September 11

You probably remember exactly where you were and what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.  On that day, history gained a new day of infamy that will be a part of American History classes from now on.  Although this piece of contemporary history is seared in their parents’ minds, it might be just another story for many students who are too young to remember the events themselves. In remembrance of the tenth anniversary of this tragedy, many teachers are planning to cover the events and the aftermath in some way.  Teachers have a chance to use this awful event to continue the learning for future generations.

Studying September 11 brings up a whole list of issues for educators.  This blog post from Teaching Tolerance is a good overview of things to think about before presenting lessons on 9/11 to your classes.  One point I thought was especially important was that we need to be careful not to scare primary students with too many graphic images and audio clips, although they are sure to be inundated with these images on television during the tenth anniversary of the attacks.  The site for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum has some excellent lesson plans and resources for teaching about the events and related topics with your class.  Their K-2 fact sheet explains the events for a young target audience.  This would make a very good introduction for elementary students who might be learning the facts of September 11 for the first time. A more detailed explanation that includes pictures and sound clips can be found in this interactive timeline.

Joann has collected and catalogued resources on the topic for the Gateway that we will feature in our columns and in our daily Facebook and Twitter posts.  Be sure to look there first as you plan activities for your classroom.  If you don’t live in New York, there is a good chance your students haven’t been to the site of the twin towers in New York City.  When you introduce the topic of September 11, it would be really nice to take your students there.  A good place to start introducing the events of September 11 to your students is a virtual field trip to the site using Google Earth.  If you search, you can find some that have already been created, or you can create one of your own.  The following animation will show you what the site looks like today and what the planned memorials look like. 

In addition to teaching the history of the events of the day, the topic provides a good context for presenting lessons on tolerance, cultural differences, disaster response, heroes, and other related topics.  A search of the Gateway for any of these topics will bring up a list of standards-aligned resources you can use. 

One major issue brought up by the study of September 11^th is students’ understanding and acceptance of Islam.  Studying the attacks might stir up feelings of prejudice in your students against Muslims or even the Middle Eastern culture.  It’s important to study this religion in a balanced way so your students can form their own opinions.  Read our blog post, Peace Through Knowledge to find some ideas and resources for incorporating the study of Islam in your classes.   Another blog post from Teaching Tolerance discusses confronting Islamaphobia, and would be a good post to read before teaching about the subject.

Whether you study the events of September 11^th from a purely historical perspective or if you decide to take a different angle and study other issues related to that day, I hope you find some good resources here and on the Gateway.  We’ll continue to share ideas all week, and we hope you do, too!

~Peggy's Corner - September 9, 2011~

9/11

This week marks the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. For me, the only day that was worse than September 11, 2001 was September 12, 2001. By then, the shock of what had happened was starting to recede, and the grim reality of the utter devastation was sinking in. Most of our K-12 students are too young to remember much, if anything, about that day, but it remains a watershed event in American history. The legacy of 9/11 is that the U.S. is a changed nation, psychologically, politically, and culturally. It’s forever changed the way that we view our personal freedoms and security. A recent study indicates that emergency response personnel – the firefighters, police officers, and EMTs who worked furiously to save others at the World Trade Center – are being diagnosed with various types of cancers from the toxic dust at an alarming rate. The tragedy of 9/11 still resonates through each of us, every day.

The Memorial at the new World Trade Center site in New York City is scheduled to open on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, on September 11, 2011. The site includes the Survivor Tree, reflecting pools, and panes of glass from one of the original twin towers. It’s a reminder that even in the face of terrorism and tragedy, life does indeed continue, and we move forward as a nation and as people.

Many students learn about the events of 9/11, and why it happened, at school. For nearly a decade, school districts throughout the nation have held annual observations or remembrances on the date, sometimes following up with related lessons, and sometimes simply allowing the students to commemorate the event in their own ways. The social, political, economic, and historical events leading up to 9/11 and its aftermath are intricate and varied, and ripe for study. Terrorism, religious and social extremism, geography, tolerance, and world history are just some of the topics that can be explored in class discussions of September 11, and these and other topics can be adapted for different age groups.

