SOCRATIC

READING
CIRCLES

TO HELP STUDENT
CENTERED READING
COMPREHENSION

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IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN A
C L A S S R O O M T H AT O P E R AT E S L I K E T H E
EXAMPLE ON THE RIGHT?

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OBJECTIVES:

• Teach the purpose and benefits of Socratic Reading Circles.

• Teach student roles and procedures.

• Provide you with something that you can use in your

classroom!

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ISTE AND TEACHER LEADER
STA N DA R D S

• ISTE - 2.6.a - Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals
and outcomes in both independent and group settings.

• Teacher Leader - Domain 4, Part C: Supports colleagues individual and collective

reflection and professional growth by serving in roles such as mentor, coach, and
content facilitator.

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W H AT I S A S O C R AT I C R E A D I N G
CIRCLE?
Socratic reading circles are a systematic, student centered approach to reading
comprehension. It is not leveled or differentiated. Rather, students get support primarily from
their group members and the clearly preparing for pre-determined questions. This structure
is accompanied with procedure. Once correctly trained on the language, roles and
procedures of Socratic Circles, students can thrive as a valued member of a team and build
confidence and reading comprehension skills within an engaging structure.
There is no default way to do Socratic Reading Circles, as my research and experience has
informed me. Within this structure, there are many possibilities! I even switched my method to
an inside/outside circle structure, as I did more research, which informed me this would be a
good entry point for students. Feel free to do your own research and play with this and do
what is best for your learners!

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 C H O O S E YO U R F O R M AT

There are some factors

that should guide your
choice as to which
structure you should use.
Are your students
experienced with
Socratics? How large is
your class? What are their
academic levels?

Since we are mostly first

timers with small class
seizes, we will focus on
the inside/outside circle
model today. Mark Briceno
HOW COULD THIS HELP YOU CLASS?

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CIRCLES
Inner Circle – This group reads the text with the predetermined questions that will be asked
during the Socratic Circle. They take notes and record thoughts and answers, which they are
then prepared to discuss during the Socratic Circle. The insider circle MUST support their
claims with text evidence and citations!

Outside Circle – This group reads the text too! Their role is to be the questioners. And agree
or disagree with the points brought up by the inner circle. They will be responsible for asking
the same questions that the inner circle has been answering and preparing their notes for, as
well as having an opinion on these questions. They will also be recording notes on the
answers they are given.

Students will then switch roles so that each team has the chance to be inside and outside.

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E X P E C TAT I O N S A N D R E M I N D E R S ( I
SHOW THIS TO MY CLASSES)

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LET’S USE THESE SENTENCE FRAMES
THROUGHOUT THE REST OF OUR
D I S C U S S I O N ( L E T ’ S TA K E S O M E T I M E TO
REVIEW ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.

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PROCEDURE
After students have had ample time to prepare for their
Socratic, they will begin! I suggest setting a reasonable time
limit on the preparation session, based on your students'
abilities and length of the text being covered. With rules and
norms in mind, your annotated and prepared students are
ready to begin! It is imperative that students know they are not
just answering the questions, but also must cite the parts in the
text that gave them this idea.

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REFLECTION
Students will then complete an
individual reflection sheet, which
helps to summarize the complete
range of thinking they did throughout
the process. There are also useful
sentence frames from this document I
found online.
Name________________________________________ Period __________
Socratic Seminar Self-Reflection
One goal of seminars is to understand the ideas and thoughts of others through asking questions and
listening to answers. This means that seminar participants must practice how to agree and disagree.
Participants must be able to disagree without being disagreeable. In order to do so, the participants can
use the following suggested ways of responding as a way of framing their thoughts before they speak.
Speaking and responding in a calm and collaborative manner is essential to good discussion and
dialogue.
1. I agree with__________ because, but I want to add another reason why I think _________ is
true. (Give another reason.)
2. I disagree with __________ because . . .
3. I'm not sure why ___________ said . . . Can you reword your comments to help me
understand?
4. I understand your point, __________, but I want to add/disagree/give another side . . .
5. This is what I think you are saying. . . Is that correct?
Check those statements that you feel adequately describe your participation in the seminar.
___ 1. I came prepared for the seminar.
___ 2. I was courteous to the other students.
___ 3. I paused and thought before speaking.
___ 4. I listened to others tell their opinions.
___ 5. I kept an open mind for opinions different from my own.
___ 6. I acted as a positive role model for other students.
___ 7. I built on what was said just before I gave my opinion.
___ 8. I used fixed examples from the text to support statements.
___ 9. I felt comfortable speaking in the seminar.
___10. I gave my opinions clearly.
Give yourself a letter grade: A B C D F
How would you rate the seminar? (Check one)
___Excellent (Everyone participated, listened, had good ideas, did not interrupt.)
___Good (Generally, everyone participated but the seminar could have better ideas and behavior.)
___Fair (Side talk, interruptions, students distracted.)
___Poor (Lots of side talk, interruptions, and rude behavior.)
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W H AT Q U E ST I O N S D O YO U H AV E ?

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LET’S TRY!
With a partner, you will now give it a try! Use the story I have provided and take turns
being the inside and outside participant. You will have 10 minutes on each side, then
switch!

You should have:

-Reading passage

-Prompt cards

-Reflection page

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 Name: Class:

Time Travel in Fourth Grade

ARTICLE
By Jenny Hogan
2022

Science is the study of the world around us. A science fair is an event, and sometimes a contest, in which
students present their 3ndings about something they studied. In this short story, a fourth grade narrator, or the
person who tells the story, travels in time to help his future self. As you read, take notes on the narrator’s
actions.

[1] I’m in the fourth grade, and I have four rules that I live
my life by. Number one: all vegetables taste better
with ketchup. Two: if your mom asks you what you
did in school that day, say anything other than “not
much.” Three: stay away from girls. (They’re trouble.
Especially Kathy Hanson.) And four: never, ever have
anything to do with time travel….

1
At the time, it was only a theory I’d been working on,
2
but the possibilities were endless. With time travel, I
could cause my granddad not to spill that milkshake
on Nana at the malt shop, or Dad not to spill that latte
on Mom in the coGee shop. That would prevent them
from meeting and cause me not to be born. Or
3
there’s the bigger eGect: messing up the evolution of
life on Earth as we know it. I might return from my
trip to Hnd I have sixty toes on each foot. Plus, I get a
little carsick going over Hfty miles per hour — I could "Untitled" by Nancy Poydar is used with permission.
never travel faster than the speed of light. Anyway, I
absolutely avoided time travel at all costs. That is, I did until a few days ago.

4
You see, I had a small problem: the fourth-grade science fair. I had spent weeks perfecting my erupting
5
volcano, made from plaster of Paris, yogurt, Spackle, and Alka-Seltzer, with Ioating graham-cracker tectonic
plates on a molasses lava Iow. But the night before the science fair, when I was testing the lava Iow and the
6
volcanic missiles (raisins), my family curse kicked in: I knocked the whole thing oG the desk, and it shattered! It
had taken me weeks to make. How could I possibly redo it in time for the fair in the morning?

1. Theory (noun) an idea about something

2. something that may happen
3. changes that take place over time
4. to burst suddenly; to explode
5. Plaster (noun) a paste of sand, lime, and water that hardens when it dries
6. Shatter (verb) to break into small pieces

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1
PROMPTS

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OUR REFLECTION

• How can this benefit your learners?

• What specific skills do you think this will help your students
develop?
• What challenges did you experience?

• Will you try this?

Mark Briceno