or<\/i><\/p>\n
The group meets and begins \u201cdiscussing\u201d, yet each student\u2019s response is directed right at you – the teacher, as if the other students aren\u2019t there at all. They are merely performing for you.<\/span><\/p>\n Sound familiar?<\/span><\/p>\n Many of us have observed this phenomenon: \u00a0prepared, enthusiastic, and engaged students who haven\u2019t yet built the conversation skills they\u2019ll need in life. \u00a0When I came across this situation in my fifth-grade classroom this year, I remembered a technique I\u2019d been introduced to in my teacher education program: the Socratic Seminar.<\/span><\/p>\n In case you are not familiar with the technique (or you\u2019ve never seen Bill and Ted\u2019s Excellent Adventure<\/a>), a Socratic Seminar is a formal, student-led, content-focused discussion in which students engage in conversations about their learning with their peers. Socratic Seminars provide students with opportunities to practice and improve transferable skills, such as clear and effective communication and responsible and involved citizenship, and self-direction.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes: your ten-year-old students can engage in a successful Socratic Seminar discussion. \u00a0But it takes some carefully laid groundwork.<\/span><\/p>\n A strong classroom community is the foundation of, well, everything that\u2019s good. \u00a0I began the year slowly and with explicit expectations about everything: from how to sharpen a pencil to how to raise your hand. \u00a0Being crystal clear about expectations takes the pressure off students. When they know exactly how to do something they worry less about feeling awkward and can instead focus on being engaged.<\/span><\/p>\n We also spent a lot of time sharing with each other and making connections through personal interactions. \u00a0These two practices helped us gel together as a community. Once things were moving along relatively smoothly, I knew we were ready to try a Socratic Seminar.<\/span><\/p>\n There are so many ways you can do prepare students for this experience. Essentially students need to know what a Socratic Seminar is, why you\u2019re going to do one, and what that will look like and sound like. <\/span><\/p>\n In my classroom, we did this in three stages.<\/span><\/p>\n To introduce the concept of Socratic Seminars, I used a <\/span>Prezi to introduce the Socratic Seminar<\/span><\/a>. The original version by Tiana Fox was intended for a high school audience so I adapted the language and formatting to fit the needs of my classes. <\/span><\/p>\n The overview included key details, such as Highlights of the Prezi include:<\/span><\/p>\n We also watched a video of other students engaging in a Socratic Seminar and analyzed it together. \u00a0This helped my students get a sense of what it looked like, and what to expect.<\/span><\/p>\n Once we knew what a Socratic Seminar was and how it worked, we began to map out what it would look like in our class. \u00a0We decided to do a fishbowl-style seminar, with students sitting in two concentric circles. The inside circle would be engaging in a Socratic discussion, while the outside circle would serve as peer observers, offering feedback to their classmates. To get this rolling, we carefully laid out the different roles of the inside and outside circles.\u00a0 Then we practiced each role. <\/span><\/p>\n Students taking a turn in the outside circle would be responsible for giving feedback to a partner in the inside circle. Then they would switch roles. To prepare, I created a peer observation sheet and we practiced using it.\u00a0 This scaffolding prepared each student for success.<\/span><\/p>\n Socratic Seminar Observation form<\/a><\/p>\n![\"woman](\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_20190521_145229130.jpg\")
<\/a>Scaffolding discussion skills<\/b><\/h2>\n
Enter: Socratic Seminar<\/h2>\n
Would it work in fifth-grade?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Community as the foundation<\/b><\/h2>\n
Setting the stage<\/b><\/h2>\n
Build background knowledge<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Map out a plan<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nGiving (& getting) feedback<\/b><\/h2>\n