My picks this week focus on the events of 9/11 and its aftermath. The resources are for a variety of grade levels, and many can be adapted for different ages.  We’ll also be featuring several new lessons and resources on 9/11 daily throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so be sure to take a look.

September 11 National Day of Service Lesson Plans

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-09-01.0805353918

Subjects: US history, Character education

Grades: K-12

These three lessons aim to teach valuable, heartfelt, and constructive lessons about the 9/11 experience, the way tragedies impact us as people, and the remarkable spirit of service that arose in response to the attacks. Students will learn about the incredible outpouring of support from people following the attacks, select causes or organizations

to support through service projects as a way to honor the victims of 9/11, and plan and execute those projects. While the lessons are aimed at the entire range of K-12 students, teachers may want to make adaptations for younger students. This lesson is a product of

911day.org, part of MyGoodDeed.org. MyGoodDeed.org is a national nonprofit organization that successfully led a seven-year effort to establish September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Lesson MV-11: Civil Rights in the Age of Terrorism

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-09-01.6648623912

Subjects: US history, Civics

Grade: 7-8

In this lesson, students will define and identify some American civil rights, analyze hypothetical cases, and discuss the impact of terrorism on these rights. This lesson is a product of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education at the State of New Jersey Department of Education, which provides Holocaust and genocide education materials to the state of New Jersey and beyond.

The Post 9/11 Landscape

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-09-01.7854436879

Subjects: English Language Arts, US history

Grade: 6-12

In this podcast, teen readers will encounter page-turning suspense and hard-hitting social commentary in books exploring the political and cultural landscape of our post-9/11 world. Tune in to hear how graphic novels place the events of 9/11 in historical context, how war stories put a human face on the costs of military conflict, and how young adult novels imagine roles that teens can play in working for a better world. This lesson was produced by ReadWriteThink, which offers peer-reviewed lessons in reading and English/Language Arts.

~Joann's Picks - September 9, 2011~

Civil War Connections

We study history to learn from other people’s mistakes and successes. More importantly than learning the facts about particular historical events, we want students to form connections with the history they are studying so they can apply the lessons to their own lives. In order to do this, we can help students compare and contrast historical characters and events to current events and people. The featured resources on The Gateway to 21^st Century Skills this week employ creative techniques for the study of the American Civil War. Using these resources with some of the following ideas will help you frame the war in a contemporary way and connect the learning to things currently affecting students’ lives.

To help your students put the Civil War into perspective, it might be helpful to compare the statistics with events that have happened during your students’ lives. Without this type of comparison, the numbers and facts can seem very abstract and it can be hard for students to identify with the war. It’s hard to believe that 7,000 men died in the first twenty minutes of one battle in the war. Is there anything in our more recent history that we can use to help us wrap our mind around that number? To put it into a more current perspective, nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on September 11, 2001. The devastation of that loss in our nation is still fresh in students’ minds, and it illustrates the impact that the loss of over twice that many people would have on a small but growing nation. By the end, the total deaths during the civil war reduced the American population by 2%. Based on today’s national population of over 300 million people, a civil war today with the same percentage of fatalities would claim 6 million lives. Wow. This number is astronomical compared to the thousands of Americans killed in action in current conflicts.

Comparing statistics with current numbers can help students get a big-picture idea of how the civil war compares to current conflicts. Creating a personal connection to the events can come about when students get to know the characters involved. One fun way to do this is to have your students create a fake Facebook profile detailing the person’s life. Free Technology for Teachers, a blog I read regularly, explains three different ways to do this. Students can present their Facebook pages to the class, and they can be creative with the status updates and information they use to present their character. You can also let your students choose other ways to present information about historical events and characters. Some ideas to suggest to your students are a mock job interview or news interview, a political speech, or writing and illustrating a historical fiction story about the event.

As students begin to know and understand more about the people involved in the Civil War, they might be able to gain some empathy toward them. Today we see how tragic it is when our service members are injured and killed in conflict. This tragedy was magnified in earlier wars where the death toll was magnitudes greater. An empathy for the people and a connection to their plight will help students learn from the mistakes and successes of major historical events like the American Civil War.

