Trials Lesson Plan: Civic and Political Institutions
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Trials, supporting the standards of explaining the court system’s structures, and functions, and distinguishing the responsibilities and powers of government officials. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Ask students:
- What roles during a trial do you already know about?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read the description on the Trials topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Assign Related Reading.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Assign Trials Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about trials while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary explaining the role of a prosecuting attorney in a trial.
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying types of trials and explaining their roles and processes.
- Creative Coding: Code a learning game challenging players to sort terms as relating to civil or criminal trials.
- Primary Source Activity: Examine a juror questionnaire, then cite details to answer accompanying questions.
More to Explore
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of the judicial system with these topics: Court System, Supreme Court, Miranda Rights, and U.S. Constitution.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
