Giggles, giggles, and more giggles. Students are often nervous the first time they circle up to participate in a formal Socratic dialogue.
In a previous post, I discussed many different approaches to facilitating meaningful student dialogue including Shared Inquiry and Philosophical Chairs.
Here are some ideas that can help you introduce student-led dialgoue, as well as some activities you can do with younger students to encourage active listening and the use of precise language.
GUIDELINES FOR DIALOGUE
Before each discussion, it helps to review some basic guidelines. I developed these over time after facilitating many types of dialogues with students. You can make your own copy HERE. With a quick search, you can find additional ideas for guidelines. Find what works best for you and your students.
OUR FIRST CONVERSATIONS
These introductory conversations centered around just one question. In subsequent conversations, we discussed poetry, texts, speeches, and additional philosophical questions. To keep it simple, we referred to all of our student-led “circle discussions” as Socratic dialogue.
THIRD GRADE
THE QUESTION: “WHAT IF ALL CARS WERE YELLOW?”
Yes, that question always brought on the giggles. It originates from a CoRT Thinking lesson in the CoRT kits our district had purchased for all GT classrooms.
The fact that the question seems silly is partly the reason it promotes critical thinking! When students get over their initial surprise and begin to consider it as a serious proposal, they consider all kinds of scenarios and possibilities. It helps them realize it’s easy to make snap judgments of new or unusual ideas.
Rather than describe how it went, I’ll let my former student, Hareem, explain it. I’m grateful that Hareem chose to write a post for our class blog about our first Socratic dialogue! You can find additional PMI questions from CoRT at this link. Also, find other CoRT resources HERE.
FOURTH ~ FIFTH GRADE
THE QUESTION: “SHOULD YOU ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS?”
This question laid a foundation for good communication and mutual respect. Sometimes I used it in fourth and sometimes in fifth; it varied from year to year. You can find a more comprehensive lesson in the book Philosophy for Kids (read more HERE).
Before the dialogue, I defined “an opinion” as “a viewpoint, thought, or idea about something or someone.” Then, students were given the opportunity to discuss their ideas in smaller groups. Strategies such as “four corners” can put students more at ease and build confidence for the larger group discussion. HERE is a brief description of how the dialogue went written by another former student, Emma.
ALTERNATE QUESTION: “SHOULD U.S. SCHOOLS ADOPT A YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR?”
This question is not as philosophical, but it’s perfect for introducing another fun strategy. If most of your students have had experience with student-led dialogue, try adding another element: multiple perspectives. Assign roles (e.g. principal, theme park owner, parent, etc.) and have students think and dialogue from the perspective of their assigned role. After the dialogue, have students guess the roles that everyone had assumed! Kim Von Kaenel commented on this post that she uses this same strategy with her 5th-grade students and Six-Hat Thinking.
LOWER PRIMARY GRADES
“Circle time” discussions that revolve around stories are common in K-2 classrooms, but conversations can be designed to prepare younger students for more formal dialogues later.
KINDERGARTEN ~ FIRST GRADE
At the start of each GT class, the kinder and first-grade students always gathered on the rug in front of my small bookshelf. We usually read a book that corresponded with our activities for that day. This was the ideal time to reinforce active listening and critical thinking.
During the first few weeks, we played games that encouraged careful listening. One example is based on the book A, My Name is Alice and is explained HERE. Another is a student-friendly version of the game Taboo to help students practice using precise language and careful listening. HERE is a free version similar to mine. I had one student stand at the front of the room facing the class, while the card was projected on to the screen. The other students had to think for at least thirty seconds and come up with one clue statement containing no “taboo” words that would result in the standing student guessing the target word in one guess. Students became more and more skilled at this as we played it throughout the year.
As students became more controlled in their sharing and listening, we moved into informal dialogues. I found it helpful to teach students a phrase that reminded them think before speaking such as “CON-TEM-PLATE then ARTIC-U-LATE!” They love learning the meanings of these “big words!”
You can find many, many resources for literature-based conversations HERE, including one for Horton Hears a Who. I especially love the very philosophical question “Do you have to see, hear, or touch something yourself in order to believe it’s there?” Kindergarteners and first graders can surprise you with their responses!
SECOND GRADE
Six-Hat Thinking is a great way to focus thinking and discussion. In second grade, it was often incorporated into our dialogues so that students could practice seeing and discussing ideas from multiple perspectives.
I’ve shared a free sample lesson in my TPT store- Six-Hat Thinking and Cinderella, which centers around the non-traditional Cinderella story, Princess Furball. Have students discuss the princess’s options using the six thinking hats, then share what they feel is the “best” decision, giving reasons for their responses.
Other discussions in second grade emerged from our topics of study and/or literature (e.g. biomimicry, Journey to the Center of the Earth). We used excerpts of texts, research results, ethical questions, or student’s creative ideas as prompts for dialogue.
A FEW NOTES:
It’s fun to vary topics and approaches, too. Have students respond to a video, a cartoon, a meme, or a piece of art. Have them sometimes do something prior to circling up for dialogue. If you have large classes, strategies such as think-pair-share, four-corners or inner/outer circle can help students come to the larger discussion better prepared to articulate ideas.
| SPECIAL NOTE: As I was writing this post, I was reading the book Thinking Like a Lawyer and I’m excited to recommend it highly as another fantastic resource to use in promoting critical thinking and civil discourse. The thinkLaw curriculum was adopted in my former school district just after I left to move to another school, and I’ve heard great things about it. You will see that it’s been added to several of our lists. Read more about thinkLaw HERE. |
What resources do you use to promote student-led philosophical conversations? I invite you to share by adding a comment below! You may also be interested in these resources:
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Philosophy for Kids ~ Wonder and Wisdom in the Classroom