~Peggy's Corner - August 4, 2011~

A House Divided

The American Civil War remains one of the saddest chapters in U.S. history. It lasted for four years, divided a nation and some families, and forever shaped the American psyche. For many people, it was a war of horrible necessity – a last resort when political and cultural ideologies clashed, and all hopes for a peaceful resolution faded. While the vast majority of battles were fought in southern and mid-Atlantic states, it was also a war that saw conflicts around the country in places like Vermont, New Mexico, and Florida. Virtually no family in the nation was left unscathed, as sons, fathers, husbands, and neighbors either enlisted or were drafted to fight their countrymen. The death toll from the war was immense, and it remains the deadliest war in U.S. history. Over 620,000 soldiers were killed in the war (about 2% of the total U.S. population at that time), as were countless civilians. At the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia, for example, 7,000 men alone died within the first 20 minutes of battle.

The American Civil War meant different things to different people. The moral and ethical questions regarding slavery was obviously a hotly-contested issue in both political and civilian circles, and certainly played a vital role in the war. While classrooms tend to focus on the desire to end slavery as the primary cause of the American Civil War, historians draw a much more complex picture, and cite numerous reasons for the conflict. Economics played a role, as the American South remained agrarian and the North became increasingly industrialized, factors which inflamed already divisive cultural tensions. Many southern states viewed the “Northern Aggression” as a quest to undermine a deeply-entrenched way of life and tradition, and an attempt to wrest economic control from profitable plantations. Northerners in turn felt strongly that the economic benefits of a free labor market would best suit the nation. Others felt that the federal government had overstepped its bounds, and that states should be allowed to exercise greater rights for their constituents. Opponents to this view countered that the federal government needed greater control in order to move the country as a whole forward in the world economy and set a standard for human dignity and justice. Still others fought to preserve a nation and reclaim states that had seceded, in the hopes that the country could mend itself and become a world leader.

Teaching about the Civil War has benefits that extend beyond U.S. history classes. It was the first truly “modern” war, where both sides relied on mass-produced weapons, hot-air balloons for surveillance, submarines, railroads, and other technologies. A great deal of literature, poetry, music, and poignant letters came out of the war, as well as new therapies and treatments in medicine. Examination of the economics of war, battle strategies, and the fundamental quest for human dignity and civil rights are all rich topics for students to explore. This week I’ve highlighted three resources on the American Civil War from the Gateway’s collection, and will feature many more lesson plans, activities, and information throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Please be sure to check those pages and let us know what you think.

Map the Civil War Lesson Plan

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-07-18.9913656434

Subjects: U.S. History, Math, Geography

Grade: 4-7

Mapmakers were very important to Civil War generals. The generals used maps to figure out how to move their armies from one place to another, and how to trap the enemy forces against rivers or high bluffs. If the maps were wrong, the army could be late getting to a battle…or worse. In this activity, students will be mapmakers. Their job is to survey the land for their general so they can pick sheltered places for their army to camp and open areas where they can march and fight. This activity was created by The Civil War Trust, which is America's largest non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of endangered Civil War battlefields. The Trust also promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war's history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it.

The Battle of Honey Springs: The Civil War Comes to Indian Territory http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2009-01-29.7001785986

Subjects: U.S. History
Grade: 5-12

Learn how the Civil War created fierce conflicts among American Indian nations who had been moved across the Mississippi River. This lesson could be used in teaching units on the Civil War, particularly the war in the West, on Native American history, or on cultural diversity. This lesson was produced by the National Park Service (NPS), a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The NPS oversees America’s national parks, as well as provides educational resources on American history and places to the public.

On the Eve of War: North vs. South http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-07-18.9381504421

Subjects: Economics, U.S. History

Grade: 9-12

This lesson will examine the economic, military, and diplomatic strengths and weaknesses of the North and South on the eve of the Civil War. In making these comparisons students will use maps and read original documents to decide which side, if any, had an overall advantage at the start of the war. This lesson is a product of EDSITEment, an educational outreach program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. EDSITEment offers lesson plans and activities for social studies, literature and language arts, foreign languages, art, culture, and history classrooms.

