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Socratic Seminars: Building a Culture of Student-Led Discussion

Implementing effective Socratic seminars is a multistep process that takes careful planning.

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Throughout my nine years as a high school language arts teacher, I’ve refined a pivotal strategy called the Socratic seminar. This type of student-led discussion —based on Socrates’ method of student inquiry rather than teacher lecture—elicits student ownership , deep thinking , critical questioning , academic vocabulary usage , and a rooted sense of community . Although the teacher is seemingly offstage, a meaningful and effective Socratic seminar only occurs through intentional planning.

Planning Your Seminar

The most important part of a meaningful Socratic seminar is the planning embedded throughout the year.

Let’s get comfortable: There is no Socratic seminar without risk. And there is no risk without trust. An effective Socratic seminar occurs because of the thousands of invisible connections already built among students and teacher.

At the beginning of the year, establish classroom procedures, routines, and expectations. At the beginning of every discussion, do the same. Hold students accountable for demonstrating the utmost respect for each other.

Let’s get academic:  Use anchor charts to teach, model, and reinforce target vocabulary every period. Establish a way for students to recognize each other’s academic vocabulary use (snapping, tracking). This ensures that students both identify and apply the target language, while offering ample opportunity for practice .

Practice gradual release of discussion leadership throughout the year. At the beginning, model strong facilitation skills and verbally label them for students. Collaboratively create anchor charts of what makes strong discussion leaders, participants, and conversations. Reflect on the day’s discussion: strengths, weaknesses, modifications. Eventually poll students to see who wants to take a more active role in leading class discussions.

Directly teach, model, practice, and assess analytical and text-based questioning. The top resources for this, in my opinion, are from AVID . This skill is essential in reading comprehension, high-level discourse, and critical thinking. What I’ve found works best is delineating  between right/wrong, yes/no questions and those that produce discussion. Additionally, text-dependent questions ground students in the work.

Let’s get prepared: Choose a rich text that offers cross-content and real-world connections. I often use a whole novel as the basis of a Socratic seminar.

Create prep work based on learning objectives and student data. Whether students are in 9th grade Intro to Lit or AP Lit , I have found that prep work allows them to feel confident going into the Socratic seminar.

Repeatedly explain the purpose and expectations of the Socratic seminar. I use a contract clearly outlining expectations .

Implementing Your Seminar

Once the culture and preparations have been established, it's time to set the scene for the actual Socratic seminar.

Let’s get physical: A Socratic seminar is best done in a circle, where students are equal and I (as a facilitator and not a participant) am on the outside. There are two ways to do that based on the class size and dynamics: one giant circle for all students, or fishbowl style (where the participants in an inner circle have a discussion and the participants in an outer circle coach the inner circle).

Let’s get ready: When students arrive on the Socratic seminar day, I create a five- to 10-minute activity so that I can check for prep completion. I don’t allow students to participate if they’re not 100 percent complete with the prep. At the beginning of the year, this is harsh. But as the year goes on, students rise to expectations and accept that the rule is designed to ensure a better discussion (and often grade).

The first Socratic seminar of the year begins with a lot of direct instruction going over what makes a good Socratic seminar, what makes a bad one, and how students can get an A (targets). These targets—which can shift throughout the year—are based on standards and can include active voice, upgraded verbs, academic vocabulary, transitional phrases, textual evidence, clarifying questions, etc. Every Socratic seminar thereafter, I still spend time at the beginning directly establishing these norms and targets. I also have students set goals.

Let’s get better:  I practice gradual release of Socratic seminar throughout the year. Early on, I insert myself into the conversation frequently. These interruptions can be feedback about strong performances or ways to improve, lessons about conversation strategies, highlighting impressive questions or insights, muting dominant voices, soliciting reserved voices, and/or pausing the dialogue so that students can self-assess and adjust moving forward. As the year goes on, these interruptions occur less frequently as students internalize expectations and step up as facilitators.

Follow-Up and Assessment

Assess student performance at the conclusion of your Socratic seminar. Clear expectations and guidelines are the key to the assessment.

Let’s get assessed: Establish clear metrics for success (e.g., using and explaining quotes, expanding on a peer’s idea, asking questions that keep the conversation going) and make sure the class is aware of them. Socratic seminars can move quickly—to ensure that your grading keeps pace, create a list of codes for successful interactions and use the codes to keep a running tally of student performance as they talk. You’ll be confident that you got it right, and you can even show the students your methodology.

