Monday, March 7, 2011

Discovering Socratic Circles

Friday, March 4, 2011
Implementing Honors English 11 Socratic Circles
I was very happy with both my 3rd and 6th period classes. They did a very good job of carrying the conversation forward, even though at times they found themselves unable to continue the discussion for moments at a time.  Most of the time, they were able to resume the conversation and dig more deeply into the meaning of the piece or the effectiveness as a satire.  Ryan Fisher was able to observe my 3rd period class in action, and I think we were both impressed at the level of discourse the kids achieved.  I showed him my new Socratic Circle Evaluation Form and he commented that it seemed much more user friendly than the previous version.  I used the form again, and it was extremely easy to use, so other than adding a note about the marks to use for scoring the students’ participation, I am going to leave the form as it is.  My changes to the note form were not helpful at all.  I wasted about five minutes of class time in each period explaining my note expectations, which I apparently not made clear enough.  Since it happened in both periods, that is definitely my fault!  Using two blocks for the outer-circle notes was what confused them.  Since they HAVE to write down feedback for the outer circle, but are not required to take notes on that sheet of paper, they weren’t sure what they were supposed to do with the sheet.  I told them to keep their comments for the outer circle on the bottom, but do what they wanted with the top.  I think in the future I am just going to give them an Outer Circle Feedback Form and let them take notes as they see fit during the inner circles. It seems like there should be more clear-cut instructions for note-taking, but it is enough just keeping track of outer-circle feedback.  I have a hard time assessing their performance on my score sheet AND writing down feedback, so I don’t think it’s a realistic expectation that I should require them to take notes.  This is, however, where a summary at the end of each inner circle would come in handy.  Or, someone (preferably a good note taker) could be in charge of taking notes that could be distributed to the students at the end of the circle. 
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Honors English 11 Socratic Circles
I assigned my Socratic Circles for my Honors English 11 class very similar to the Senior English assignment.  They will conduct a Socratic Circle as a prewriting activity for Embedded Assessment II for SpringBoard Unit II.  Their assignment is to write a critical essay, but they are also evaluating Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.”  Their focus for the SC is two-fold: they are going to discuss the overt and underlying meaning of the piece, and they will discuss the essay’s effectiveness as a piece of satire.  I used the same text format as the seniors.  At the top of the first page, I included background information for “A Modest Proposal” followed by the text in a column on the left-hand side of page and a column for notes on the right-hand side of the page.  This will allow students to mark their text in preparation for the Socratic Circle.  I also handed out the assignment sheet and rubric (for their essay), and the Socratic Circle handouts.  I did not change the Socratic Circles handouts since the senior Socratic Circle since they appeared to be clear, but I did use my newly-revised note sheet.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Revisions to Socratic Circle Note Sheet
I revised the note sheet so there are two larger boxes toward the top, one for each inner circle.  I will instruct students that they MAY record notes on the sheet, but they are also welcome to record their notes somewhere else, since the boxes aren’t big enough.  I also did one box on the bottom for their outer circle feedback.  The box asks them to write down one piece of positive feedback, one piece of constructive criticism, one example of good critical thinking, and one thing they would have liked to say in response to the inner-circle discussion.  I will use this revised form when I conduct SC’s with my Honors English 11 class.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Implementation of Socratic Circle in Senior English
There is good and bad news.  My first period Socratic Circles went fairly well.  I used my newly-revised Socratic Circle Evaluation form, and it worked wonders.  I summarized my rubric across the top of the page and then listed the students’ names down the left-hand side.  As they responded, I used a long dash for their preparation, a “O” for their outer circle feedback, and a hash-mark for their responses.  At the end, it was extremely easy to give them a score, because I just looked at where their marks were on the rubric.  Most kids were somewhat unprepared, but then their marks concentrated in the high “B” range.  So I assigned them a low “B” score.  Like I said, first period went fairly well.  Their conversation was somewhat shallow, but I was expecting it to be that way.  They were very pleasant and did a great job with the dialogue.  At one point, the first inner circle took off, but then they ran out of time.  It would be helpful to have them summarize their discussion.  Both outer circles gave excellent feedback.  There were a few students whose feedback could have been better, but overall it was very good.