~Joann's Picks - August 4, 2011~

Hooray for Hollywood

Recently, my third grader was required to watch installments of the 2006 film Cars in school over the course of three days. The students were required to jot notes in their journals during the film, in order to learn about characterization and to trace the characters’ emotional development throughout the film. Normally a big fan of Pixar films, she had never warmed to Cars, and was less than enthusiastic about the assignment. At the end of the week, however, she acknowledged that the assignment had been beneficial, and that she had a much better grasp of how characters could evolve in both film and books.

Using films in the classroom is nothing new. Popular feature films and especially documentaries have been used as teaching tools for decades. The practice has sometimes been frowned upon by some educators and parents, who have viewed it as a babysitting tool and nothing more. Yet the use of films in the classroom can reap substantial gains for students if used properly.

Watching films in class doesn’t have to be – and shouldn’t be – a passive activity. Through interactive discourse and exercises, students can discuss films they’ve viewed in class and thus learn to be active and thoughtful viewers. Some concepts are also more effectively illustrated through a visual medium rather than a printed one, such as historical trade routes and military battle plans. Using films and documentaries can be used in all classes, but are most prevalent in English, history, social studies, and ELL/EFL classes. Here they are often used to illustrate themes in social justice and media literacy, historical events and cultural practices, and elements of plot, setting, characterization, style, and point of view. Films can help to reinforce salient course concepts, and to introduce students to new ideas and topics that they otherwise might not have explored.

This week, I’ve selected three resources that all use popular Hollywood films in educational ways. Throughout the week I’ll also be featuring many more film-based lessons and activities on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so be sure to give them a look.

Will the Real Pocahontas Please Stand Up

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-06-13.2153802843

Subjects: English Language Arts, History

Grade: 3-5

Students participating in this activity will learn about Pocahontas, the Powhatan Indians, and the many stories about Pocahontas.  They will gain experience in assessing the relative merits of presentations of Pocahontas's life, and try to decide who the "real" Pocahontas was. This resource is a product of the National First Ladies Library, a national archive that educates the world about the American First Ladies and other notable women in history.

Historic Route 66: Lesson Plans for Pixar’s Cars

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-06-13.1784328757

Subjects: Geography, U.S. history, English Language Arts

Grade: 4-12

The setting for the film “Cars” is Route 66, the historic highway that changed America. The national highway linked Chicago, IL with Los Angeles, CA. This lesson has students research and report on various locations on Route 66 and their historical significance. This lesson was produced by ClassBrain, a site that offers specially designed resources for K-12 students, teachers, and parents.

Exploring Satire with Shrek

http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2009-10-18.4540397183

Subjects: English

Grade: 9-12

The movie “Shrek”, which satirizes fairy tale traditions, serves as an introduction to the satirical techniques of exaggeration, incongruity, reversal, and parody. Students brainstorm fairy tale characteristics, identify the satirical techniques used to present them in the movie, then create their own satirical versions of fairy tales. This lesson is a product of ReadWriteThink, which presents free peer-reviewed resources in reading and language arts instruction. This lesson is aligned to NCTE/IRA content standards.

~Joann's Picks - 6/24/2011~

Bringing History Home: Learning from the Nonviolence of the Freedom Riders

Growing up, I can remember sitting through quite a few filmstrips in class, trying not to let the buzzing of the reels lull me to sleep, wondering why we were watching it in the first place. Was the teacher just trying to fill the class period with something, since they hadn’t come up with a better plan? Thinking about using documentaries like Freedom Riders from American Experience got me contemplating the value of using movies in the classroom and how teachers can do this most effectively.

