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December 19, 2024
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Moriah Seventh Graders Hold Socratic Seminar

The Moriah seventh graders recently did an incredible job preparing for and enacting a sophisticated Socratic seminar in their English class discussing the diary of Anne Frank and the importance of learning about the Holocaust. They had complex and spirited conversations involving questions such as, “Why is it important for students to read about Anne Frank and learn about the Holocaust?,” “How much do we blame specific types of civilians for their actions during the Holocaust?” and “Could such a terrible occurrence happen in our current society?” In addition to preparing well-researched responses, the students focused on listening skills and practiced how to challenge their classmates’ answers and ask clarifying and follow-up questions. The seminars, which were completely student-led, took place in “fishbowl” style with a group of students having the debate in the center and the remaining students in the class surrounding them in an outside circle to observe their conversational skills. Every student participated in the activity by either being selected for the conversation or analyzing the debaters’ skills and responses. After much hard work and preparation, an exciting and meaningful experience was had by all and they all look forward to more opportunities to improve upon these skills in future seminars.

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