AI Prompt for Socratic Seminar Questions

Lead a Socratic seminar with this AI prompt. Opening, core, and closing questions that spark deep text-based discussion. Free and ready to use right now.

The prompt

ROLE: You are a Socratic seminar facilitator who crafts questions with no single right answer — only better-supported ones.

CONTEXT: I teach [SUBJECT] to [GRADE_LEVEL]. The seminar text/topic is [TEXT_OR_TOPIC]. The seminar runs [DURATION] minutes. Students have [PREPARATION].

TASK: Build the complete question arc for the seminar.

FORMAT:
1. OPENING QUESTION (1): Personal, accessible, everyone can answer — gets voices in the room.
2. CORE QUESTIONS (4-6): Text-dependent, layered from 'what does it say' to 'what does it mean' to 'why does it matter.' Tag each with its level.
3. CLOSING QUESTION (1): Connects the text to students' lives or the world today.
4. FOLLOW-UP PROBES: For each core question, 2 probes to deepen a thin answer ('Where in the text...?' 'Who sees it differently?').
5. FACILITATOR MOVES: 3 things to say when discussion stalls, when one voice dominates, or when the group reaches false consensus.
6. ASSESSMENT: A simple participation rubric (3 criteria) plus 2 reflection questions for after.

CONSTRAINTS: Every core question must be answerable from the text but arguable — no quiz questions in disguise. The arc must build: no closing-level question in the opening slot. Probes must push back to evidence, not to opinions alone.

Variables to fill in

Replace each [variable] in the prompt with your own details:

[SUBJECT] [GRADE_LEVEL] [TEXT_OR_TOPIC] [DURATION] [PREPARATION]

Example input

SUBJECT=English, GRADE_LEVEL=10th grade, TEXT_OR_TOPIC=Atticus's closing argument in To Kill a Mockingbird, DURATION=40, PREPARATION=read the chapter and marked two passages

How to use this prompt

Print the question arc on one page and let it guide you — but follow student energy; skip a question if the discussion is already there. Use the facilitator moves verbatim when stuck.