The Freedom Riders were inspired by the values of Mahatma Gandhi to stage their own nonviolent protests in the 1960’s to bring racial justice to the southern United States. Their historic ride on public transportation was well documented in words, pictures, and videos. This footage of the rides and the hatred and violence they encountered along the way was collected along with interviews of surviving Freedom Riders into a PBS documentary called Freedom Riders. This movie can be used in a history or social studies class as an inspiring story of how young people can truly make a difference in the world.

With so many historical documentaries available on DVD and streaming online, teachers have a plethora of movie choices instead of the often-small selection of grainy filmstrips to check out of the library in the past. The better selection of movies alone won’t make much of a difference, though, unless we combine the movie viewing with engaging activities. How can we be sure our students are getting the full benefit of the movies we show in the classroom? We don’t want students to forget what they saw before they make it to their next class. We want to inspire them to take what they learn from a movie and do something with it.

PBS’s American Experience and WGBH’s Teacher’s Domain released a Democracy in Action teacher’s guide to make it easier for teachers to bring Freedom Riders into the classroom. The format of this guide divides activities into pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing. If you plan your activities this way, students will be more engaged as thy watch the film and you will be able to follow up the viewing with activities to challenge and extend students’ thinking about the topic. I have been tempted to just pop in a movie to fill a class period without planning, but the information would most likely go in one ear and out the other, hardly a valuable use of my students’ time.

Democracy in Action puts together readings with a list of questions for students to answer before they view Freedom Riders. A pre-viewing activity like this can hook students into a subject before they watch a movie about it, keeping them engaged as they watch. One of these questions challenged students to create identity charts for some Freedom Riders and themselves. I like open-ended activities like this since they allow students to think critically about the topic and to form some opinions, making the movie even more interesting for them. When creating pre-viewing activities of your own, you might consider listening to music from the era and assigning a hands-on activity to get more of your students’ senses involved.

It’s helpful to have something for students to do during a movie viewing in class. I usually create an advanced organizer with questions to answer during the film. If you are expecting your students to give thoughtful answers, you might want to consider stopping the movie periodically to allow them to collect their thoughts. I find it helpful to preview the movie myself while answering the questions on the advanced organizer to be sure I know where I should pause the movie. For question ideas for Freedom Riders, please see WGBH’s teacher’s guide. The guide includes detailed readings and open-ended questions that require students to think about the people involved in the Rides and what they would have done if placed in the same situation as these young people were put in during the early 60’s. The guide also tells you when to stop the movie to allow time for students to answer questions.

What is your goal in showing a movie like Freedom Riders in your classroom? If you are aiming to inspire social action and build students’ character, your post-viewing activity should reflect that. I like the final reading and questions in the guide, and I think you could build a valuable activity from one group of questions in particular. These questions read:

“What do you see as the civil rights struggles of today? How might these issues be addressed? What role might the courts play? What role might individuals and groups play? To what extent is the philosophy of nonviolence a useful way to address today’s challenges?"

Mahatma Gandhi inspired the nonviolent tactics used by CORE in the planning of the Freedom Rides. After students think about the questions from WGBH, try helping them discover an issue of social injustice they want to change. One example I immediately thought of is bullying, but your students may have plenty of other ideas. Guide them to think about how far they would be willing to go to change that issue. They can come up with a plan of action, and depending on how much time you can dedicate, they can turn the plan in, actually carry the plan out, create a song or skit about the injustice, or do something else that you feel would get them to think about the situation deeply and to empathize with the people involved.

Watching a movie like Freedom Riders can bring history alive. Watching the movie, answering open-ended questions, participating in discussions, and creating a plan of action for current social issues will help your students understand that they are a part of history.

When you are looking for quality activities and other resources, search The Gateway to 21st Century Skills to find ones that meet your needs. The Gateway has a Standards Suggestions Tool, so you will be able to see how each activity meets your state standards. We have featured resources each week on a particular topic and we support these resources with two columns on the home page that will help you bring that topic into the classroom. We announce other pertinent resources daily on our Facebook and Twitter pages. If you would like to read about any of our past topics, you can read them on our blog. We hope you will join our community and be part of the conversation!

