(upbeat music) Did you know that there are lots of different ways you can share your thoughts and ideas?

One way has a very fancy name, and it's called the Socratic seminar.

I know that sounds a bit intimidating but actually it's quite easy.

A Socratic seminar is basically a strategy you can use when you're wanting to host a formal discussion based on a text.

Today, our Socratic seminar is going to be based on one question.

OK.

It has four elements.

The first one is the text.

It can be a book or a poem or a story or a passage.

The next thing is it has questions.

The leader asks an open ended question.

An open ended question means that there are no right or wrong answers.

You just get to answer what you want to, as long as you can give me a reason why.

The leader.

I'm the leader today.

The leader models appropriate questioning and answering techniques and engages in the discussion as well.

And the last element are the participants.

That's you guys and your job is to listen actively, share your ideas, and ask questions if you need to.

There are some rules to Socratic seminar.

Participants must refer to the text when talking.

So in a few minutes, I'm going to ask you two different questions and you can refer back to that and say, "Well, blah, blah, blah, because blah blah, blah."

Connect it back to that question.

Another rule is, if you need to, ask questions to clarify.

So if someone says something and you don't understand it, you can ask them a question too.

I'm not the only one that has to ask questions.

You can ask questions as well.

And the last one is you should be thinking critically using your brain.

This is a time to be creative and we're going to use our whole brains.

Well, I have some friends here to help me try out a Socratic seminar.

This is Lottie.

This is Reed.

And this is Annie.

And I'm going to ask you your very first question.

Are you ready?

All right.

Our very first question today is, what is your favorite activity to do in the summer and why?

My favorite thing is camping, because you enjoy the nature and you get to run outside and you get to, like, basically have a sleepover and then be in nature with your best friends.

A sleepover in the nature with your best friends.

What a perfect way to describe camping.

I love that.

What about you?

What's your favorite thing to do in the summer?

My favorite activity in the summer is kayaking because it's challenging.

You know what?

I've never been kayaking.

I bet it is challenging.

What about you?

I like to fish.

Cause it's, like, really cool because, like, who knows what kind of designs or colors you can get.

Oh, of the fish you catch?

You know what?

I've never thought about that with fishing.

It is exciting to not know what you're going to pull out, right?

It's really cool.

And Arkansas has some really unique fish that you can pull out of rivers and lakes and ponds.

Let's try another question, OK?

You did a great job that first round.

What is your favorite animal and why?

A horse.

Randi: A horse.

What about you, Reed?

My favorite animal is a cheetah because my favorite super power is fast abilities and the cheetah is perfect for that.

It's like nature's own superhero, right?

OK, what about you, Lottie?

Um, I like giraffes because, they're really, really, really pretty and the patterns sometimes you can kind of, if you look kind of closely, you might see some kind of like little things.

Like the patterns on their necks and their bodies?

Great job, you guys.

Well, next time you're wanting to have an awesome discussion, I want you to try out this technique and host your very own Socratic seminar.

It's time to rise and shine.

It's a great day to learn and build and grow.

More ways to show off what we know.

Let's show 'em.

Science and reading skills, math and art, color wheels.

Let's go to class.

It's a blast!

You're a great student so we know that you can do it.

Rise and shine.

Get up off your feet.

Ah, ooo, ooo.

It's time to rise and shine.