The Socratic Sister: Who Invented That?

So I wonder how all of these companies make so much money on their programs? When you break down some of the programs (language arts, for instance), they are basically all the same. For example, Guided Reading, Daily 5, Literature Circles have some similar basics: vocabulary study, small groups. teacher/student led discussions, and literature. It is almost like all you need to make a million dollars is some research and an idea that recycles current teaching practices. I always wonder, "why didn't I think of that?" Actually, we did think of that. Certainly not to take away from the research and development that goes into a specific program, I have to ask, why are there so many that are almost the same? A college professor or a teacher with a good head for business turned what we all do into a brand. Teachers have been doing centers for decades. My mom taught elementary from the early 1960's to 1995, and she did centers every year of her teaching career. She had a routine that worked. But really, it's not about the program or the fact that kids are doing different things around the room all at the same time. It's what goes into those small groups, the discussions kids have, the things we choose for them to practice. The reason districts invest in the structure of programs is that we need a consistent guide. We need a framework. I get that. But honestly, I don't believe it's some magic program that a district chooses to spend money on, but instead, it's what goes on in your classroom. Your interpretation and implementation of what is determined important and relevant to your grade level standards. We tweak what we bring back from professional developments to make it our own. We also tweak the frameworks we've been given. No teacher I've ever met follows exactly what they've been handed. We do what works in our own classrooms within the framework we've been given.

My questions are...

Are you happy with what goes on in your language arts class on a daily basis?
Do you LOVE your lessons?
Do you feel fulfilled as a professional educator after a week of planning?
Do you look forward to coming to school each day so that you can do what you have planned?

If you answered "no" to any of those questions, fix that right away. Find your "thing" that makes it all work. Create your plans so that YOU love them. Find activities that you can't wait to share.

My life as an LA teacher went in a new and strongly positive direction when I started Socratic Seminars in my classroom. They've been around for, well, since Socrates. When I heard about Socratic Seminar, I read up and studied it online. I was a little discouraged because everything I read was geared to middle or junior high and high school. I saw the simplicity and genius in the method and thought my kids could handle this. After searching and viewing several sites, I created common rules that would work for younger, primary kids.

In my class, we had the respect thing down for the most part with a few rogue moments. My kids LOVED to talk (not about books, but they loved to talk,) and they loved things that were not test practice or worksheets.

With the current language arts structure in place (Daily 5...which was really Daily 10, but that's another post <here>), I still felt there was a missing piece, or lots of missing pieces. I did two things that made me VERY HAPPY as a teacher.

Five stations were totally boring. I'm not nearly as timid to say that as I was five years ago. I was okay with the Daily 5 at first, but quickly thought, "SERIOUSLY, we cannot stamp spelling words all year!" What does that do anyway? I created a form that offered choice with 10-12 activities each week. (TPT and my own creations to the rescue!) I had a few activities for EVERY topic I covered for the year. I rotated them through the choices my kids had each week. My kids did daily practice of the big objectives we worked on all year. You know the ones that they need to constantly practice - inferring, summarizing, drawing conclusions - to name a few. I had things they "had to do" and when finished, things they "could do". One of the things my kids "could do" was states and capitals. I'm not sure why, but that was a hot item in my stations all year. It wasn't necessarily in my ELA TEKS (Texas's own Common Core standards), but what a great "early finisher" station! I created Webquests based on those social studies units that were so hard to work into my ELA block. They combined informational texts and Social Studies skills. (Linked HERE) You can read my post about how I expanded my stations to give my kids more choice HERE. I'm going to link some things below that will be a great start for you if you want some new things in your stations.
I researched and implemented Socratic Seminar. It was my finest hour as a teacher when I started the Socratic Method in my classroom. I'm dead serious. It's the bread and butter of my ELA time. It's the cream in my coffee. It's the gift that keeps on giving. One day, I had a "teacher epiphany." I was reading a book (which I never read professional books, I'm sorry, but I don't have time.) instead of a blog or some quickly researched article that I skim through. I don't even remember what book it was. A quote shot through me like an arrow.

Let that sink in a moment. When do we truly focus on oral language? Kindergarten? Maybe first grade? In my opinion, it's the "missing link" to our ELA instruction for all grade levels. Oral Language is the thing we've all been searching for in every grade level, in every subject. After that revelation, I set out to intentionally and strategically utilize their innate ability to talk nonstop all day long. I turned that need to talk and share into some heavy duty language arts potential. I learned all that I could about the Socratic Method. It was mostly geared toward older students, sixth grade and up. I decided to modify it to fit younger kids (I was teaching third grade at that time.)

We learned all the norms and pitfalls that first year together. We dug deeper and learned how to write our own Socratic questions for the Socratic Seminars. Remember the days when kids had no idea of what they were going to learn, why they were learning it, and took very little responsibility for their own learning? We were the only ones privy to the standards and we just spooned it out to them. We all know things have changed! I taught directly about Bloom's verbs. Blooms is not just for the teachers. It's for the kids. Teach them how to write their own questions about their reading.

We started out learning these five Bloom's verbs. They have served us well in grades 2-5 (remember, I teach GT kids and have multiple grade levels.) All of your kids can be successful at this with practice. I give them a sticky note while we are reading the text we are going to use for Socratic Seminar. They learn to jot down their question during or after we read. They post their note on the board, I go through them quickly and use the ones that are the most powerful. I don't really point out the best ones, they know if I'm using their question! It's not a contest, it's an attempt to write a powerful question that the group can deeply discuss.