~Peggy's Corner - 5/14/2011~

Freedom Fighters

The early 1960s was a tumultuous time in modern civilization, and especially in American history. The American presence in Vietnam was rapidly increasing, violent crime statistics rose dramatically, riots blighted many urban areas, and racism was still prevalent in many parts of the country. After the quiet social conformity and conservatism of the 1950s, the upheaval of the sixties shocked many people and brought about a maelstrom of social change.

In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Boynton v Virginia that segregation in interstate bus and rail stations was unconstitutional. Despite the ruling, many stations in the southern U.S. continued to maintain separate terminals for blacks and whites, and many buses still designated “blacks only” seating. Determined to focus national attention on the lingering racial discrimination, the first Freedom Ride rolled out of Washington, DC on May 4, 1961. These Freedom Riders consisted of seven black and six white activists seated in two public buses, all intent on testing the effect of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the deep south. The Riders experienced a relatively quiet trip until the second week of their journey, when they began to endure severe beatings, jail terms, the torching of buses, and complete indifference by many police forces and medical staff through parts of Alabama and Mississippi. While the Freedom Riders never made it to their ultimate destination in New Orleans, their courage, determination, and strict code of non-violence sparked many supporters, and ultimately forced the U.S. government to end the abuse and enforce civil rights laws.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. Several reunions and functions are planned to commemorate the event, and to celebrate the 400 black and white Americans who ultimately participated in the Rides. There is also a great deal of buzz about a new PBS American Experience documentary entitled Freedom Riders, which will premiere nationwide on May 16, 2011. This WGBH production explores in depth the Rides, the people involved in the movement, and the social issues that fueled the movement. This week, I’ve selected three resources for various grade levels that feature age-appropriate lessons about the Freedom Rides. Please be sure to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages as well, as we’ll be featuring several new lessons, activities, and other resources on the Freedom Rides each day for the entire week.


Democracy in Action
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-24.0693875836
Subjects: Civics, U.S. history
Grade: 9-12
Despite federal laws outlawing racial segregation, interstate bus travel through the American South in 1961 still reinforced segregated sections in buses and terminals. In the spring of that year, a group of civil rights activists (Freedom Riders) rode buses into the South to challenge this ingrained bigotry and challenge the local customs that allowed racism to continue. This teacher's guide examines the Freedom Riders and who they were, the social climate in America in the early 1960s, how the media influenced political and social events, and how citizens can shape democracy. The teacher's guide is meant to accompany the 2011 film "The Freedom Riders" produced by WGBH, the flagship Boston PBS station. Please note that this teacher's guide does contain some offensive language and terms relating to race. The authors of the guide decided to include the "N" word to honestly communicate the harshness of the bigoted language of the time. This guide was produced by WGBH and Facing History, a global organization that works with teachers to develop curricula to combat racism and bigotry and promote involved and humane citizenry. WGBH produces myriad educational television shows, including American Experience, the nation’s longest-running history television series. WGBH also produces educational materials for teachers.

Civil Rights: Freedom Riders
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-24.9425582982
Subjects: Civics, U.S. History
Grade: 3-4
Students learn about the civil rights movement in the United States, with particular focus on the Freedom Riders in 1961. Students will learn about some of the men and women who made great personal sacrifices to stand up for what they believed, even when it was scary and difficult to do so. The lesson also contains many suggestions and adaptations for students with limited proficiency in English, as well as below grade-level students.
This lesson was created by Teacher Created Materials, which publishes quality research-based educational resources in all curriculum areas for teachers and students at all grade and skill levels. They also offer some free lesson plans and other educational resources.

The Freedom Riders
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-24.5041177326
Subjects: Civics, US History
Grade: 6-8, 9-12
In this lesson, students will use a primary source — an NBC news report from 1961 — to investigate the Freedom Rides, and to explore segregation in the South and the tenets of nonviolent protest. This lesson contains adaptations for grades 6-8 and 9-12.
This lesson was created by Teaching Tolerance, a division of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Teaching Tolerance is dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations, and supporting equitable school experiences for students. They also provide free educational materials to teachers and other school practitioners in the U.S. and abroad.

