I am often asked how to do a Socratic Discussion during history lessons.  Socratic Discussions originate with the Ancient Greek, Socrates, who instead of giving answers, drew the answers out of others by asking lots of questions.  This is the hallmark of the TOG classical history curriculum and has revolutionized how my kids learn.  Instead of them passively tuning out while I lecture, I now actively engage them by asking lots of questions that force them to dig into their grey matter to dust off information they have previously read.  I help them to make connections and the result is that they get excited and they learn!  A case in point involves an interesting connection I made while preparing lessons on John Quincy Adams and the gag rule in the House of Representatives in 1837.  

     America's Founding Fathers had written into the First Ammendment to the Constitution, the right for citizens to petition Congress about concerns of importance to them...such as slavery.  Now that was a hot topic in the 1830's!  Although John Quincy Adams was willing to address the topic of slavery, the Southern plantation owners were not.  In fact, Henry Laurens Pinckney, a Congressman from South Carolina, wrote a resolution that petitions regarding slavery could not be addressed.  Named after him, the gag rule passed. For years, John Quincy Adams fought against this gag rule.

     I didn't even have to wait for official class time.  One day while in the van, I overheard the kids talking about the week's reading assignment.  I listened to them for a few minutes while I waited for them to make a certain connection on their own.  Hmmmm, it wasn't happening. Apparently, they needed a little Socratic nudge. 

Me:  What was the name of the man who wrote the gag rule?

Son: Henry Laurens Pinckney.

Me:  Does that name sound familiar to you?

Son:  Pinckney?  Um...no.

Me:  How about the first two parts of the name?

Son:  Henry Laurens?

Daughter:  Oh, wasn't he in the Continental Congress?

Son:  Oh yeah.  That sounds vaguely familiar.

Me:  Yes, he was president of the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.  Do you remember the name of his son?

Son:  Oh...wait...don't tell me!  We learned about him in the Yorktown Electronic Field Trip.  John Laurens!

Me:  Yes.  Now do you remember any causes that he represented?

Son:  He fought too hard in battle.  Lafayette said that he did everything that he could to get killed.  

Me:  That is true.  But John Laurens actually inspired Lafayette with a couple of his passions.  Do you remember anything for which he worked intensely?

Daughter:  He was an abolitionist!

Son:  Oh yeah.  He wanted slaves to fight in the war in return for their freedom.

Me:  Precisely.  John Laurens inspired Lafayette to fight slavery.  Do you remember which state the Laurens family was from?

Son and Daughter:  (blank looks)

Me:  They were from South Carolina.  Henry Laurens, from the Continental Congress, owned a slave plantation there.  John Laurens was Henry Laurens Pinckney's uncle.  Do you remember when John Laurens died?

Son:  Yes, he died in a minor skirmish about a year after Yorktown.

Me:  That is correct.  Henry Laurens Pinckney was born several years after John Laurens' death.  Do you think, if John Laurens had lived longer, that he would have continued his work as an abolitionist within his family and even the nation?    

     Wow, did that ever get the ball rolling!  The kids were now impassioned, full of lively opinions on the abolitionists vs slave owners and there was no way I could get a word in edge wise if I tried.  Mission accomplished!