RL1:  HEADS UP!  THE WRITING WORKSHOP & THE SOCRATIC CLASSROOM: ENGAGING MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IMPROVING THEIR OWN WRITTEN & ORAL COMMUNICATION ACHIEVEMENT

INSTRUCTOR(S): Gayle Richter, Racine Unified School District
GRADE LEVEL: 6-12
 

Participants will learn how to organize and manage student centered activities in both the Writing Workshop and Socratic Classroom.  Teachers will build and/or modify lessons and units so that "students... [come] together to build meaning and understanding in a collaborative fashion with their peers" (Copeland 10). Teachers will develop lessons and units for immediate use in their classrooms.  They will create specific directions and activities to use with their students.  Teachers are encouraged to modify their own existing curriculum.  For middle school and high school writing instruction, teachers will learn how to use writing rubrics, integrate peer editing and evaluation groups with teacher evaluation, and create, manage, and grade student writing portfolios.  Socratic Instruction will include how to develop and use Socratic questioning and Socratic Seminars.  Teachers will learn the benefit of Socratic Circles, which share many qualities with Literature Circles.  The nuts and bolts of managing the Socratic classroom will be the focus of this workshop.  The goal of this session is to create classroom activities that will engage all students and require students' active participation.