Ishmael Lesson Plan

Socratic Seminar

Kind of Activity:

Group Discussion

Objective:

Students will apply the Socratic method in their discussion of Ishmael to develop critical reading and thinking skills.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.11-12.1; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.11-12.1.C

Structure:

Begin with a brief discussion of the structure and ground rules of a Socratic seminar. The Socratic method is based on the theory that it’s more important to help students think for themselves than for a teacher to tell them the “right” answer. In the dialogs that Plato wrote down, from which the method gets its name, Socrates would pose open-ended questions to his interlocutors. He...