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The Red Pencil and Socratic Seminars

  • maiello0
  • Jan 17, 2018
  • 2 min read

Rwandan children (similar to our characters)

The Red Pencil is a novel in free verse, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, that describes what happened to a 12-year-old girl and her family during the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Amira's parents warn her about the Janjaweed. Later, the militants attack her village, killing her father and burning her sheep alive, forcing her mother to flee with her and her sister to a refugee camp. Readers will empathize with Amira, but they also will see her inner strength return with the help of her red pencil. The author includes in the back matter definitions of some Arabic words. She also shares her belief in the "power of creativity, and the way art can help us heal." Illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award-winner Shane W. Evans amplify the text. Source

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) Source

Standards:

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

- track their thinking as they read.

- identify their thoughts as literal, inferential, critical or questions.

- question and build on others' ideas.

- reflect on their own learning.

- write about their thinking using evidence with explanation.

- notice and explain symbolism in a text.

- craft their own poems based on the author's models.

- discuss ideas with peers using agreed upon rules.

- connect to ideas of others during discussions.

- grow as readers, writers and thinkers.

- analyze a complex text for themes, supporting ideas with evidence.

Activities:

- As students read, I ask them to track their thinking via sticky notes.

- After reading each chunk of the book, students will participate in a discussion via social media (Today's Meet and Padlet) where they show their thinking.

- Students will explore and challenge others' ideas through written and verbal conversations.

- Students will write about the text after discussions.

- Twice throughout the book, students will participate in a Socratic Seminar around the themes of the book.

Assessment:

- Socratic Seminar discussions

- SS reflections

- written responses to text

- plan for SS

- written thinking (Padlet and Today's Meet)

- final essay


 
 
 

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Arbor View Elementary 

 

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

maiello@ccsd89.org

Tel: 630-469-5505

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