Socratic Seminar: Philosophers and Democratic Revolutions (High School)

This high-school-level resource provides educators with instructions and student materials for facilitating a Socratic Seminar on the topic of philosophers and democratic revolutions. This Socratic Seminar Resource Set includes the following:

• Teacher facilitation guide
• Hook resource: Reasons for Revolution
• Text resources: 
  • Text A: Excerpt from John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government
  • Text B: Excerpt from Simon Bolivar’s La carta de Jamaica (“The Letter from Jamaica”)
  • Text C: Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence
  • Text Processing Activity for improving comprehension of the three excerpts
• Preparation resources:
  • Introductory Reading: “The Atlantic Revolutions” from the OER Project
  • Introductory Reading Notecatcher
• Seminar Questions resource: Philosophers and Democratic Revolutions
• Extension resource: Exploring Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Madison