Socratic Seminar-Sentence Stems

Clarifying ideas:

• _________________________, could you please rephrase/repeat that?
• I did not understand _________________________. Do you mean____________________?
• Can you explain what you said about __________________________?
• Can you say more about __________________________?
• In other words, are you saying ____________________________?
• I have a question about ______________________. Then state your question.
• Where does that idea come from in the text?

Affirming an idea or adding to it:

• My idea is related to ______________’s idea ________________. Then, state your idea.
• I really like ______________’s idea about _______________because _______________.
• I agree with _________________. Also, ____________________.
• My idea builds on ____________________’s idea. I ______________________.
• What is the importance of _________________________________?
• What are the causes /effects of _______________________?

Initiating new ideas:

• I think we’ve exhausted the topic of _______________. May we move onto __________________?
• Moving onto ________________________.
• Does anyone have any final comments to add about ___________________ or shall we move onto a new subject?
• How are __________________ and ___________________alike? Different?
• How would you explain _________________?
  
  

Presenting an alternate perspective on a subject:

• While I can see why you believe this, I see this differently. In my opinion _____________________.
• I understand where you are coming from, however, I see it a bit differently. From my perspective, ____________________________.
• That’s a valid point, however, I feel _______________________.
• On the other hand, ___________________________.
• I do agree with the part about _______________________ however, _______________.
• Suppose _________________. Would that will be true?  Why or why not?
• Do you have a different interpretation of _____________________________?
• What else could that mean?
  
  

Expressing your opinion/ Wishing to opine:

• I believe that _____________________________.
• In my opinion ________________________________________.
• I believe that ___________________ because _______________________.
• To me, it seems quite obvious that ________________________.