I Have A Dream

Socratic Model
Socratic Model pages 380-413
Eighth Grade and Social Studies
Lesson plan@ 50 and Reflection @ 50
1. MATERIALS/PREPLANNING
Materials
MLK speech
Socratic Seminar Guidelines PPT
Socratic Seminar Peer Review
Socratic Seminar Self Evaluation
Vocabulary
Demonstration
Injustice
Segregation
Discrimination
Literature
MLK Speech
2. OBJECTIVE
Through a Socratic Seminar, students will be able to gain a deeper understanding of selected text through discussion in a
student-run/student-based method of instruction

DOK level 3 Strategic Thinking: Cite Evidence, Construct, Critique DOK Level 4 Extended Thinking: Connect, Prove,
Critique, Analyze

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and

teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own
clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an
accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

3. ASSESSMENT Perfect Assessment Tool Rationale:

The pre-assessment will give the teacher a chance to The theoretical model for this lesson is constructivism.
see what the students know how the MLK speech. The The students need to take the information that they
teacher will have to see what the students know about have read and learned throughout class discussions,
he e and apply their knowledge in the seminar.
The final assessment is a summative assessment. The
teacher will be grading the student using a rubric
grading them on their participation and how well they
used the text to back up their claims.
4. CENTRAL FOCUS/ PURPOSE (2 parts to include)
The purpose of the Socratic Seminar is to help students have an understanding of the famous speech, I Have A Dream and
how it related to the civil rights movement and what impact the speech has on the world today. Students will be able to
relate how things were back then and how they are now.
Students will be able to relate how things were back then and how they are now.

5. MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING

The motivation for this lesson is intrinsic. Students will have a chance to review each other while each group is participating
in the seminar.
I will explain to the students that each will be paired with another students. They will have to pay attention the seminar when
they are not participation in it because they will have to evaluate how their partner is doing. This lesson provides motivation
for students because it will give them responsibility that the usually only belongs to the teacher.

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 How will this lesson promote a Growth Mindset

6. PRE-LESSON - Just before teaching the new lesson do the following:

Before the lesson I have a dream speech will be reviewed. Students will read and annotate the his work
A quick over view of how a Socratic Seminar is ran will be discussed with he students. Expectations and rules will be
highlighted. A facilitator will be chosen to lead the discussion.

6. LESSON BODY: Provide text page #_389-392 for your lesson. Follow the exact steps provided in the text for the
lesson you are teaching. Clarity is the key.

Step 1: Introduce the Socratic Seminar Model

This step I will go over the Socratic Seminar and explain the goals of the seminar. A PowerPoint of the guidelines with
be displayed and expectations will be laid out. The teacher will let the students know how they will be graded and how
they will be evaluation their peers and themselves. The class will be split into two groups. The first group will
participate in the Socratic Seminar while being evaluated by the second group. After 20 minutes the groups will shift
and the second group will participate in the Socratic seminar while the first group evaluates.

Step 2: Facilitate the Socratic Seminar Model

The teacher will pick a facilitator to lead the discussion. The facilitator will understand that his or her role is to make
sure everybody gets a chance to speak and to keep the conversation going. The facilitator will be the one to ask the
opening question and the other open-ended questions provided by the teacher. The students will be free to ask any
relevant question adding to the seminar. The teacher will only step in to ask question if the discussion comes to a dead
in or the conversation starts to get off topic.

Step 3: Review and Summarize the Dialogue

After both group are done, a discussion on what was the big idea was, what was learned and if there were any changes
of perspectives. A worksheet will be filled out to go along this this discussion.

Step 4: The students will have the chance to discussed what went well with the Socratic Seminar and what can be done
to improve. Each student will then have to fill out a form to evaluate how he or she did in the seminar.

7. ASSIGNMENT
This assignment will have the student discuss the text by answering open-ended questions that are provided by the teacher
or question that the students themselves come up with. The Socratic seminar is a student ran discussion where the teacher
provides very little input.
This assignment helps the brain in various ways. First the students have to make sense of their environment by related the
text to what is happen in present day. Leaners have to pay attention to the information being taught in order to participate in
the seminar. They have to have background knowledge and relate the new information to knowledge that was previously
acquired. Students also benefit from hearing the opinion of other students and will have the chance to evaluate themselves
as well as their peers.
Attach a copy.

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 Reflective Thinking/Curriculum Evaluation @50 Points
Reflective Thinking/Curriculum Evaluation

Reflection is a very important part of each lesson. Please take the time to thoughtfully prepare your reflections. Follow
the format provided below and provide a professional quality reflective analysis of your work.

Relevance: Explain how this lesson demonstrates your competence with one of the Graduate SLOs below? Delete unused
SLOs.

SLO 4: Articulate worldview and perspectives for enhancing student learning.