Let’s get reflective: The final element to any meaningful Socratic seminar is reflection for both students and teacher. Provide prompts for students to use to reflect on and discuss the seminar, and then have them plan adjustments for future seminars.

What I love the most about effective Socratic seminars is that they create the feeling of a college class. And my students deserve this. As do all students.

Socratic Seminars

About this Strategy Guide

This strategy guide explains Socratic seminars and offers practical methods for applying the approach in your classroom to help students investigate multiple perspectives in a text.

Research Basis

Strategy in practice, related resources.

Socratic seminars are named for their embodiment of Socrates’ belief in the power of asking questions, prize inquiry over information and discussion over debate.   Socratic seminars acknowledge the highly social nature of learning and align with the work of John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, and Paulo Friere.

Elfie Israel succinctly defines Socratic seminars and implies their rich benefits for students:

The Socratic seminar is a formal discussion, based on a text, in which the leader asks open-ended questions.  Within the context of the discussion, students listen closely to the comments of others, thinking critically for themselves, and articulate their own thoughts and their responses to the thoughts of others.  They learn to work cooperatively and to question intelligently and civilly. (89)

Israel, Elfie.  “Examining Multiple Perspectives in Literature.”  In Inquiry and the Literary Text: Constructing Discussions n the English Classroom .  James Holden and John S. Schmit, eds.  Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2002.

• Choosing a text :  Socratic seminars work best with authentic texts that invite authentic inquiry—an ambiguous and appealing short story, a pair of contrasting primary documents in social studies, or an article on a controversial approach to an ongoing scientific problem.
• Preparing the students : While students should read carefully and prepare well for every class session, it is usually best to tell students ahead of time when they will be expected to participate in a Socratic seminar. Because seminars ask students to keep focusing back on the text, you may distribute sticky notes for students to use to annotate the text as they read.
• Preparing the questions :  Though students may eventually be given responsibility for running the entire session, the teacher usually fills the role of discussion leader as students learn about seminars and questioning.  Generate as many open-ended questions as possible, aiming for questions whose value lies in their exploration, not their answer.  Elfie Israel recommends starting and ending with questions that relate more directly to students’ lives so the entire conversation is rooted in the context of their real experiences.
• Establishing student expectations :  Because student inquiry and thinking are central to the philosophy of Socratic seminars, it is an authentic move to include students integrally in the establishment of norms for the seminar.  Begin by asking students to differentiate between behaviors that characterize debate (persuasion, prepared rebuttals, clear sides) and those that characterize discussion (inquiry, responses that grow from the thoughts of others, communal spirit).  Ask students to hold themselves accountable for the norms they agree upon.
• Establishing your role :  Though you may assume leadership through determining which open-ended questions students will explore (at first), the teacher should not see him or herself as a significant participant in the pursuit of those questions.  You may find it useful to limit your intrusions to helpful reminders about procedures ( e.g. “Maybe this is a good time to turn our attention back the text?”  “Do we feel ready to explore a different aspect of the text?”).  Resist the urge to correct or redirect, relying instead on other students to respectfully challenge their peers’ interpretations or offer alternative views.
• Assessing effectiveness : Socratic seminars require assessment that respects the central nature of student-centered inquiry to their success.  The most global measure of success is reflection, both on the part of the teacher and students, on the degree to which text-centered student talk dominated the time and work of the session.  Reflective writing asking students to describe their participation and set their own goals for future seminars can be effective as well.  Understand that, like the seminars themselves, the process of gaining capacity for inquiring into text is more important than “getting it right” at any particular point.
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Teacher Support  /  Blog  /  Everything You Need for a Successful Socratic Seminar

Everything You Need for a Successful Socratic Seminar

October 18, 2023.

As teachers, one of the most exciting things to see in the classroom is students taking ownership over their learning through conversations, respectfully and effectively communicating their ideas. While every classroom conversation provides an opportunity for such student ownership, a Socratic Seminar is a group discussion protocol specifically designed to put the heavy cognitive lift on students. 

In a Socratic Seminar, students are responsible for collecting, presenting, and assessing evidence from the text or texts in response to seminar questions. Students not only push themselves to think critically and actively participate, but have the opportunity to push their peers to do so as well. A seminar allows students to work together to analyze ideas and issues, developing a deeper understanding of the text, and build their communication skills as they present and defend their thoughts. 

So, now that you understand why a Socratic Seminar is such a special type of classroom discussion, you might be wondering how to engage your students in one effectively. At Fishtank, we recognize the importance of preparing for every lesson , especially a Socratic Seminar, so we’ve developed guidance and resources to help you prepare for, engage in, and reflect on a Socratic Seminar. 

