Socratic Seminar Take 2
Update: Ia dded Socratic Seminar Reflection and Socratic Seminar Observer Report I use with students after and during our Socratic Seminars. Students are assigned partners. Those in the outer circle fill out the observer report while those in the inner circle discuss and then they switch. Students fill out the reflection sheet as homework.
Students recently finished reading The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. Today I turned the reins over to them for a second Socratic Dialogue. Each class was split into two groups and each group had about 18-20 minutes to discuss its questions for the day. When students were not discussing, they observed and took notes. I was impressed with the way students attacked the questions and delved into the issues they presented. It’s difficult to have group discussions without a teacher moderating! Below are the questions for the day and several video clips.
Group #1: Based on the events and the descriptions in The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, what does honor mean for a samurai? Which character do you think is the most honorable in the book? Which character do you think is the least honorable?
Group #2: How do you think the roles in Japanese society affect the events and the way characters behave in The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn? Do you think traditional roles in Japanese society are changing based on the events in the book?
March 25, 2009 at 5:15 pm
I think that gruop three was the best because they really described the way they felt about the book.
March 25, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I thought my group second period did the best because there was not so much arguing unlike other periods. Altough the third group was pretty good…