Using Socratic Seminars and Literature Circles: Teaching by Questioning

The use of Socratic Seminars, also known as Literature Circles, in the classroom gives students the opportunity to engage and connect with their peers around a commonly read text. It should be noted that the use of the Socratic Method is not just for high schoolers, but can easily and effectively be used at all grade levels. Ross Cooper, Supervisor of Instructional Practice K-12, Salisbury Township School District, Allentown, PA, uses Literature Circles in his 4th grade classroom and talks about it in his recent article, “(Almost) Paperless Literature Circles”. The biggest thing to see here is that students own this process and thus are directing and managing their own learning - with some careful guidance from Cooper. Key to his implementation was his making sure that each student, in each group, had a role. Here are the “jobs” that his students performed:

• Connector: Go into detail regarding a specific text-to-self or text-to-text connection.
• Passage Picker: Find one or two paragraphs that are moving in some way. Write why you picked each passage and describe your thoughts.
• Plot Twister: What exactly would you change in the chapters that you read for homework to make them go the way that you would have preferred? Why?
• Wonderer: As you read, create a list of relevant statements starting with "What if?" or "I wonder."
• Predictor: Based on what you read for homework, explain what you think is going to happen next. Also explain why you made your predictions.
• Psychologist: Give advice to one of the book’s characters. What would you tell him or her to do, and why?
• Journalist: Pick a character and, based on what you read for homework, write a passage in his or her personal journal.
• Student Choice: Decide how you would like to respond to the chapters that you read for homework. If you aren't satisfied with any of the jobs, create your own idea.

These roles ensure that each student is actively engaged in the process. It also gives students the opportunity to direct their own learning.

The Paideia Institute focuses on training schools, administrators, and teachers to use the Socratic Method in their schools and classrooms. The word Paideia is pronounced (py-dee-a) from the Greek "pais, paidos": the upbringing of a child. According to The Paideia website, “socratic seminars continue the tradition of Socrates, the classical Greek philosopher who taught his followers by asking questions. Today, Socratic dialogue can transform students’ learning experience in classrooms from elementary through high school and beyond. When facilitated by a skilled teacher, the Paideia approach to Socratic Seminar can lead to:

• Significantly improved student achievement in core Language Arts skills, including reading, speaking and listening, and writing
• Increased student motivation because students get to generate and express their own ideas"

The use of the Socratic Method is generally characterized as "teaching by asking questions". Paideia officially defines Socratic Seminar “as a collaborative, intellectual dialogue facilitated with open-ended questions about a text.”

Pepper Langauge Arts Courses provide a great launching point for incorporating the Socratic Method and Literature Circles into your classroom practice. In the K-5 group, two courses, Text-Based Discussions in Elementary School and Balancing Informational and Literary Texts, provide great opportunity for engaging students in question-based learning. At the Middle and High School level, Text Discussion and ELA/Literacy Shifts courses are available for teachers.

Pepper Courses and your Pepper Learning Community can be great resources for implementing new ideas. Utilizing the experience and skills of teachers from around the country can provide unique opportunities for networking and sharing lesson ideas and classroom management tips.