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Student Learning Plan
“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau
Socratic Seminar
Context
Overview/Background
This lesson focuses mainly on two Social Studies SOL objectives. The first is a
skill objective, which deals with the ability to analyze and discuss historical documents.
The second is a knowledge objective which focuses on the reforms from 1801 to 1860.
To accomplish these two objectives, students will read Henry David Thoreau’s
transcendentalist essay “Civil Disobedience”, which deals with the role of the American
government and if and how citizens should react to unjust laws and actions. In addition
to the Social Studies SOL objectives, this lesson also fulfills an English objective if
taught in an American Studies classroom, specifically the development of American
Literature in a historical context. This lesson will be taught in the first semester in its
correct chronological placement and in conjunction with The Scarlet Letter. In order for
the students to successfully grapple with the text, this lesson with be taught in a Socratic
seminar format.
Rationale
The purpose of a Socratic seminar is to have students grapple and think deeply
and critically about a complex text. The teacher asks students a series of questions to
which the students answer in the form of a discussion marked by textual evidence and
building on the ideas of others. While the questioning style is teacher directed, the
discussion is completely student centered. Students are encouraged to engage in
dialogue without the need to raise hands and are required to build on the responses and
ideas of other students. In its ideal form, the teacher’s sole role should be asking
questions and students should discuss and explore the text to discover its deeper
meaning. Another important aspect of Socratic seminars is grounding ideas in the text.
Students are challenged to express their views with support from the text, a skill that can
be difficult to master. But, I believe this style of lesson is very appropriate both for the
level and age of students in my class. By the 11th grade, students should have a good
handle on reading somewhat complex and deep texts. And while it likely will not
always work perfectly, students at this age should be mature enough to engage in a
somewhat open discussion in a respectful and effective manner. This will not always be
the case, and this is where the lesson can become more teacher-directed if necessary.
Another important part of the Socratic seminar is the ticket, which is an assignment
students are required to complete before the seminar to prepare them. This helps to
ensure that students are ready to discuss and helps the seminar run more smoothly.
The complex text this Socratic seminar focuses on is Henry David Thoreau’s
“Resistance to Civil Government” or “Civil Disobedience” (1849). I believe this text
lends itself very well to Socratic style of discussion. Thoreau speaks of a great variety of
relevant problems with the United States government in its earlier days such as
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unpopular warfare, slavery, and people who claim to represent the ideals of democracy
not acting as such. He also provides a way for the just man to answer these concerns,
which eventually becomes known as civil disobedience. The excepts I have selected
from the text highlight these points well and provide a good opportunity for students to
discuss some of the ideas that were expressed by thinkers in this era of reform. In
addition, this is really the quintessential transcendentalist text, which can help students
understand a difficult way of thinking. Thoreau also provides a very good base for ideas
of civil disobedience that will become more prevalent in the civil rights era by people
such as Martin Luther King Jr. Most students’ study King’s “A Letter from Birmingham
Jail” and the in-depth study of the Thoreau that a Socratic seminar provides gives
students a wealth of prior knowledge on what civil disobedience is. In addition, this text
connects well with the text students are reading in the English side of American studies,
The Scarlet Letter. So, while this text is not explicitly mentioned in any standards, the
ideas and connections it provides makes it an extremely useful and important text that
lends itself well to the Socratic seminar style of learning.
Time
This lesson is designed to take a full 90 minute class period.
Grade Level/ Course
-
Intended Uses
o 11th Grade
o American Studies/ US History (Williamsburg James City Schools)
Objectives
SOL Objectives
Social Studies
USI.1) The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographic analysis,
including the ability to
a) Analyses and interpret primary and secondary source documents to
increase understanding of events and life in the United States to 1877.
b) Make connections between the past and present
e) Evaluate and debate issues orally and in writing
US1.8) The student will demonstrate knowledge of westward expansion and
reforms in America from 1801 to 1861.
English 11
11.3) The student will read and analyze relationships among American literature,
history, and culture:
b) Compare and contrast the development of American literature
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in its historical context.