This lesson gives the students a chance to discuss current events in the world and how they relate to them. They are able to
read and articulate facts as well as their opinions. Reading and discussing with their peers gives each student an opportunity
to open up about their worldviews. Back up with textual evidence, students will be able to state a claim and defend their
statement.

Significance/competence: Using careful analysis and evaluative thought, address the points listed below. Add other
pertinent information that supports our competence by using this lesson model.

Explain how this lesson supports helping students reach levels of deeper learning.
The students will be able to learn and gather information from the text and apply it to previous knowledge from other
sources.
How does this model make learning stick in long term memory?
Analyzing the text and discussing it with other helps the students to grasp what is being taught because they hear the
information repetitively Dissecting information helps the students makes sense of what they are learning and help with
memorialization.
Provide examples and rationale for appropriate use of this teaching model and where it is suitable throughout your
curriculum. Indicate/discuss strengths/weaknesses based on theology/theory.
Students need to be aware of currents events and how the past relates. Students also need to learn to form an argument
and back up their claim with factual evidence. Socratic Seminars are also a way to build a students confidence in knowing
the have grasp the knowledge that they are being taught. Being able to have deep, meaningful, and collaborative discussion
are a skill that students need. The Socratic seminar helps to build speaking skills and helps build a deeper understanding of
the topic addressed.
How will you support advanced/ELD/Special needs learners through using this model?
Going over the question with ELD and Special Ed students prior to the seminar with help them get a better understanding of
the topic. Also scaffolding the question by breaking the question down into sections will give the students a chance to
answer. Conducting the Socratic seminar in small groups helps all students participate. Students with accommodations will
have a model from their fellow peers if they are placed in the second groups of students.
Provide links to the Common Core State Standards and explain how this lesson could support the CCSS.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own
clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary
sources. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;
provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. These standard are what the Socratic
Seminar is. The students have to analyze the text and pull from the background knowledge that they have about the writer
and the era he was in. They must also be able to participate in discussions using the information that they have.

Link to Theory:

Explain the links between this lesson model and the supporting theory (i.e., behaviorism, info processing, social
learning or constructivist).
This lesson model ties to the constructivist theory. The students simply take the information they have leaned and construct
their own views about the text and the world around them.
Link this lesson to one or more of the Big Ideas and provide a rationale.
Big ideas number 1, 8, and 9 closely relate to this lesson. Students have to take the time to absorb the information about he

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 text. They have to look at the reason for Martin Luther King writing this speech and how it might relate to the world around
them today. They will also benefit from hearing the ideas and views of their peers. The students will also do a self
-evaluation so they can rate how well they did, and what they can do to grow in the future.
Link this lesson to the New Learning Sciences and provide rationale for your selection and descriptive examples.
This lesson will help the students learn how to communicate clearly and interact effectively with others. In this discussion,
different worldviews will be explored. The students will have to heat opinions that differ from their own. They will also be
challenged to see the viewpoint of others. They have to be able to articulate their arguments in a respectful, professional
manner and respect all sides of the discussion.
Describe technological resources you have found useful.
The only technology resource I used for this lesson was a PowerPoint. I used a rubric, self-evaluation, and peer evaluation
form as material for the lesson. Peer evaluation form that each student had to fill out really helped because they kept the
students attentive, even when it was not their turn to participate in the Socratic Seminar. The self evaluation was really
helpful because I made the students reflect on how well prepared they were for the lesson.

Growth Mindset

How does this lesson help a student develop a stronger positive growth mindset? Provide specific examples. Include ideas
on how you might reward learning according to the Growth Mindset research

This lesson helps promote a growth mindset by providing feedback for the students from the teacher and their peers. They are also
able to evaluate themselves to see how they will be able to do better in the future. The evaluation that they will have to complete is
not to discourage them, but to give them an opportunity to see where they are so they can grow.

Professional Actions/Areas for growth: What are your next professional steps in this area to keep moving forward as a
professional?

Discuss what went well and what changes you have made for improving learning.
Students were engaged in this lesson. I feel I could use more technology tools so the student can do more research on their
own. All the materials were given to them for the seminar. In the future it might be helpful for the students to find sources to
relate to the topic.
What have you learned about how learning happens?
This lesson helped me to understand that leaning happen when students are able to dissect a text, relate it to prior
knowledge, and discuss it with their peers. The student is able to gain a deeper meaning when they are able to elaborate
and reflect on how they learned and studied the topic.
What more do you need to read or learn?
I need to research different way to keep a Socratic seminar interesting and motivate more students to participate. Even
though all he students gave their input, some were still not as motivated as other students. I can also see what topic are
important to the students and use what they pick in a Socratic Seminar.
How does this add to your credibility to supervise student teachers?
Giving students an opportunity to discuss topics with their peers is a great way to see how well they know about information
that is given to them. The student teacher will have to understand that the questions need to be open ended and the student
need to have the chance to lead the discussion without much input from the teacher. I will let the student teacher know when
it is appropriate to intervene in the discussion and how to intervene without being too intrusive.