Socratic seminars

Here's another loved lesson as described by Ms. Johnson from the halls of J.T. Henley:

Last week, I was able to observe and listen to a book discussion, similar to a Socratic Seminar, in Mrs. Bowden’s language arts class. There was an inner circle of students, who were the “Wizards” and an outer circle of students who were the “Silent Ones”. Their task was to discuss specific chapters in Ender’s Game. Each student had discussion starters in the form of questions that were either able to be proven in the chapters or were open-ended and led students to sharing their thoughts, ideas, and opinions about the characters and plot. Students were actively engaged with one another throughout the discussion and Mrs. Bowden was simply a facilitator to guide the process. As I was leaving, I noticed that the “Silent Ones” were dying to have a chance to speak and share their thoughts. This activity definitely supported all of the 4 C’s and could be easily used in multiple content areas. It’s always exciting to see students discussing literature and my guess is, in the end, Mrs. Bowden had a hard time ending the discussion to move onto the next class. Way to go, Mrs. Bowden’s students!