking, writing, signing, drawing.
Please consider the following stems in creating your Knowledge Questions:
What actually happened….?
Describe the scene when…
What did you learn from captions or pictures?
How would you summarize the information in chapter 3?

8. Level II (Application Questions):
Application means supporting your ideas with evidence from text.
Please consider the following stems in creating your Application Questions:
Explain how …
Explain why …
Interpret the reasons …
Compare and contrast …
Connect and explain …

9. Level III (Synthesis Questions):
Synthesis means combining or connecting two different elements.
In terms of the Socratic Circle:
Text to Text (books, articles, authors, movies, etc.)
Text to Self (personal experience, opinion, etc.)
Text to World (politics, society, etc.)
Text to Nature (environment, geography, etc.)

10. Level III (Synthesis Questions) Continued
Please use the following stems in creating your Synthesis Questions:
Analyze the author’s intent when…
What would happen if …?
Hypothesize …
What world issue is examined and what is your opinion?
Speculate …
What’s missing in the text?

11. Seminar Guidelines
Please listen and look at each other when you speak.
One person speaks at a time.
Each person will have a chance to ask a question.
Respond to the person who asks the question.
Use evidence from the text to support yourself.
Always treat each other with mutual respect.

12. What’s So Hard About It? For students: Sometimes no one talks.
Sometimes everyone talks.
Must be prepared with questions.
Often no closure
For teachers:
Must be an observer and not a participant
Can’t help when students flounder
Grading a skill vs. a tangible product
Often no closure

13. Improves Over Time
“Students in classrooms with high academic demands and more emphasis on discussion-based approaches show higher end-of-year literacy performance.”
(Applebee et al., 2003, p. 717)

14. The unexamined life is not worth living. ---Socrates