Fourth period was a different story.  As a group, they are at a lower ability level than my first period class.  I have four students on IEP’s and two foreign exchange students.  The Socratic Circle was a dismal failure.  It took a while to get them started, because they had a lot of questions, and then when they did begin, they simply could not perpetuate the discussion.  I sensed a growing frustration, so I stopped the circle and had the inner circle explain what was preventing them from participating.  This is where I realized a great value of SC’s: they can be a great form of authentic assessment.  My students were not ready to analyze “The A&P” from the feminist perspective because they understood neither the story nor the critical perspective.  I was able to do some reteaching on Friday and Monday, and I did a lot more guided practice.  I think the students understood a lot better in the end, but I would never have realized there was a problem had I not conducted the SC.
One definite change that needs to be made is to the Socratic Circle Note Sheet.  The way I have it arranged now (4 boxes, one for each part of the procedure) is too confusing and the kids feel compelled to fill each box.  I am going to make a box for each inner circle, and one box for the outer circle with the 4 points of feedback they need to give.  I am hoping that will help the students feel more comfortable about taking notes and giving outer-circle feedback.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Questions Regarding Socratic Circle Note Sheet
My seniors are already very confused about what, exactly, they are supposed to do during the SC.  I went over the expectations and procedures again, and they seemed confident in their preparation.  They also were confused about the note sheet, and some of their questions made me wonder if I should revise it so that it has the outer-circle response requirements on it.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Senior English Literature Circles
Today I assigned a Socratic Circle to my 1st and 4th period Senior English classes.  I opted not to perform Socratic Circles with my 7th period class because there are only six students and it would be nearly impossible to do the steps effectively.  However, we have good classroom discussions in that class, and I think that will suffice as a prewriting activity.  I gave my 1st and 4th period seniors a copy of John Updike’s story “The A&P” along with the writing assignment and my most recent Socratic Circles handout.  For this SC, I copied and pasted the story into a word document table that had a large left-hand column containing the story and a smaller right-hand margin where students can annotate the text.  This way, I can have them show me their stories at the beginning of the SC and evaluate their prep more effectively.  Since the essay assignment is a feminist critical evaluation of the story, I included the assumptions for feminist criticism at the top of the page.  I gave students two days to prepare, and I left them with the expectation that the Socratic Circle would be a prewriting activity to help them build ideas for their essays.
Saturday, January 7, 2011
AP Literature Circle Follow-up – Revisions to Documents
Based on my AP Socratic Circle, I made several changes to my work.  First, I revised the dialogue vs. debate portion of my handouts.  I also revised language throughout the handouts to be more clear.  I gave a bit of explanation about Socratic Circles and why they are useful, then I clarified my explanation of the roles of the inner and outer circles.
I revised my rubric, and I think it is going to be much better.  Instead of giving the categories and making each one worth 5-10 points, I followed the guidelines of Dr. Paul’s rubric and gave a set of criteria for A, B, C, and so on.  The most exceptional performance would be an A, but a student will have to go “above and beyond” to earn it.  I think with this rubric, a “B” will be the most common score.  I also gave myself flexibility to assign an “F” to a capable student who chose to do little or nothing while still award a “C” or “D” to a shy or less capable student who attempted to participate, but didn’t do as well.  I also revised my Socratic Circle Scorecard (the assessment sheet I use) to be a bit more user-friendly.  The rubric is summarized across the top of the page, and the students’ names are listed down the left side.  As I check the students’ preparation, I can put a long dash in the appropriate grade range on the rubric.  Then, as the first circle shares, I can put a hash mark in the appropriate grade area as each student contributes.  Finally, when the students share their outer circle responses, I will put a O (circle) in the appropriate grade range for their feedback.  I am planning a SC for my seniors as a prewriting for an essay they are going to write, and I will try this Scorecard for their circle.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Reflection of AP Socratic Circles
I conducted the SC with Ryan Fisher observing.  I had given Ryan my handouts, including the prompt, SC sheets, rubrics, etc.  The kids did a good job on the discussion, but there were a few times when they really struggled with being specific or following a potential discussion “down the rabbit hole,” so to speak.  The first circle did very well, but the second group struggled the most.  Ryan also noticed that the second circle had a much more difficult time.  Participation from some students was exceptional, but from others it was dismal!  There were several students who didn’t say a word. 
