50 Socratic Questions for Classroom Meetings and Discussions

What are good questions to ask to open classroom meetings or Socratic Seminars?

Classroom Meetings and DiscussionsTips for the Teacher

1. Ask open-ended questions that evoke critical thinking.
2. Use Socratic steps to elicit thinking and guild the discussions
3. Give wait time to all students to gather thoughts, give students pre-notice they will ALL need to participate. NO OPT-OUT CLAUSE!
4. USE ORACY QUESTIONING FRAMES AND DISCUSSION STARTERS TO MODEL THE PROCESS
5. Model, model, model the process over and over. THERE'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PRACTICE AND DRILLS.
6. Celebrate the process, it is always more about the journey of learning and discovery, not the mechanics of formal Socratic Seminars.

Liam (2011) identifies four key steps in the Socratic method: 1) eliciting relevant preconceptions, 2) clarifying preconceptions, 3) testing one's own hypotheses or encountered propositions, and 4) deciding whether to accept the hypotheses or propositions.

1. Socrates professed "the only bad "Evil" thing is ignorance and the only good thing is wisdom and knowledge. Was Socrates correct in his assertions and why?
2. What are the relationships between laws and justice?  
3. How and why do politics play a role in the justice system?
4. Socrates used three filters to test ideas, Is it the truth, is it good, and is it useful. Why are these Socratic foundations important?
5. Why should people do good things?
6. What is justice and why is it important?
7. What is bias or discrimination?
8. What are the three types of bias?
9. What are equality and inequality? How can they affect you? 
10. What is the difference between equality and equity?
11. Can laws and rules be unjust?
12. What are the historical roots of codes, rules, laws, and justice?
13. What is social justice and why is it in the news more and more?
14. Is justice always fair, good, or balanced?
15. What is the relationship between justice and citizenship?
16. How does justice differ between countries and cultures?
17. Who should decide what is fairness "just " and unfairness "unjust"?
18. What is Goodness?
19. What is Usefulness?
20. What is Neutrality?
21. Why is ignorance the only evil?
22. What is Vertue? 
23. What is Perseverance?
24. What is Duty?
25. What is Gratitude?
26. What is Citizenship?
27. What is Honor?
28. What is Truth? 
29. What is Fairness? 
30. What is loyalty?
31. What is Sacrifice?
32. What is ignorance? 
33. What is the Golden Rule?
34. What is Grace?
35. What is equality?
36. What is equity? 
37. What is inequality and does it matter?
38. Is inequality about wealth, education, and or about the place you live?
39. Has inequality increased or decreased?
40. What are good character traits?
41. What are bad character traits? 
42. Plato asks, if bad people gain political power in a society then will that society become an unhappy one.
43. What is more powerful to create happiness, Apollonian ordered logic, and reason, or Dionysian hedonic emotional passions? 

Advanced Question!

1. Why did Socrates believe society should be ruled by philosophers and not politicians?
2. What are Apollonian qualities and traits?
3. What are Dionysian qualities and traits?
4. What are Apollonian and Dionysian character examples?
5. What do Apollonian and Dionysian stand for in debates and dialogues?
6. What is Apollonian response?
7. Are Plato's Dialogues relevant today? 

Close Reading Socratic Seminars
http://reading-sage.blogspot.com › 2016/05 › close-rea...
Socratic Seminars promote thinking, meaning making, and the ability to debate, use evidence, and build on one another's thinking. When well ...

Socratic Seminar | Close Reading Jigsaw
http://reading-sage.blogspot.com › 2016/06 › socratic-s...
A reading comprehension “Cooperative Jigsaw” activity that teaches close reading strategies in a quick fun engaging way. Having every student ...

Socratic Seminar Resources 

[PDF] AVID Elective Teacher Training Socratic Seminar - Cloudfront.net
Use all of your close reading to participate in a discussion that helps you ... Socratic Seminar focuses on deep discussion around a central text, so it is important ...

[PDF]SOCRATIC SEMINAR GUIDELINES
Montgomery County Public SchoolsRead and prepare your text before the seminar using the critical reading process. 1. ... Use all of your close reading to participate in a discussion that helps you ...

[PDF]Socratic Seminar: The Power of Questions
“learning”? • How do you– and should you– assess Socratic Seminar? ... Purpose: To bring the whole-class reading of Romeo and Juliet to a close and to spark ...

