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The purpose of the Socratic Symposium is to allow the students an opportunity to share ideas and thoughts. Every two weeks, on Friday, the students will participate in an issue-driven symposium. Sometimes the issues may be research-based, like "What are the implications of India developing the nuclear bomb?" or opinion-based, like "What does it take to be a friend?" or "When does prejudice become discrimination?"
The discussion topics will be chosen and then the students will have a little more than a week to do appropriate research, interview friends or family members, and get their thoughts together. Students will fill in an Appleworks file. The file will consist the following sections: title, "What do I know?" section, "What do I want to know?" section, "How my opinion has changed or been reinforced" section, and "Reflection" section. Students will also receive participation points for contributing to the discussion.
The following rules apply during a Socratic Symposium:
- Listen
- Be respectful
- Ask each other questions without attacking
- Take turns speaking
- Invite all participants to speak
- Disagree with each other thoughtfully
- Ask people to explain what they mean
- Don’t worry if the conversation takes a different direction
- There are no right or wrong answers
- Speak loudly and clearly
For those looking for more information on the Socratic Symposium method, please refer to the magazine article, "Socrates in Your Classroom" by Nancy Letts in Teaching K-8, April, 1994.
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