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Socratic seminar to talk about novels

 When you discuss a novel with students, especially a long one and/or in parts, in never cease to look for inspiration for new ideas how to go about the book in an engaging and thought- provoking way.

Ever heard of Socratic seminar or Socratic circles ? They go a long way, but it I only recently have discovered them.


What is it?

It basically a formal discussion based on a text, where students show and deepen their understanding of the ideas in the text through asking questions, answering them, observing others take part in a discussion, as well as reflecting on their performance and cognitive processes, communication and conclusions drawn. The beauty of it is that it allows students to engage with the text, to construct knowledge through collaboration, practice active listening and be reflective. 

What does it look like?

Students are divided into two groups, one of them forms the inner circle, the other is the outer circle. These could as well be squares, as long as students are facing ach other. The inner circle takes a set amount of time (eg 20 minutes) to discuss questions relating to the text they all read before. The questions are prepared and asked by the members of the outer circle who observes the discussion and takes notes. Then the circles switch and the process starts again.

Variations/;

 There are some variations on how to conduct the discussion- some teachers like to be or appoint a discussion leader or reserve a hot seat for a student form the outer circle to join the discussion should there be a need; some teachers prepare a fishbowl of questions, some ask students from the outer circle to just take turns and ask them; some teachers don't even have the outer circle, just the discussion one...I guess it is up to you, which variations you go for, as long as they work for you and your students:)

Preparation:

1. Students read the text, prepare questions and find quotations (see for example  this handout)

2. The ground rules for discussion (as in the picture above) are explained as well as  the rules for this type of discussion established

3. The teacher prepares a post discussion refection sheet, asking students to prove they were listening closely to the discussion and show their thinking, as well as reflect on what they could improve the next time (try this handout)

4. The discussion is evaluated based on some rubric (like this one)- it is a great opportunity for peer-assessment or self evaluation!

Obviously, the rubric the prep sheet and the debrief sheet might differ from group to group and from topic to topic, it depends what you want to discuss. specifically.

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