When I talked with Ryan later there were several procedural changes we agreed I could make to help the SC work better in my classroom and to help me assess it better.  We thought it might be worthwhile to have the first circle end their discussion by asking questions to the second inner circle, just to give them something to start their discussion, or to keep them going on the same discussion.  We also thought it might be worthwhile to elect a leader for each group who keeps the discussion moving.  However, in my research, most experts predict this leader will emerge naturally, and there is a danger in electing a leader because then the dialogue becomes centered around them.  Our other idea was to have each student go around the circle with a statement or question to begin the discussion.  This might, however, send the group on numerous tangents…
Preparation is essential to the SC, but it is difficult to measure if the students do not have some sort of prep or note sheet.  In the future, I will try to give the students a text with a column for notes so they may annotate their text for the SC.  I also need to make students show me their marked text before the SC so I can see that they actually did prepare for the discussion.
My rubric is extremely ineffective.  I either need to make it explicitly clear that students cannot earn points for not participating, or I need to adapt my rubric so that students can at least earn a passing grade if they are prepared and listen respectfully, but don’t contribute that much.  This is difficult, because if the student doesn’t participate, then the teacher can’t measure the student’s critical thinking or understanding.  However, there are students who will not do well with this type of assessment, and my option as a teacher is to either give them an alternative assignment, or adjust my rubric to differentiate for them.  The key here is a more flexible rubric, which I will work on creating.
The evaluation form I am using is too difficult to use during a SC.  This is the form recommended by Copeland in Socratic Circles, but I am not sure how you are supposed to record accurate scores for five or six categories while 10 people are talking.  The rubric needs to be something you can mark, and then assign a grade based on the sum total of the marks.  Fisher also agreed that the form was too difficult to use, and he liked my idea of creating a form that is marked instead of using assigned scores.
Another area to explore is having students assess each other or provide feedback.  However, they are already providing feedback in the outer circle, and I think it would be difficult to keep track of even more information during the SC.
The rubric I am currently using has NO criteria for the outer circle, and it needs to be included.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Implementation of Socratic Circles in my Classroom.
I gave my AP class the following prompt, along with a rubric, my Socratic Seminar Guide and note sheet for a SC to be held on 1/5/11:  Write a 6-7 page essay discussing the Victorian Era as it is portrayed in literature.  You may use factual evidence obtained through research, but your main supporting evidence must be obtained from the novels, poems, and plays we have read in class.  Your discussion should examine literary features of Victorian writing and should explore similarities in the style, tone, and theme of the literature you encountered during your course of study.  Your essay should also discuss how the literature of the Victorian Era underscored the social values of the time, such as gender roles, religion, charity, social progress, class distinction, etc.
We went over the assignment and the rubric, and then we went over the procedure and handouts for the Socratic Circles.  I told them explicitly that this SC was to be considered a prewriting activity.  My rationale is that a structured class conversation will help them synthesize all of the reading we have done.  Not all the kids read the same books, so they will be able to discuss how the social values and literary elements were similar, even though they may not have read a specific book.  The students seemed to understand the procedure and my expectations for the SC, so I am anticipating it will be good.
Saturday, November 13, 2011
Evaluation of handouts from Dr. Richard Paul, Director of the Foundation for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State University.
Dr. Paul gives a number of questions Socrates would ask and points out that students should be encouraged to think for themselves rather than just give “right” answers.  His questions are very vague, though, and I’ve found with high school students, especially those in average-level classes, the teacher must be very specific if he/she wants to get any real results from the seminar.  Paul’s definition of Socratic Circles is similar enough to my own that I don’t see anything to incorporate.  He also gives the list criterion for dialogue vs. debate.  I already have this in my packet, but I will probably rewrite it for clarity since it is very long and some ideas are addressed more than once.