WJCC Objectives
1) Analyze historical documents, artifacts, photos, data, primary sources, and
secondary sources:
c. formulate historical questions
d. communicate findings orally
16) Identify key areas of reform in the areas of religion, abolitionist, women’s
rights, and other social issues.
Essential Knowledge
VI)
Territorial Expansion and Foreign Conflict
a. Economic, political, and social change
i. Cultural Issues
a. slavery
g. Transcendentalism
NCSS Objectives
VI. Power, Authority, & Governance
Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of how people create and change structures of power, authority, and
governance, so that the learner can:
a. examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the
individual in relation to the general welfare
b. explain the purpose of government and analyze how its power is
acquired, used, and justified
X. Civic Ideals and Practices
Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic
republic so that the learner can
a. explain the origins and interpret the continuing influence of key
ideals of the democratic republican form of government, such as the
individual human, dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of
law.
Lesson Objectives
1) Students will be able to analyze the key points of Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil
Disobedience” by critically reading and annotating the text and participating in a
Socratic seminar by both actively participating and actively listening.
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2) Students will be able to engage in a small group Socratic seminar discussion by
developing their own rules for discussion and following those rules during the
discussion.
3) Students will be able to write a three paragraph essay reflecting on what they
learned during the Socratic seminar by including at least three key points from
the text and expressing their own feelings on the text.
Assessment
-
Students will be assessed in three ways
o 1) Completion of the Ticket
 Graded for completion
 Grade based on percentage completed
o 2) Participation in the Socratic Seminar
 Grade based on level of participation
 Participation can include talking or active listening
 Students will have the option to turn in notes they take
during the seminar instead of talking
 Students outside of the circle are graded solely on notes
o 3) Reflective Essay
 Students will respond to the Socratic seminar in a three paragraph
essay
 Students will need to include at least three points from the text
and express their view on said point
 Point Values
 Introduction and Conclusion- 4 points total
o Clarity
o Sums up the text
o BREIF (sentence for each)
 Points- 4 points each
o Clarity (1)
o Express point correctly (1)
o Provide some sort of reflection on point (2)
 Grammar/Structure- 4 points
 TOTAL= 20 points
Content and Instructional Strategies
Teaching Styles
- Mini Lecture
- Socratic Seminar
o 3 groups of 10-12 students
o All students participate
 Facilitators
 Ms. Golden
 Ms. Holland/ Mr. Townsend
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
Mr. Ragghianti
Questions
-
-
Leading Question
o Thoreau opens his essay with the quote “that government is best
which governs not at all”. What does he mean by this?
Follow Up Questions
o How does what Thoreau says throughout the excerpt support this
assertion that “that government is best which governs not at all”?
o What should drive the actions of the American government,
according to Thoreau?
o What actually drives action?
o Who is Thoreau angry at? Why?
o What is an unjust law and how does Thoreau claim just men should
react to them?
o What could be a definition of an unjust law, according to Thoreau?
What examples of unjust laws or actions does he provide?
o What does Thoreau compare the American government to? How?
o What should just men do to this machine?
o What is Thoreau’s main point in his conclusion?
o This essay was originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”,
yet it is known as “Civil Disobedience”, a word that is never
mentioned in the excerpt. Why might this essay be known as “Civil
Disobedience”?
o Who might Thoreau have influenced, both among his contemporaries
and future thinkers and actors?
Seminar Rules
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
No raising hands.
Be both an active speaker and active listeners.
Ground comments in the text.
Build on the responses of others.
Be respectful of others.
- Note: These are target rules. Students and teachers will develop the rules
together.
Procedure
1) Hook (5 mins)
a. Short video clip from United Streaming or Safari Montague.
2) Introduction of Socratic Seminar (15 mins) NOTE: Students have participated in
many discussions already in class and are familiar with how they work and how
to participate in them.
