Kids Take Ownership of Their Own Learning

I've blogged extensively about Socratic Seminar.  I love it, it's no secret!  This year during a PD, someone suggested having kids write their own questions.  That was a twist I had not thought of.  Since that PD, that is almost exclusively how I have conducted Socratic Seminars.  Let me explain the process...

Step One

We all know how to use Bloom's action verbs when planning.  I'm sure I'm not unique when I get out the taxonomy page I keep handy and use them in my lesson plans to make sure my kids are thinking at the highest levels.  They are all over the Internet.  Just google it to find a variety you can print and use (linked above is one I really like, especially for the kids!)   

Now here's the twist...teach your kids to use them.  Teach your kids what they mean.  Not all of them, but some of them...the important ones that you use all the time.  Have a whole group lesson on what they mean and how they connect to thinking.  Let the kids read a short, but great story, like Mr. Peabody's Apples. (If you teach 3-6th or even 7th...get this book! You can tie it into your social media lectures lessons. And, yes, Madonna wrote it, but I am not condoning or not condoning Madonna ;) 

You write two or three great Socratic questions to go with that story and share the questions ahead of time.  For example, "Analyze the reason why you think that Tommy shared the information about Mr. Peabody with his friends."  Show them how you pull those verbs into the questions to make your students think.  The reason you want to start with a story book is so that you can get the story read to them and get right into the heart of the story quickly.  

Step Two

Go ahead and let them try their hand at writing a question.  Create an anchor chart that reminds them of some of the Bloom's verbs so that they are always on hand.  

I give each student a post-it note and they come and stick their questions on a piece of paper.  I sort them into similar questions and try to combine them.  Sometimes I give credit on a really good questions by simply saying, "Dani had an excellent question," show it on the projector, make it a big deal, and explain why.  I try not to make it about competing to have the best question.  They know when you are using their question or part of their question.  It's a great way to make them think twice.  They are not only using critical thinking skills to come up with a question, they have to have an opinion about their own response to the questions (remember, Socratic questions don't necessarily have "right" answers!).  I encourage them to write a question for which they could come up with an answer.  

Friends, even third graders can do this.  Maybe not all of them all of the time, but some can most of the time.  Here are a few my kids just wrote from The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  

Step Three

Conduct your seminar.  If you've never done a Socratic Seminar and would like to know how, I have an introductory product you might find helpful in elementary school.  Click <HERE>.  You may have to supplement some of your own questions at first, but your kids will get the hang of this.  It's great for differentiation.  It allows those kids who can think on these levels to express themselves.  The Socratic Seminar itself is the great equalizer, in my opinion.  It allows those kids who can't put their thoughts on paper to speak their thoughts.  

I always tell the story of my struggling student who could never pass the state tests or even the district practice test.  His mother, who is a teacher, came to me so worried about him. Desperate tears.  I had video taped my Socratic Seminars quite often that year.  I started showing her her son's parts and what he had to say in Socratic Seminar.  Happy tears.  She said, "He CAN think.  He does know the answers."  SO then we both cried happy tears. The end.