I really like Dr. Paul’s rubric.  The rubric I began with makes assessment difficult in that it doesn’t allow me to make exceptions for students who have difficulty speaking out in class.  It makes differentiation difficult.  Paul’s rubric is a simple A-B-C-D-F scale that gives criteria for each grade.  They are both general and specific enough that there could be some leeway in the assessment.  For example, a student who put a lot of effort into prep, but is painfully shy and didn’t contribute much to the conversation could get a passing grade as long as he or she sat quietly and listened respectfully during the seminar.  This is how I want to model my rubric.  I think this would also be a good way to model my assessment, although I’m not sure how to go about doing that just yet.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Chapter Notes – Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical & Creative Thinking in Middle and High School
Chapter 8 – There are many forms of assessment you can use with a Socratic Circle.  Students get instant feedback from SC’s from the outer circle.  The teacher can engage in the role of note-taker, scorekeeper, or mapmaker and can share this information immediately or after the fact.  The outer circle’s role is rather informal assessment, but it the feedback can be powerful.  I think students need to be given clear expectations of what to share in the outer circle.  Previously, I have had students comment only on positive feedback and constructive criticism, but I think it would be beneficial to have them share an example of good critical thinking.  They should also share what they would have shared if they had been part of the inner circle discussion.  The teacher can be the scorekeeper in the SC, and can keep a tally of student participation.  There is also a scorecard in the book, but I know from experience this scorecard is difficult to use.  The outer circle should be assessed on the quality of the feedback it provides.  There are numerous ways to grade a SC, it just depends on the purpose and the formality of the SC.  Some good follow-up activities for the SC are reflective writing or creating thesis statements based on the discussion.  According to Copeland, the most important form of assessment to come from a Socratic Circle is the student’s own assessment of himself and his peers. I agree with this wholeheartedly, because helping students learn to meta-cognate and self-evaluate is one of the most important skills you can help them learn.  This learning goes beyond my English classroom.
Forms Chapter – On page 152, Copeland gives a Socratic Circle Feedback Form, which is meant to be for an individual student.  I’m not sure how I would use this.  It would be difficult for me to fill out 20 of these forms, and it would be hard for a student to fill one or more out for other students while they’re busy doing their own part of a Socratic Circle.  I guess maybe if I assigned each student to do an assessment of one other student, that might work, but still, I think it would be too much to handle.  They are already trying to take notes, stay tuned to the discussion, think of feedback, etc…it’s too much.  Copeland gives a SC Rubric on page 153, but I think it could be simpler.  I plan to create a very basic rubric that will give me some flexibility in grading.  Copeland’s reflection summary is also a bit too ambitious.  I can’t imagine having students write a reflection after every circle, especially when I do circles as a way to help kids with prewriting.  They will already have a paper to write…
OVERALL – I think Copeland’s book is helpful as far as implementing the procedure, but I don’t follow every aspect of his recommendations.  I also think many of his assertions about what SC’s have accomplished for his kids are very lofty.  He makes numerous claims that seem a bit unrealistic to me.  I would like to see him in his classroom so I would know if he is really the world’s best teacher, or just claiming to be.  What I learned most from reading this book is that SC’s are very flexible, and when a teacher goes into them with the right mindset, they can be effective.  I just need to know what my goal is, and I need to communicate that goal clearly to my students.  They also need to know how they are going to be assessed, and what the grading scale is going to be.  I think I will mostly use SC’s as a method of prewriting, but I can’t see myself doing this every week.

Sunday, October 31, 2010
Chapter Notes – Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical & Creative Thinking in Middle and High School
Chapter 5 – The Outer Circle – The role of the outer circle is critical for the overall purpose of Socratic Circles.  The outer circle provides feedback that helps students adjust their critical thinking skills.  Without the immediate feedback provided, students wouldn’t get the opportunity to assess their own thinking.  The teacher can do a number of things to lead the outer circle and make the process effective.  Teachers can model, praise, use Socratic questioning, manage behavior, and encourage positive useful feedback.  Students should be aware during the SC that the emphasis is on understanding the text and on improving their critical thinking skills. 
Chapter 6 is a long transcript of a Socratic Circle from Copeland’s classroom.  One thing he does in his circle is have the outer circle rank the inner circle and then provide a justification for the score.  This is not something I have tried, but I think it would be more effective for classes where SC is done often.  I have never seen SC as being something I would conduct very frequently, because I think kids would tire of it quickly.  It would be interesting to create a class where SC’s were done frequently, and students just expected to do them.  At the end of this chapter, Copeland states, “Many of my students have come back to me years after leaving my classroom and thanked me for the opportunities of learning Socratic circles provide.”  He goes on to state that the kids felt that their critical thinking and reading skills improved dramatically as a result.  While I want to believe, he has no evidence to substantiate that, and he can say whatever he wants:  it’s his book.  I think that he’s a bit of a braggart!  