[PDF]AVID Socratic Seminar
Seminar Preparation Worksheet, and Socratic Seminar Questions. 2. ... Pay attention to your first impression as to what the reading is about. ... Closing Questions.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar Format Overview - Robert Frost Farm
the format for poetry, Socratic Seminars work equally well with short prose ... Develop students' understanding and application of close reading analysis and ...

[PDF]Thoughtful Dialogues and Socratic Seminars - Ignite Research
by AS Pihlgren - ‎2014 - ‎Related articleshas shown good effects on students' reading comprehension and ability to ..... When the seminar has closed a meta-dialogue follows, to give the participants.

[PDF]Close Reading - Fisher & Frey
reading strategy called close reading. Nancy Frey and ... routine called close reading, known in some circles .... engage in a Socratic seminar; or debate a topic.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar
The purpose of a Socratic Seminar is to achieve a deeper understanding about the ideas ... Sample questions to bring the discussion back to students in closing:.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar
Lipscomb University Guidelines for Socratic Seminar: 1. ... reading and with some questions or topics to ... Instructions: When preparing for a Socratic Seminar, write questions using these .... Sample questions to bring the discussion back to students in closing:.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar - Teach Arts
seminar. Socratic seminars always include a text. Sample readings might include: ... It is often helpful to model close reading, note-making, and developing.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar Resources
A Socratic Seminar fosters ach've learning as participants explore and ... Use all ofyour close reading to participate in a discussion that helps you understand the ...

[PDF]Appendix: Protocols and Resources - EngageNY
“Close Readers Do These Things” Anchor Chart (starter kit) .... Contrast first and second reading/showing of the mystery text: “What was it like to hear .... classroom, or to model specific techniques such as literature circles or Socratic Seminars.

[DOC]Perfect for Constitution Day – September 17 th – A Close Reading of ...
Close Reading -- Grade 5 ... Prior to the close reading activity, teacher and students will watch the Schoolhouse Rock Preamble video ... Socratic Seminar PDF.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar - Shoreline School District
Socratic Seminar: Classic Style is a structured, collaborative dialogue, focusing on a common text or ... format for students to practice skills in critical thinking, reading, and inquiry, as .... have been explored or time has drawn to a close. 16.

[PDF]Socratic Seminar Observation Checklist - Spokane Public Schools
Socratic Seminar Observation Checklist. Your Name: ... Socratic Seminar Self-Assessment ... Socratic Seminar Rubric for Individual Participants. Name: ...

Socratic Seminar Rubrics - Greece Central School District
Evaluating student participation during a Socratic Seminar can be challenging. It would be a mistake to assume that the most talkative students are necessarily ...

[PDF]AVID Socratic Seminar - Waiakea High School
Successful Socratic Seminars are dependent upon groups of students developing skills together over ... Socratic Seminar is a necessary element in every AVID program, and successful seminars have been imple- ..... Socratic Seminar Rubric ...

[PDF]113 Socratic Seminar Rubric
Socratic Seminar Rubric. Exemplary. Proficient. Partially. Proficient. Developing. Comments. Analysis and. Reasoning. • Clearly references text to support.

[PDF]Seminar Discussion Rubric - Edutopia
Edutopia Seminar Discussion Rubric. Inner Circle. Norms. Speaking. Participates at least 6 times. /6. Sticks to the subject. /3. Avoids inappropriate language. /3.

[PDF]The Intensified Socratic Seminar Assessment Guide - Edutopia
EdutopiaThe Intensified Socratic Seminar Assessment Guide. All students start with a grade of 100%. As a grader, you can subtract points if people do not follow the.

[DOC]Socratic Seminar: Participant Rubric
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation SEMINAR: GM Foods: Friend or Foe. Socratic Seminar Guidelines and Rubric. Guidelines for Participating. Come prepared. Bring notes and info that is relevant ...

[PDF]socratic seminar: a teacher resource packet - Blogs
THE QUESTION A Socratic Seminar opens with a question either posed by the ... THE LEADER In a Socratic Seminar, the leader plays a dual role as leader and ...... {irradiation Rubric ~86 points possible. teacher may give points in itietween ...

[PDF]Page 1 SOCRATIC SEMINAR LEADER TRAINING TEACHER ...
Boulder Valley School DistrictSocratic Seminars and Standards. Socratic seminars align with the Common Core State Standards for. English/Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social ...