Johnny Tremain CEU - 5th Grade
What is a Socratic Seminar?
We started out watching a video of a Socratic seminar held in an English high school class, so we could get an idea of how it is run and the value of holding one.
Our Seminar Seminars
As we read the novel, Johnny Tremain, we engaged in Socratic Seminars to gain a deeper and shared understanding of the novel. Our discussion was rich, and we really learned how to share our perspective, while opening our minds to those of our peers.
A Very Small Sample of a Minute or Two:
|
|
Peer Evaluation
Once the Seminar is over, peers sitting opposite speakers meet with their matched speakers to give them feedback on what they observed and how they evaluated them.
Reflection & Revision
After hearing perspectives of our peers, it's time to revisit our original response and consider revision based on our additional insight. This was also a time for peer evaluation, which helped with revision as well.
All The World's A STAGE!
For creative production, students each researched a Colonial trade, since Johnny was forced to search for another job in the beginning of the novel. With their research, students had to create a script of Johnny stopping in to inquire about their particular trade. They also had the option to act out out the script in a short skit. FUN! (See our videos on a different computer at this station.)
Script Writing:
More Creative Production:
Another component of the final project was to create a prop, display, or electronic presentation to represent the researched trade. Individualized CREATIVITY!