Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mock Trial

For Teachers 5th - 12th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charging Redchief

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Read and analyze the novel, Ransom of Redchief. They identify the elements of character development, and participate in a mock trial, creating the witnesses through the use of character development.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Judges in the Classroom - Mock Trials

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students conduct a mock trial and follow established procedures role-playing attorneys, witnesses, judges, bailiffs, etc. Students examine documents, present arguments and decide a case in which a sea lion is on trial for eating fish.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trial Simulation Project on First Amendment Cases

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swiss Bank Accountability: Mock Trial

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars use a variety of sources to construct a case defending and prosecuting the Swiss government for their role in Nazi gold transactions during World War II. They practice research techniques, persuasive writing and speaking.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trial of Monty Terry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars research and analyze the Federal Reserve System. They participate in a reader's theater, acting out the roles typical of a courtroom drama as they determine whether the defendant, Monty Terry, is guilty or innocent of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lessons from the Holocaust

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In an ultimate lesson plan about listening to opposing points of view, your young historians read testimony from the Nuremberg Trials by Nazi SS officers regarding their actions during the Holocaust and a brief speech by Himmler to SS...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Witch Hunt or Red Menace? Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945-1954

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate what constitutes an "un-American" activity and why Soviet espionage was such an important issue in the 1940's and 1950's. Joseph McCarthy's impact on American anticommunism is examined in this lesson. There are three...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trial of the Bloody Sucker

For Teachers 4th - 6th
A blood sucking what? Grade schoolers identify the characteristics of blood sucking parasites. They organize their information, identify their arguments, and present them to the class in persuasive arguments. They participate in a debate...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thomas Edison on Trial

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars learn about Thomas Edison and his invention laboratory/factory and the concept that he might not have given enough credit to the employees who invented for him. They hold a trial to determine guilt or innocence as a outcome.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Juvenile Justice-Adjudicatory Hearing

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Navigating The Legal System

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners identify personal rights allowed under the law in the United States. An exploration of the legal process leads students to describe how the American legal system works. This lesson plan is intended for learners acquiring English.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Damilola Taylor: Young people in court

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read the story, "The scene in the courtroom" then discuss a list of questions. They look at the criminal court system, and design their own user-friendly courtroom.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Trial Martin Luther

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students investigate details about the trial of Martin Luther. For this Reformation lesson, students review the acts of Martin Luther concerning Reformation of the Catholic Church and then read proceedings from his trial. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mock Trial

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, after the traditional read and discussion of BEOWULF, put one of the the main characters on trial.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Courtroom Testimony and Presentation

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders examine the court process and practice writing and reviewing reports. They practice their public speaking skills as they pretend to present information to a court.
Website
Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center

Yad Vashem: The Eichmann Trial

For Students 9th - 10th
The Eichmann Trial was the first time the world at-large heard copious amounts of evidence of the horrors that happened during the Holocaust. The prosecution used 100 witness and over 1600 documents to convict Adolf Eichmann. Watch video...
Handout
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Rosenberg Trial: Biographies of Trial Participants

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides biographies for the participants in the Rosenberg trial, including the defendants, the defense attorney, assorted spies, prosecuting attorneys, prosecution witnesses, the judge, the sons, and chroniclers.
Article
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: The Trial of Gaius Verres: An Account (79 Bc)

For Students 9th - 10th
The records of the trial of Gaius (sometimes spelled Caius) Verres reveal--far better than any other extant source--the corruption of the last years of the Roman Republic. Through a series of orations and witnesses, Verres's prosecutor,...