A Court Room in the Class room

Mock Trials You don’t have to perform the whole trial with the students if you don’t want to. Lessons can be divided up and done individually. Students can then be put into groups (Prosecution, Defense) and assigned roles (Judge, witnesses, etc.) for a presentation… if you choose to do the full trial. These lessons focus more on integration and application of knowledge.

Mock Trials Mock Trials can help students fully integrate and use the content/standards: First two levels happen upon first reading. Apply and Analyze happen when you introduce new info (the law) and ask them to apply it to the original content Evaluate each other’s arguments and evidence when they group up in roles. Groups create their case.

Tell-Tale Heart The Accused’s Statement - “With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more. Here is the legal definition of murder: “Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.”

Tell-Tale Heart The Accused’s Statement - “With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once --once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.” Here is the legal definition of insanity: “the accused is insane, if during the act, due to a mental illness or a severe disruption of mental health or consciousness, he cannot understand the actual nature of his act or its illegality.”

Mock Trials in other areas Trials can be used in teaching any of the more controversial topics in history: Have students prove the legality of the Louisiana Purchase by writing a contract. Put the Founding Fathers on trial for treason. Have students read certain nonfiction texts so they can be “expert witnesses.” Trials can be used in Science to help with the analysis of text.