My students need access to engaging content in Scholastic News, Science Spin and other news magazines at their reading level to participate in Socratic Seminar.
How do you develop critical thinking in elementary schools? How do teachers nurture creative problem solving? Pose a question like Socrates did long, long ago.
Twenty curious bodies swarm to the learning carpet daily, eager to absorb new ideas and share their original thinking.
They are so conditioned to look to the teacher for directions, for questions, for answers.
I want to create independent and divergent thinkers that are self-motivated learners. I want their own passion to ask the questions, research the answers, and develop and share their own ideas.
My Project
Student-centered classrooms place each learner in the driver's seat. By providing them with various reading leveled news magazines about current events on the same topics, my classroom can begin to change to become more student-centered through using the Socratic Method.
Socrates wandered the streets of ancient Athens with his group of students and simply posed questions.
The disciples would then delve deep into their own thinking and begin to debate amongst each other until each student had a better understanding of the original idea.
My students will be forming their own, original ideas through researching a variety of news magazines at a range of reading levels. The information they research will help guide their discussions, and changing their thinking.
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