Before Engaging in a Socratic Seminar

Before you can engage your students in a seminar, you first need to determine what students are going to discuss. You may select a portion of a unit’s core text, multiple shorter texts, or a combination of both. Once you’ve chosen the text students will focus on, you need to provide them with the text-based seminar questions you want them to discuss. Discussion questions should be open-ended, allow for multiple interpretations, and encourage students to make connections across texts and content they’ve learned thus far in class. You can use our sample Socratic Seminar Discussion Questions to get started. 

After selecting the text and discussion questions, you can shift the preparation work to students. Students should have at least 1 to 2 days to prepare for the seminar, during which they review the text, the seminar questions, and gather evidence. To support students in this preparation, you can provide them with Fishtank’s Student Pre-Work Graphic Organizer previewed below.

For each seminar question, students should record their initial ideas, at least 2 pieces of evidence from the text that support their ideas, and their justification for selecting those particular pieces of evidence. Remind students to record where in the text they found their evidence so that they can easily reference it during the seminar, allowing other students to follow along.

While Engaging in a Socratic Seminar

When it's time to begin your seminar, review expectations, norms, and the Socratic Seminar Rubric with your students. You can determine what expectations and norms you want to set, but you might consider things like every student will speak at least 3 times, every student will be actively engaged the entire time, every student will be focused on the person speaking, etc. The Socratic Seminar Rubric provides additional details on how students will be assessed and can help inform their participation. It can be helpful to post the rubric and conversation norms in a visible place for the duration of the seminar. 

Once students are ready to begin tackling the first seminar question, you may decide to read it aloud and select one student to start the conversation. You can also select one student to guide the conversation by reading the questions aloud throughout the seminar. Students should have their texts and their pre-work in front of them to help ground their ideas.

As students present evidence and reflect on the ideas of their peers, there may be times where you need to step in with support. If students are getting distracted or the conversation isn’t moving forward, you can use these prompts to help get students back on track in the conversation. If you notice that some students are struggling to jump into the conversation, you may step in and remind those that are speaking often to take a step back and create space for other voices. You can also provide Sentence Stems to students to help them feel more comfortable and confident speaking up. 

Throughout the conversation, it is important that you take notes on student participation to better inform your assessment of students. A Participation Tracker can help you more easily jot notes about the number of times a student spoke up, the type of contribution they made, and any additional notes on their engagement during the seminar.

After Engaging in a Socratic Seminar

Once the seminar has come to a close, you can utilize the notes from your participation tracker to complete the Socratic Seminar Rubric and assign grades to all students. Beyond the grades you assign, it is also important for students to reflect on their own participation in the seminar. For some students, this type of discussion protocol will be completely new and maybe even a little scary. 

By providing students with the opportunity to self-reflect, you allow them to acknowledge their own areas of strength and areas for growth, setting the foundation for progress in future seminars. You can encourage all students to thoughtfully and honestly complete Fishtank’s Student Self-Evaluation based on their participation in the day’s seminar. You can also encourage students to complete a Peer Evaluation to further a culture of collaboration in your classroom.

Looking for more tips and tricks for your ELA classroom ? Dive into Fishtank’s library of Teacher Tools to find guidance on Supporting English Learners , Providing Access to Complex Texts , Vocabulary Instruction , and more! Upgrade to Fishtank Plus to unlock even more resources and additional curriculum resources. 

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Bell Ringers

Socratic seminar: the guide to getting started.

When you became an English teacher, you probably dreamed of reading fun books in class and having deep discussions. But the reality is – diving into those deep conversations takes more planning and guidance than we might have realized. Socratic seminars are a great way to dive deeper into reading and set the stage for better classroom discussions. So, how exactly do you prepare for a Socratic seminar? 

We know engaging students in discussions about reading is essential. Discussion can give you insight into how students are feeling about a topic or text, build reading skills, and help students engage – in a healthy way.

What is a Socratic Seminar?

A Socratic seminar is a method named after Socrates. Socrates was all about asking questions, valuing discussion over debate, and prioritizing inquiry over information.

Basically, Socratic seminars play into the idea that learning is a social experience. When students engage and discuss with each other, they can deepen their understanding of a text.  By asking students open-ended questions about a text, they can express and develop their own thoughts. There is no multiple choice here – students really have to dig into what details from the text led them to a certain conclusion.

They also hear the thoughts and ideas of other students. Maybe it influences what they think, or they can offer a different perspective! This discussion then allows students to learn to disagree while being respectful. Using Socratic seminars is a great way to achieve what ELA teachers want: to have rich, deep classroom discussions.

