Socratic Seminar Activity
Introduction -
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2:Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.1:Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2:Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
This is just a few standards that go along with the following activity. At the end of this activity the students should have mastered these standards
1) Driving Question
In this project, students will explore what is fair compensation for a person’s services. College sports are very popular in American culture (i.e. March Madness) and is a topic that many students will be very interested in and likely already have strong (though likely not very well-informed) opinions about. This question is also relevant because one day all these students will hopefully be members of society with jobs that pay them a salary to support themselves, and the issue of how much certain types of jobs pay will be very relevant to their daily lives. This activity also serves as an opportunity for students to take a well-informed position on a controversial issue and give them experience in defending their viewpoints, backing their opinions with facts and evidence found through research. The topic of whether or not college athletes should receive a salary is controversial and right now there is no right answer, because the issue is still a hot topic in college sports and no decision has been made by the NCAA, the governing body of college athletics. Both sides of the argument are plausible; there is plenty of evidence pointing to yes, college athletes should be paid, but there is also substantial proof and reasoning for why they should not be paid. This allows students to choose either side of the argument and be able to find sufficient research to back their claim. Since there are so many resources and evidence for the students to find on this topic, students can research their reasoning to defend their opinion in depth and form solid counter-arguments against the other side.
2) Grabber
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/is-the-ncaa-a-cartel-some-former-and-current-athletes-say-yes/
Watch this video interview between PBS economics correspondent Paul Solman, former NCAA basketball star Ed O’Bannon, the president of the NCAA Mark Emmert, and several other parties where they discuss reasons for both why college athletes should be paid and why they should not be paid. This sets up where the controversy comes from on this topic and how the issue became relevant. It presents both sides of the argument through the former basketball player O’Bannon, who promotes salaries for athletes, and Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA, who advocates against paying college athletes. Ed O’Bannon’s case was what sparked the controversy in this topic; he was the first case that brought how college athletes are paid into the public spotlight when he bought a videogame and discovered himself as one of the players. The article enumerates many reasons why college athletes should be paid, including personal stories from O’Bannon about how he had to go hungry some nights when he did not have enough money for groceries. There are also many strong and logical points made against paying college athletes, like the fact that if the decision was made to pay basketball and football players, what happens to the other sports that generate less revenue, like water polo and field hockey? It raises the question of where to draw the line with giving salaries to college athletes. It also brings up the topic of why college athletes are going to college in the first place: are they going to play sports, or to be a student and to get a degree? It highlights the importance of education and also what is fair when considering compensation for a person’s talents and services.
3) Culminating Activity
For this culminating activity as the teacher I will assign the students into two separate groups. One side being advocates for athletes being paid and one side being argumentative or the side against athletes being paid. Both side should go out and find all the research they can rather it be from articles, videos, or outside people. When both sides have collected a nice amount of research they will come back and have a socratic seminar. A socratic seminar is just a debate or open discussion. As the teacher I will judge how they have mastered the lesson by the follow;
Did they do their research for the topic given
Did each side have relevant evidence to back up their claim
Did they refute the other sides argument
Did they listen well when others are speaking
This activity is authentic because it gives the students a chance collaborate and use their voice. A hands on activity can be a better choice of learning, the students feel more involved and that they are in charge. This activity also has the students do some critically thinking for themselves, and articulate their own thoughts and their responses to the thoughts of others while not following a step by step of the teachers instructions.