My Version of Discussion: The Not-So-Socratic Seminar

My Version of Discussion: The Not-So-Socratic Seminar

To alleviate trying to get through a class discussion (or Socratic Seminar), I have created a way to encourage my students to have group discussions. I took a few different ideas from other places and put them together into one strategy.

After reading a section of the assigned text, I discuss levels of questioning with my students.  I got this idea from Jim Burke.  Then, I have my students each ask one inductive or analytical question about the reading.  They will write these questions on individual white boards or on either half-sheets of paper or sticky notes instead.

Then I get the students into groups of four.  They have two minutes to read each question the group members have created and decide, as a group, which question is the best question, or the question they are most interested in answering.

Once each group has decided on a question, they get a notecard; they write the group question on one side of the notecard.  Then they get time for each individual to write their answer to the group question on their whiteboards--about a minute or so.  Then they are given time to share their answers in their groups.  As a group, they have to synthesize everyone's answer into one "BEST answer," which they place on the back of their notecards. I give about three or four minutes for this.

I collect notecards and disperse them out to the other groups (this way each group will get a new question).  I hand out four sticky notes to each group and one regular sized piece of paper.  The group reads the question and, without turning over the card to see the answer, each group member writes his/her answer on their own sticky note.  After a minute or so, I call time and have the group members each put their sticky notes on one corner of the paper.  This way all four corners have a sticky note with an answer to the question on it.  Like this:

Then the group members synthesize their answers into the best answer (like in the picture).  They can then compare their answer to the answer on the notecard. If it is the same, great.  If it is different, the group needs to explain why their answer is the more correct answer on the back of their sheet of paper.  This may take five or more minutes to complete.  Groups then turn all their work back in to me.

In this way, groups are writing, discussing, analyzing, inferring, synthesizing, and evaluating.