How do I Prepare for the Socratic Seminar?

By now, you are probably on board with Socratic seminar. Deep classroom discussions? Sign me up! But how do you actually prepare for a Socratic seminar?

The first step is choosing a text. I highly recommend choosing an authentic text relevant to your content and your students. For instance, you might choose a poem for your poetry unit. And the narrator may have a relatable background or story.

Next, prepare for a Socratic seminar by setting expectations with students. They can’t have a Socratic seminar if they don’t know what’s coming. Let students know when the Socratic seminar will take place. Then, as students are reading, have them utilize sticky notes to annotate the text as they read – this will keep them actively reading and give them notes to refer back to.

Then, prepare your questions. This will take some practice, but create as many open-ended questions as you can about the text. Our students are smart: they are used to answering questions with what they think we want to hear. The goal of these questions is for them to spark exploration and allow them to fully explore their own thoughts and opinions.

Next, prepare for a Socratic seminar by setting class expectations. If you’ve never done a Socratic seminar before – don’t freak out! It won’t go perfectly the first time. But setting these expectations helps students know what to do. The key is to focus on the difference between a debate from a discussion, and then ask them to hold themselves accountable to that.

After that, really think about your role in the Socratic seminar. Socratic seminars aim for students to be the main participants rather than the teacher. While you will first provide the questions, it’s important to resist the temptation to redirect or correct and let students guide the discussion! This will take practice, so don’t be too hard on yourself.

Lastly, build reflection into the Socratic seminar. Do you feel students met the goal of the Socratic seminar? Reflect on whether students guided the discussion, how they interacted with one another, and what role you played. Then, if necessary, note what you’ll change for the next seminar to make it even more meaningful. If you want to go more in-depth on preparing for the Socratic seminar, you can download my entire Free Implementation Guide for the Socratic Seminar here. I dive deep into the steps for preparing, how often you should use Socratic seminar, frequently asked questions, and more! 

Frequently Asked Questions

It can seem intimidating when you first prepare for the Socratic seminar, so I want to answer some of the common questions I hear from teachers. For more questions, you can download the full Free Implementation Guide for the Socratic Seminar.

What if my students simply refuse to discuss?

We could go on about “what ifs” in education all day – but rarely do our biggest fears about a lesson come true! The key here is to be patient. If you try a Socratic seminar in your class and it’s a flop the first few times, join the club! Teaching new methods to students can sometimes take a few tries before it feels comfortable. You’ve worked hard to set up an environment where students feel comfortable sharing, and now is a great time to watch them shine.

What books should I use for Socratic seminar?

For Socratic seminar, you want to choose texts that are relevant to the content you teach and that have space for student interpretation. (Good news: so many books fit this criterion!) If you’re having trouble choosing a text, I have over 30 book units you can use with your students spanning a variety of genres. Check them out here!

How often do you use Socratic seminars ?

This can vary depending on your schedule and frequency you see students, but in a middle school setting with multiple 55-60 minute class periods, I tried to do Socratic seminars once or twice a week. How do you assess Socratic seminars?

This is a great opportunity to rethink what you are assessing! If the goal is to summatively assess comprehension of a novel, the Socratic seminar is not your best method. However, to fully participate in the Socratic seminar, students have to have comprehended what they read and have a deep understanding of their comprehension to talk about it in the seminar. They are also participating in tons of speaking and listening standards. I have included discussion rubrics in my Free Socratic Seminar Guide that you can use to assess if needed.

The Complete Guide to Socratic Seminar

If this all sounds like something you’d like to try with your class (and I hope you do!), you can check out all details in my FREE Implementation Guide to Socratic Seminar. I explain the research behind socratic seminars, go in-depth about strategy, and give lots of tips and tricks. I also answer more FAQs, share lots of example lesson plans, and share discussion rubrics!

Other helpful links and resources for The Socratic Seminar:

• The Hungry Teacher Socratic Seminar Reading Units Frequently Asked Questions
• Middle School Reading ELA CCSS Standards with Engaging Novels and the Socratic Seminar
• The Socratic Seminar for Students Discussions in Middle School and Upper Elementary Classrooms | Part One
• The Socratic Seminar with Novels | Part Two
• The Socratic Seminar | Assessment | Grading | Student Notebooks | Part Three
• Middle School Socratic Seminar Reading Units BIG Bundle 6th 7th and 8th Grade
• Read more about: Socratic Seminar

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