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3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
a. Explain the purpose
b. Develop rules as a class
i. Ask students for rules they feel are important in a discussion
ii. Aim for target rules, but allow others to be added or target rules
modified when appropriate
c. Split the class into three groups by numbering off
Have groups form a circle with their desks, leaving a spot for the teacher. (2
mins)
Check to assure all students have finished the Ticket and review rules (3 mins)
a. If not, have students sit outside of the circle and take notes
Ask the Opening Question (60 mins for seminar)
a. Allow students to answer question within the rules of the seminar
b. Do not become involved in the discussion unless it gets off task
When the question is exhausted, move on follow up questions
a. Follow the same procedures as with Opening Question
Conclusion (5 mins)
a. Ask students to sum up what they learned
b. Ask for individual opinions
c. Reflect on how the seminar structure worked
Assign assessment and allow time to work on it if available.
Resources
-
-
Excepts from Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” or
“Civil Disobedience” (1849)
o http://www.sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=rtcg
www.wikipedia.org
Course Textbook: The Americans. McDougal Littell. Boston, MA 2003.
Larson, Bruce and Timothy Keiper Instructional Strategies for Middle and High
School Students. Routledge, New York, 2007.
Handouts (Text and Ticket)
Website for hook (either Safari Montague or United Streaming- need to speak to
CT)
Differentiation
-
Only plan on teaching this lesson to the Advanced American Studies class
Possible Differentiation to make it appropriate for all classes
o Difficultly of reading
 Paragraph II can be eliminated without losing the meaning of the
text
 Annotated Version
 Provide students with a briefly annotated copy of the text
to guide reading
 Reading Together
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
Read the text in class aloud the day before the seminar
o If necessary the day of
o Questions
 Reduce the number
 Make them more directed
 Provide all questions before hand
o Background
 Teach a mini-lesson on Thoreau before reading the text
 Beneficial if time provides for all levels of students
Adaptations
IEP and 504
- Lesson will be adapted where necessary to accommodate Individual Education
Plans (IEP) and 540 documentation
- Examples
o Provide Partial Notes
o Have students read sources together
o Adapt assessment assignment where necessary
Reflection
Pre-Reflection
I believe this discussion has the potential to be very successful. I believe the text I
have selected is both interesting and challenging. In addition, I feel that since students
have heard the idea of civil disobedience before (when dealing with civil rights) they
will have a little bit of prior knowledge to fall back on and a desire to discover what
Thoreau considers civil disobedience to be. I also believe that the questions I have
developed are appropriate for the text and allow for a great deal of discussion and the
ticket should prepare students effectively to participate. In addition, my class does
padeia seminars on a regular basis and the Socratic seminar is very similar. This should
help to eliminate some of the problems that come with learning how to discuss as they
have a good deal of experience already. There are though some potential for difficulties.
The main place I could see issues arising is in the text itself. The full text is far too long
to assign and as a result I have selected excerpts. While I feel I have kept continuity, I
could see students possibly getting confused as the text jumps around a bit. A possible
solution to this is to test run the text with a few students if they are willing to see what
they think. In the end though I feel the seminar has a very good chance to succeed and
engage the students
Post-Reflection
I thought that this lesson went fairly well. I only taught this lesson to my Advanced
American Studies class, rather than all three of my classes, based mainly on where the
classes were at in the curriculum when I had to teach. Students are the whole were
active participants and seemed to grasp some of the major concepts of Thoreau’s work. I
conducted a rating survey after the lesson and most students rated their comprehension
in the upper range and their responses to the exit ticket for the most part reflected this
understanding.
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I did though make some alterations to the lesson before teaching it and have some
alterations I will make for the lesson if and when I teach it again. The major change I
made before teaching the lesson was having the reading be an in class activity rather
than homework. I had the students read the essay paragraph by paragraph annotating as
they go and asking questions after each paragraph. I did this mainly to ensure that all
students could participate in the seminar and to ensure the students had appropriate
comprehension of the text to be able to think critically about it. As a result of this
alteration, the discussion ticket became an exit ticket. This change had mixed results as
some said they really enjoyed going through it piece by piece while others wanted to be
more prepared before the seminar. As for after teaching alteration, in the future I will
ask more opinion and student life relevant questions with more frequency and
throughout the seminar. Although this deviates from the model of Socratic seminars a
bit, I found that more students participated when they could relate it to their life and the
responses on my rating survey reflected this view. My CT informed me of this need to
include more relevant information at the break in the seminar and as a result I asked
students to come up with examples of unjust laws today and whether they fit into
Thoreau’s framework. This question was by far the most successful of the seminar and
really got the class going. On the whole though, I believe this lesson was successful and
my CT agreed. My questions provided for substantive conversation for most and the text
highlighted some key ideas of transcendentalist thought and the role of the government
in American life.
