Unit Four: Socratic Discussions in Action
Target Objectives
1. Users of this course will evaluate the effectiveness of a Socratic Discussion and be able to demonstrate its use to engage students in class discussion, with long-term impacts on reading, writing, and speaking skills.
Unit Objectives
· Users will create their own lesson plan using this tool
Lesson One: Get to Work!
Action
Now you have the tools you need in order to understand the history, purpose, theory, and practice of a Socratic Discussion in the ELA classroom. Now it’s up to you to be creative and incorporate this discussion tool into your classroom. Remember that the format used in Unit Three, Lesson Three: The Lesson, is just a basic guideline for how a Socratic Discussion should work. You can change and add or remove any aspect of the discussion that does not work with your particular group of students, your lesson objectives, or time allotted in class for this discussion. The main thing to include is giving students time to reflect on the question and to talk in an open forum about their ideas and to be able to learn and build upon the ideas, comments, and reflection of their classmates. For reference on how to build your Socratic Discussion and for more information about this topic, check out some of the links below.
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
1. How did using the Socratic Discussion work in your classroom? What are you going to change in the future?
2. Let us know how your lesson turned out!
Methods and Application of the Socratic Discussion – http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Socratic_method.html
The Role of Socratic Questioning in Thinking, Teaching, and Learning –
Learn NC –
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4994
Strategy Guide –
http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/socratic-seminars-30600.html