Curated OER
Your Right to an Attorney
An outstanding instructional activity on a person's right to have attorney's representation in a court case is here for your young learners of the law. Pupils read a lengthy account that spells out the laws regarding legal...
Judicial Learning Center
The Judge and the Jury
Unless you are a lawyer, you might not understand just how unrealistic Law and Order and other legal dramas actually are. Here's a great resource to help scholars of criminology gain a more realistic perspective. The lesson outlines the...
Curated OER
social Studies: First Amendment Role-Play
Students evaluate First Amendment case decisions by the Supreme Court. they divide into three groups - Supreme Court justices, prosecution attorneys, and defense lawyers. Both sides present their arguments and the justices deliver...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Saved from the Gallows — the Trial of Leopold and Loeb
Was justice served for Bobby Franks? An informative article about the 1924 trial of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold includes an overview of the murder of Bobby Franks, the defense’s legal strategy, and excerpts of closing arguments from...
Curated OER
Mississippi Trial, 1955: Imagery Guide
Class members take on the role of jurors in this guided imagery activity designed to be used with chapter 15 of Mississippi Trial, 1955.
Curated OER
Judges in the Classroom Lesson Plan Juvenile Justice- Adjudicatory Hearing
Students conduct a mock hearing simulating the role of attorneys and witnesses familiarizing them with the juvenile court process.
Judicial Learning Center
Your Day in Court
Whether out of choice or necessity, people want to know what will happen on a typical day in court. A helpful lesson walks scholars in the field of criminology through the trial process from opening statements to the final verdict.
Judicial Learning Center
Types of Court Cases
How can one court acquit someone of a crime, while another convicts the person of the same one? It's all because of the differences between civil and criminal trials. An informative resource provides scholars in the field of criminology...
Curated OER
Due Process Freedoms
Students participate in a simulation of the voir dire portion of a trial. There are student lawyers assigned for the prosecution and the defense. They must review and question all prospective jurors to obtain a fair and impartial jury.
Curated OER
Your Own Classroom Court
Students role play a court with lawyers, a judge, jury, and more. In this classroom court lesson plan, students review rules of the law in the judicial system.
Curated OER
Criminal Law: Rape
Students explore the different degrees and types of rape as defined in the state of Washington. They role-play as prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, with one of each in different groups. The attorneys present their cases and the...
Judicial Learning Center
The Players in the Courtroom
Courtrooms are complicated. In addition to the many rules, there are a number of people whose jobs are not very clear to the casual courtroom observer. With the resource, individuals identify some of these roles and review more...
Curated OER
Juvenile Justice-Adjudicatory Hearing
Students list the role of the prosecutor and the role of defense counsel. They state the elements of robbery and defense of compulsion. Students conduct a mock hearing, following the sequence of steps in an adjudicatory hearing and...
Curated OER
Beowulf Mini-Mock Trial Manual
For this Beowulf worksheet, students identify a crime and prepare the prosecuting and defense case to present to the class "jury." Students must follow court procedure and use court terminology as they present their case.
National First Ladies' Library
Fire! The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Trial and It's Aftermath
Middle schoolers research, examine and are provided the opportunity to re-enact one of the most exciting trials of the 20th century, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Trial. They research the history of the trial and then divide into...
Curated OER
Trial Simulation Project on First Amendment Cases
Students engage in research and role play to discover the history and importance of certain First Amendment court cases. They act out the cases in different roles in order to understand different perspectives from the prosecution to the...
Curated OER
Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye
Pupils prepare a classroom theater presentation of Rumpelstitskin in which the narrator is a private eye. They write the defense of one of the characters who conspired against the king and play a vocabulary game.
Curated OER
Internment Camps for Japanese-Americans
Students examine both sides of Japanese-Americans being sent into internment camps. They participate in a mock trial (civil trial) that includes the defense, plaintiff, and jury. They compose a statement in support or against this topic
Curated OER
Convince that Jury (Inspired by Roald Dahl's
What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...
Curated OER
Sentence Completion 18
Challenge your class to complete these six sentences using context clues and multiple choice answers. After they have finished the activity, go through the answer and discuss how they completed each sentence from a test strategies point...
Curated OER
Your Own Classroom Court
Create your own classroom court. After studying courtroom proceedings, with a focus on the concept of a trial by a jury of your peers, pupils create a set of classroom rules and develop a procedure for solving conflicts. They then are...
Curated OER
The Martian and the Car
In this living things activity, students determine 5 things about a car that makes it seem like its a living thing and 5 things that prove it is not a living thing. This activity has 10 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Mock Trial
Students rewrite a traditional fairy tale to represent the viewpoint of the villain. They participate in a mock trial of that villain in which all regular court participants (judge, jury, defendant, witnesses, plaintiff, etc) play roles.
Curated OER
Boston Massacre Trial
Middle schoolers participate in trial simulation following the Boston Massacre in which they use core map A to help present their evidence and testimony.