In terms of ratings on the Powerful and Authentic Social Studies (PASS) standards, I
excelled in some areas and did not do as well in others. I though on the whole my lesson
was pretty strong in terms of higher order thinking, substantive conversation, and ethical
valuing (as there was a lot of talk of whether his ideas were right or wrong or neither).
The second half of my lesson was strong in connections beyond the classroom once I
began asking more student relevant questions, but the first half was lacking. I did not
score very high on integration, besides the obvious use of literature, as most of the
lesson was reading and talking about it. The final area, deep knowledge, was also
somewhat lacking, due in large part to reading the essay in class. This did not allow for
as careful a reading as I would have liked and in the future I will likely have students
read before class and then go over the text in the paragraph by paragraph way.
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Socratic Seminar Reading
Excepts from Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” or “Civil
Disobedience” (1849)
I
I heartily accept the motto,- “That government is best which governs least;” and I
should like to see it acted up more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally
amounts to this, which also I believe, - “That government is best which governs not at
all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they
will have. Government is at best an expedient, but most governments are usually, and all
governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought
against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also
at last be brought against a standing government. The government itself, which is only
the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be
abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican
war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their
tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.
II
This American government,- what is it but a tradition, though a recent one,
endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its
integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can
bend it at his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves; and, if ever they
should use it in earnest as a real one against each other, it will surely split. But it is not
the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or
other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments
show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon, even impose on themselves, for
their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow; yet this government never of itself
furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not
keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character
inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would
have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.
[…]
III
How does it become a mean to behave towards this American government to-day?
I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant
recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government
also. […] There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war
[with Mexico], who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming
themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their
pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing, who even postpone the
question of freedom and free trade, and quietly read the prices-current along with the
latest advice from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both. What
is the price-current of an honest man and patriot to-day? They hesitate, and they regret,
and sometimes they petition, but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will
wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil that they may no longer have it to
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regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and God-speed, to
the right, as it goes by them.
[…]
IV
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to
amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at
once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until
they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the
remedy would be worse than the evil. It makes it worse. […] If the injustice is part of the
necessary friction of the machine of government, let it got, let it go: perchance it will
wear smooth,- certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a
pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider
whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it
require you to be an agent of the injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your
life be a counter friction to stop the machine.
[…]
V
I meet this American government or its representative that State government,
directly. And face to face, once a year, no more, in the person of its tax-gather; this is the
only mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets it, and it then says
distinctly, Recognize me […] Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true
place for a just man is also a prison. […] I have paid no poll tax for six years. I was put in
jail once on this account.
[…]
VI
The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to,- for I will
cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than I, and in many things even those
who neither know nor can do so well,- is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must
have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person
and property but what I concede to it. The progress from an absolute to a limited
monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress towards a true respect
for the individual. Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in
government? It is not possible to take a step forward towards recognizing and organizing
the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State
comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its
own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with
imagining a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual
with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own
repose, if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who
fulfilled all the duties of the neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of
fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still
more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.
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Name:__________________________________________________
Date:____________
Period:____
Socratic Seminar Ticket
Excepts from Henry David Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” or “Civil
Disobedience” (1849)
Directions: After reading the excerpts from “Civil Disobedience”, answer the following
questions help you prepare for the seminar. Completion of this ticket is required in order
to participate in the seminar. Please also make annotations in the text.
1) What does Thoreau mean when he says “That government is best which governs not at
all”?
2) Thoreau speaks of unjust laws. What does he consider to be unjust laws or actions
carried out by the American government? How would you define an unjust law?
3) What is Thoreau’s main argument in his conclusion? What does this sound like a
precursor to?
Define the following terms:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
expedient
vitality
God-speed
Transgress
Perchance