Socratic Seminar Prep
September
We introduce Seminar with a shared reading - which needs to remain a surprise!!! It is text which the students are wildly familiar with, but have possibly not spent much time thinking about what the words actually mean. It is a fabulous way to introduce these methods to new students. But it is a secret, no prep required! Shhhhhh!!!!
November
Thanksgiving, an American Tradition? Holiday? This is a discussion on perspective, history and gaining understanding.
Students will review different texts with factual data and primary sources to better understand what and where this tradition might have come from. They will also discuss the importance of investigating of reliable sources, information and how to discern what is factual and what might hold value of a different sort. Students will also skim in class the book Encounter by Jane Yolen to review a possible Indigenous perspective of the Explorers (fiction).
January
Do You Harbor Bias? Watch below.....and then ask yourself again the same question!
Biases are natural, we all have them, often without even realizing it. In class - I tell my kids that they need to always get "out of their box" and continue to question where a thought, belief, idea may have come from. We need to continue to be critical thinkers. Continue to question....everything!
January 2019 Socratic Seminar - MLK Jr.
In Science class we will be looking at and discussing the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and investigating why we celebrate it. Students will read the I Have a Dream speech following different videos and classroom discussions to try to question why the speech was so powerful within that time frame.
***Please note that not all of these materials are being presented in the classroom 2020-2021 due to limited timing and climate within education.
In Seminar, it is not my job to tell others how to think nor do I share my beliefs and thoughts. I act as a facilitator and your children lead the discussion. Students have all reviewed the same material and read from the same text. They have also been prompted to understand that each individual's perspective, life experience and belief system is different and therefore, their opinions and questions may be different from their own. Socratic Seminar is about leading with a question, acknowledging others' questions and staying curious.
The Golden Rule
This booklet is quite informative and offers suggestions for parents and elementary level discussions. Check out Page 12.
Age-appropriate Articles Which Can Be Shared with Kids
From birth, according to research it seems, we are already grouping people by different means.... In my class we do talk about skin color. We talk about race as a construct and how you cannot know someones ethnicity without asking them or by genetic testing. We also talk about racism or grouping people by perceived skin color or ethnicity group....can lead to muddy waters. How do we continue to grow past this and ensure that we do not aid in developing bias in our children? How do we assist them in extinguishing beliefs already in place?
My Personal Light-bulb
This dissertation was life-changing for me. I was introduced to it while in an academic setting. I would not suggest it for sharing with your 9-10 year olds...but if interested, it is powerful and I love to share it with others. She has great TED talks online too!
The Ugly
I think to really understand why the Civil Rights Movement was so monumental, the kids have to understand just how UGLY things were during this time. At school, I am limited in what I feel comfortable sharing as the level of discussion needed is challenging to provide .... but we have talked briefly about the Woolworth Counter Sit-in and the Freedom Riders and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We discuss that this movement involved many different activists from all over our nation. Below are a couple of appropriate videos, which do show some artifacts and photos, but more importantly some testimonials. I would suggest that these are viewed alongside parent/child so discussion can take place afterwards. We can only ensure social justice within our future if we understand the mistakes of our past.
March
Might you be a bystander? Have you ever been on the receiving end of Relational Bullying? Have you, yourself, ever been a bully?
Let's discuss! We will review the following video clips in class and discuss the following text. We want to question why people might act-out in this way. What questions come to mind? Do you think if by understanding and acknowledging....we can move past this behavior?
Books we will review as a group:
Videos we will review and discuss in Seminar:
SHARED TEXT:
May
Is there a benefit to animals in captivity?
Tough questions, opposing views, yet maybe there is not one correct answer. In this forum we hope to gain clarity through questioning, not debating. From this seminar, we plan to turn it into a writing assignment and create a strong thesis statement supporting our personal opinion.
Shared Text: