1. Socratic Seminar Prep

2. Socratic Seminars
Socratic seminars are group discussions driven by the asking and answering of questions.
Questions should generate discussion, meaning they are more complex than a simple yes or no question
Think analysis based Level 2 Questions and Level 3 Questions

3. Costa’s Levels of Questioning

4. Socratic Seminars in this class…
Since we have never had a Socratic Seminar, we need to ask ourselves what we envision one looking like. On a sheet of binder paper, answer the following questions in as much detail as possible. Be sure to write for the entire time you are given.

5. Question 1: What does a good discussion look like?
What do we, as a class, need to do in order to make sure that we have a good class discussion?

6. Question 2:
What types of behaviors are appropriate during a classroom discussion?
What are some things that we should, and should not do, while having a classroom discussion?

7. Question 3:
In your opinion, what makes a question good or bad for a classroom discussion?
How does this translate to writing our own discussion questions?

8. Question 4:
What are the responsibilities of each member of the class during the classroom discussion?
What do you think the role of the teacher is while the discussion is taking place?

9. Socratic Seminars in Action!
Now that we have come up with our own guidelines for classroom discussion, let’s see what a Socratic Seminar actually looks like 

10. Now that we have watched….
What were some of the positive things you noticed in the video?
What are some of the things that were not so positive that you noticed?
How could the discussion have gone better?
What can we do, to make sure we have a successful Socratic Seminar?