~Joann's Picks - 5/14/2011~

Law & Order

One day last year, my middle schooler came home in a huff, incensed that his English class would be conducting a mock trial for characters from Lord of the Flies. He wasn’t exactly sure just what a mock trial was, mind you, but he was sure that it didn’t sound like fun, and he didn’t want to be a lawyer someday anyway. So what was the point? Despite his initial misgivings, the mock trial was a big hit with the students, and it turned out to be one of my son’s favorite activities from his English class that year. It was the first year that the teacher had tried a mock trial activity, and it was so successful that she’s decided to use it again this year.

Mock trials are simulated trials that allow students to learn about trial rules and the judicial process. The point of such an exercise in the classroom is not to “win” the case being presented, but to give students some insight into how trials work. Mock trials can be highly effective learning tools for helping students to develop their critical thinking, reasoning, and oral presentation skills. Students must examine the issues at hand from multiple perspectives in order to build their arguments – not only to defend their positions, but also to anticipate their opponents’ strategy in presenting their side of the case. The use of mock trials, with their emphasis on clear, focused oral delivery, can also be a highly effective method to use with students who are not native English speakers.

The beauty of mock trials at the K-12 level is that they can be used in virtually any subject area. Historical and literary figures are obvious choices for any mock trial, but the possibilities are endless. Think outside the box and be creative. Studying diseases in science? Put a disease on trial! Is Facebook a benefit or a hindrance to students? Conduct a trial and see what happens. We all know that art is subjective, but what about art for public spaces that potentially divides a community? Hold a mock trial to decide the fate of the artwork in question, and explore what the definition of “art” is in the process. Mock trials can also be used to help define classroom or school-wide issues, as well as to further explore current topics, such as the BP oil spill, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and the escalating tension between North and South Korea. For younger students, characters from fairy tales, popular books, and historical figures offer a wealth of choices for a mock trial activity.

This week, I’ve selected two mock trial resources for middle school and above that focus on historical events. For younger students, I’ve selected a teacher’s guide that is a comprehensive plan for incorporating mock trials into your curriculum. Throughout the week, I’ll be featuring numerous mock trial activities and resources for all ages on our Facebook and Twitter pages, including one similar to the Lord of the Flies activity mentioned at the beginning of my column. The use of mock trials in the classroom can be a creative way to pack a lot of content into an activity that’s both fun and effective for students and teacher alike. Enjoy!


Mini-Court – Mock Trial Activities for Grades K-2: Teacher’s Guide
Subject: Civics
Grade: K-2
This free booklet features one five-day lesson plan for grades K-1 and another for grade 2. The purpose is to help teach young children about the legal system. Mock trial activities are included. This guide was produced by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, which provides training and education materials to help teach the public about the law.

A Question of Justice: The Boston Massacre
Subjects: US History, Civics
Grade: 6-8
In this lesson, students will learn about the Boston Massacre and its subsequent trial, consider the positive and negative arguments from both sides, and produce a simulation of the trial. This simulation can take the form of a play, mock trial, debate, a series of newspaper accounts, or even a recreation of the actual event. In producing the simulation, students will critically study and analyze primary source documents and pictures, as well as organize and synthesize second-hand accounts and commentary about the Massacre and the trial. This resource is a product of the National First Ladies Library, a national archive that educates the world about the American First Ladies and other notable women in history.

Judgement on Nuremberg: A Student Mock Trial of Julius Streicher
Subjects: Civics; World History
Grade: 7-12
The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and its precedent-setting role in extending the reach of international law. This lesson provides opportunities for students to learn and apply some of the legal principles of Nuremberg: to understand the role of hate propaganda in inciting groups to action both during the Holocaust and today; and to understand and discuss the legal and political impact of Nuremberg today, including the investigation and trial of suspected Bosnian war criminals at the International Tribunal at The Hague, and the prosecution of suspected Nazi war criminals. This lesson was produced by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, a teaching museum and a leader in Holocaust education in British Columbia, Canada.

~Joann's Picks - 12/9/2010~