Chapter 7 – “Aligning Socratic Circles with the Curriculum” – Copeland urges teachers not to restrict SC’s to just honors and advanced classes.  He thinks that with proper training, students from all ability levels can be successful with SC’s.  Teachers should incorporate SC’s into any lesson that will benefit from discussion or any lesson where the teacher would lecture instead.  The idea is that the dialectic will ultimately lead to more inquiry and knowledge for the students because they work together to understand a text.  Copeland also suggests that teachers who use SC’s do it frequently…as much as once a week.  SC’s should always be scheduled in advance so students can prepare a text ahead of time.  It is also recommended that teachers try to coordinate among the disciplines.  Nice idea, but difficult here, I think.  Texts should always be selected to establish connections to the course content.  Copeland especially urges teachers of disciplines other than English to use SC’s, which I agree!  This would be an excellent strategy for history, math, etc.  Copeland also feels regular and frequent SC’s help students prepare for high-stakes testing.  I would agree with this to a certain degree.  I have felt after SC’s that my AP students collectively think differently.  It is as though thinking together at that elevated level allows each student individually to see how it’s done, then they can do it on their own.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Chapter Notes – Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical & Creative Thinking in Middle and High School
Chapter 1- I would personally like to meet Matt Copeland, author of Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking in Middle and High School.  I have done Socratic Circles in my room before, and they can produce some very powerful dialogues, but this guy makes it sound like they work miracles on the first try, and that is not the case.  I’ve been practicing them for three years, and I still haven’t had students sign up for three English classes at a time (by choice) and claiming the secret of their love for high school is Socratic Circles, as Copeland claims on page 2 of his book.  This is a bit far-fetched, and unfortunately, a lot of the book is like this.  It’s a great resource, but I think Copeland’s suggestion that Socratic Circles are a surefire way to end your students’ apathy and make them excited about school is illogical.  The whole first chapter is very idealistic.
Chapter 2 – Copeland recommends that to start SC’s, the teacher has to first establish an environment of trust and acceptance in the classroom.  This is true, because kids need to feel confident about sharing their interpretations.  Going over the difference between dialogue and debate would be a good way to accomplish this.  You could also do team-building activities in groups that would let the kids see how much they have in common.  Copeland also points out that the teacher’s role in the SC is to be a guide, but not the leader.  She is to train the students in the procedure, but then allow them to conduct their own inquiry.  The text should be one that is grade-appropriate and short enough to be explored in two ten-minute discussions.  The text should be given to the students the night before, then they should mark it and bring it to class with them the next day.  The circle begins by forming two concentric circles, the inner and the outer, then the inner circle discusses the text for 10 minutes while the outer circle listens.  Then the outer circle responds for 10 minutes and the sides switch.  Although I hadn’t read Copeland’s book, this is how I have been doing my circles.  Feedback from the outer circle should focus on the positive and constructive feedback.  Teacher assessment can be formal or informal, depending on the use of the SC.
Chapter 3 – This chapter deals with preparing students for SC.  Copeland recommends using a KWL to set the stage for a Socratic Circle.  He encourages teachers to help students craft questions that will guide their learning.  For example, if the SC is being used as a prewriting strategy, students could ask questions about examples for their writing or they could even question portions of the text that are difficult for them.  Copeland repeated much of what he said in Chapter 2 about creating an environment where students feel valued and accepted.  He gave suggestions for activities that help students think about multiple perspectives.  He talks about “buzz groups,” a strategy developed by Stephen Brookfield and Stephen Preskill that asks open-ended questions to help students discuss the quality of the material they encountered that day.  It allows them to point out unsubstantiated claims, contentious statements, etc.  This chapter also goes over, in detail, the difference between dialogue and debate, which is very similar to other references I have found online.  I’m not sure of the original author of the comparison.  Students should be given time to mark their text.  For example, they should mark vocabulary they are struggling with, underline key phrases, keep track of the plot, note diction and syntax, and write down questions in the margins.  Figure 3.3 on page 52 shows a handout made by a teacher where the text is off to the right, giving the student a wide left margin to annotate.  I think I will use this idea with shorter texts, because then students don’t have to juggle multiple sheets of paper during the SC.
