Week 3: Lesson 3

Duration: 2 days
Subject: English Language Arts
Unit: The Canterbury Tales
Grade Level: 12

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly
draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the
topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and
evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or
challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.D
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence
made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what
additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the
task.

Lesson Objectives:
Students will be able to explain what makes a strong discussion question.
Students will create questions to ask in Socratic seminar.
Students will participate in a Socratic seminar over The Canterbury Tales.
Day One

Anticipatory Set:
Instruct students to take out their iPads and open their iDo Notepad app to record
journal #8. Project the following prompt for students to respond to:
What makes a strong question? Makes a list of elements of good discussion
questions.
After students have completed their journal entry, invite them to share their
responses with the class.
Input:
1. Instruct students to open the Notability app on their iPad in preparation to
take notes.
2. Using The Art of Asking Questions Powerpoint, present a lecture on the
three levels of questions and the four different types of thoughtful questions.
Lecture Notes:
Slide 1: Quality Discussion Questions
-Are open ended; that is, it typically will not have a single, final, and correct
answer.
-Requires a claim, support and justification, not just a simple answer
-Thought provoking and intellectually engaging; and often sparks discussion
-Calls for higher-order thinking; such as analysis, inference, evaluation,
prediction. It cant be answered by recall alone.
-Raises additional questions and sparks further inquiry.
Slide 2: Different Types of Discussion Questions

World connection question
-A question that connects the text with the real world.
-If a civil law contradicts a divine law, is it acceptable to refuse it like
Antigone?

Open-ended question
-An insightful question about the text that will require proof and group
discussion and construction of logic to discover or explore the answer to
the question.
-Why did Jane Eyre leave Thornfield even though she was in love with
Rochester?

Slide 3: Different Types of Questions

Universal theme / Core Question
-A question dealing with a theme(s) of the text that will encourage group
discussion about the universality of the text.
-After reading Antigone, can you identify the elements of a tragic hero? How
is Aristotle's catharsis demonstrated?

Literary Analysis Question
-A question dealing with HOW an author chose to compose a literary piece.
How did the manipulate point of view, characterization, poetic form,
rhetorical devices, etc.?
-How did Robert Frost communicate the theme of life's obligations
interfering with simple pleasures in his poem Stopping by the Woods on
Snowy Evening? What poetic techniques communicate this meaning?

Slide 4: Why is it important to know how to ask thought-provoking
question?
-To keep a dialogue going (with others and with a text)
-To help point out what is important and why it is important in a text or topic
-To see connections between different parts and how they fit together
-To better understand what question and prompts are asking
-To stimulate critical thinking

Slide 5: Level 1 Questions
-Defining
-Describing
-Identifying
-Listing
-Naming
-Observing
-Reciting
-Scanning

Slide 6: Level 1 Question Examples
-What is the definition of indigenous? (definition)
-Who is the narrator of The Canterbury Tales? (identification)
-What characters appear in chapter 1 of Lord of the Flies? (list)

*Students should not write level 1 questions for Socratic seminar.

Slide 7: Level 2 Questions
-Analyzing
-Comparing
-Contrasting
-Grouping
-Inferring
-Sequencing
-Synthesizing
-What words should be defined?

Slide 8: Level 2 Question Examples
-How does the Millers interaction with the Reeve demonstrate Chaucers
argument about the common people of medieval England?
(analysis)
-If To Kill a Mockingbird is partly inspired by the Scottsboro Boys, what do
you think will happen in the story?
(inference)
-How do Katherine and Bianca differ in terms of embracing their given social
role?
(contrast)
Slide 9: Level 3 Questions
-Applying a principle
-Evaluating
-Hypothesizing
-Predicting
-Judging
-Speculating
-Imagining
-What words should be defined?
Slide10: Level 3: Question Examples
-Are any of the characters in The Taming of Shrew really who they claim to
be?
(Judgment)
-What do you think happens to Katherine as her marriage to Petruchio
progresses?
(Speculation)
3. After completing the lecture, explain to students that they will be conducting
a Socratic seminar during the following class period. Hand out guideline for
the Socratic Seminar over The Canterbury Tales and read through the
guidelines with the students.
4. Hand out Socratic seminar preparation sheet to the students and allow them
the remainder of the period to identify the quotations and questions that
they will be using for the Socratic seminar.

Homework:
For homework, students will complete the Socratic Seminar preparation form, which
requires them to identify six significant quotes from the text and develop a question
connected to each quote.
Day Two
Input:
1. Desks will need to be set up in the inner and outer circle formation before
students arrive.
2. As students enter the classroom, instruct them to sit in either the inner or
outer circle.
3. Hand out the Significant Questions and Commentary sheet and explain to
students that they will need to fill out this sheet when sitting in the outer
circle.
4. Explain to students that when sitting in the inner circle, they will use the questions
that they developed for homework to participate in a Socratic Seminar. When they
are sitting in the outer circle, they will record significant questions and
commentary of the inner circle in the outer circle handout. After 20 minutes, they
will switch to the opposite circle.
5. All students in the inner circle to begin the Socratic seminar. Invite a student to
ask the first question. After 20 minutes, stop the conversation in the inner circle
and instruct students to switch to the opposite circle. Invite a student to ask the
first question. After 20 minutes, stop the conversation of the inner circle. Debrief
with students if time allows.
*While students are engaging in the Socratic seminar, you should be sitting off to
the side keeping track of the number of time students ask questions or respond to
the questions of others. Do not interject in the conversation unless students are
stating facts about the narrative that are incorrect or if something inappropriate
has been said.
Homework:
For homework, students will complete the reflection section of their Significant
Questions and Commentary sheet.
Supplies:
Computer
Projector
iPad (each student will need one)
iDo Notepad app
Notability app
The Art of Asking Questions Powerpoint
The Canterbury Tales Socratic Seminar Guidelines Handout
Socratic Seminar Preparation Worksheet
Significant Questions and Commentary Worksheet
The Canterbury Tales (each students will need a copy)