Chapter 4 – This chapter deals with conducting the Socratic Circle.  Facilitating the inner circle and finding ways to help the members approach the text and one another greatly improves their dialogue and the conversation skills of the entire class.  By helping students prepare for, initiate, and manage the dialogue they create in class, we can teach lifelong skills that will serve them throughout their lives.  Coaching and guiding the inner circle with praise, modeling, and the Socratic method are all important components of this process.  Student should take ownership of their inquiry, thereby creating choice and developing their voices, can increase classroom learning.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Potential SpringBoard Lessons for Socratic Circles
English 11 – Level VI – Unit I
Activity 1.15 – The Road To Success – This would be an excellent lesson for Socratic Circles, because it involves reading and comparing three speeches.  Students could read one or all of the speeches and discuss them in a Socratic Seminar.  This critical reading would lend itself well to Embedded Assessment II in that unit.
English 11 – Level VI – Unit II
Activity 2.20 or 2.21 – “Need Some Advice” or “Twain in Twain” - Both of these activities involved challenging readings by Mark Twain, and both require students to analyze these texts for their use of satirical elements.  A SC would lend itself both to student understanding of the texts and to a prewriting activity for their own satirical essay.  An extension of this activity would be to have the students read “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift.  This would complement their reading of The Scarlet Letter  and The Crucible in that it is reflective of the Puritan language they will have already read.
English 11 – Level VI – Unit III
Activity 3.6 – Using Rhetorical Devices – This would be a great lesson for Socratic Circle because the whole activity is geared around identifying rhetoric.  Instead of doing the lesson as-is, students could conduct a SC and discover the use of rhetoric together.  It would be a good way to speed up this activity and move them more quickly to reading The Crucible.
English 11 – Level VI – Unit IV
Activity 4.11 – The End of a Long Journey – In this lesson, students read excerpts from a critical review.  The use of SC for this activity would allow them to define the attributes of a critical review.
English 11 – Level VI – Unit V
Activity 5.2 – Searching for Meaning – Students read an excerpt from “Walden,” by Henry David Thorough.  A SC would help students collectively understand the piece better, because it is very challenging.  This could be a less formal Socratic Circle, with the goal to aid understanding.
Senior English – Level VII – Unit I
Activity 1.17 – Reading With a Cultural Criticism Lens – Students could collectively evaluate the story “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell using cultural criticism.  Since this is their first introduction to cultural criticism, working on this collectively would be beneficial to most of the seniors.
Senior English – Level VII – Unit II
Activity 2.17 – Battle of the Sexes – In this activity, students read what will be, for them, a challenging piece by Zora Neale Hurston, then apply the feminist critical perspective to it.  The meaning of the piece is relatively simple, but Hurston’s use of the southern black vernacular will present a challenge to most regular-education seniors.  Discussing and criticizing this story as a SC with the intent to help them all understand it will be very beneficial.
EA 2 – Since students will have to write a feminist critical analysis of a literary story, I will most likely do a SC as a prewriting activity.  I will also change the stories, because the ones in SB aren’t good choices for feminist criticism.
Senior English – Level VII – Unit III
Activity 3.10 – A Historical Look at the Moor – This activity requires students to use historical criticism as they read an article about Moors in England during the Elizabethan Era.  The synthesis of the essay to the play, Othello, might be something of a stretch for some of the students.  However, a well balanced Socratic Circle would be a good way to level the knowledge field for all students reading the selections.
Senior English – Level VII – Unit IV – I do not do this unit with the seniors.  I have chosen to cut this unit because it focuses on graphic novels, and my students need more practice with research writing.  Therefore, I skip this unit in favor of an extended research writing unit after Unit III and during Unit V.
Senior English – Level VII – Unit V – I will follow the intent of this unit, but I will not use the provided materials.  The entire unit is centered around the Dixie Chicks’ 2002 comment about George Bush and the media firestorm that followed it.  I will choose something more recent and relevant for my students, but I could easily incorporate SC’s into the activities because they will involve a lot of reading and evaluating for media elements.
AP English Literature & Composition – There is a wealth of possibilities for inclusion of Socratic Circles in AP English for the simple fact that the entire course is built around reading and responding to literature.  I especially plan to use SC’s as prewriting activities at the end of extended units.  I know for certain I will conduct an SC at the end of our Victorian unit, because the students will have read different novels and they will write papers discussing the social values that were reflected during the time.  A Socratic Circle will be a good way to review 10 weeks worth of reading and allow the kids to synthesize their ideas.

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