Susan Etter's List: Lesson Plans - LRE

This is lesson two of a two part lesson plan on Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. While each lesson may be adapted for independent use, it is recommended that teachers use Lesson One: "Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird: Profiles in Courage" to guide students through the novel before turning to the historical comparison of Lesson Two: "To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933: Profiles in Courage."\n

Grades 3-5
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
Name the three branches of our government.
Give examples of how each branch can check the others.
Guiding Question:
What are some ways the three branches of our government check one another?

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High School Level
Learning Objectives
After completing this lesson, students should:
•Understand the legal reasoning behind the Dred Scott decision.
•Understand the legal significance of the Dred Scott decision as it concerns the Constitution.
•Understand how America responded to the Dred Scott case.
•Understand how the Dred Scott case gave both anti-slavery and pro-slavery activists an issue to rally around.

Teach US History is a website composed of historic primary sources, media presentations, lesson plans, and background materials to help teachers teach various aspects of American history quickly and easily. The site is designed to be literally one stop shopping where in a matter of minutes educators can find resources and strategies and implement them with their students in their own classroom.

Learning Objectives
To trace the judicial review process within the Supreme Court from determination of facts through oral argument and the delivery of a written opinion; to examine the nature and limits of the Constitutional right to freedom of speech; to explore the nature and purpose of dissent within the context of Supreme Court rulings.

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 9-12 Law Education, U.S. History
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
This assignment was given to a United States Honors History
class. It could easily be adapted to Sociology or other
Social Science curriculum. Each student is assigned a court case.
They are then required to research their assigned position
on that case. After each student is given a case, along
with a person that will oppose their position, they are then
assigned a day to debate their case. Using parliamentary
procedure, the entire class will debate each case.

High Schoo level - Students race against time and their classmates to find the answers to 45 questions about the Constitution

The class will engage in a spirited competition
on the Constitution/Bill of Rights by trying to identify
phrases connected with the Constitution/ Bill of Rights.

For High School Students
Students often believe that learning has to
be dull. This activity has been successful and has
made review and learning "fun". Students become very
competitive. They do not always realize that while
they are having fun they can be learning.

For High School Students
OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to:
1. Explain the meaning of ethics, and have a working
understanding of the word.
2. Recognize ethical violations in the working world,
or in the political arena, etc. (this may depend
upon subject area).
3. Develop and describe what a personal ethics check
is.
4. Identify solutions to ethical situations.

OBJECTIVE(s):
A. The students will gain a better understanding of
how our Constitution is a living entity,
applicable to today's issues.
B. The students will be able to visualize the
amendments by associating pictures or
illustrations to each one.

Grades 7-12
A simulation for a law class to demonstrate the
procedures involved in the prosecution of a crime and to
illustrate the difference in the prosecution process between
juveniles and adults.

For High School Students
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to identify the problems
associated with applying the U.S. laws and history to
an international situation.
2. Students will draw on legal concepts from law and
events in American History to design a legal system
for a hypothetical "moon colony."

For High Scool Students
OVERVIEW: An activity, showing how the Supreme Court
affects our personal freedoms.

Middle - High School
The paper clip game serves as a good device for
discussing the need for and importance of rules in society.
It acts as a springboard for developing a working definition
of law and understanding the importance of law. It serves
to overcome an often negative perception of law.

High School Level
The following 17 Supreme Court decisions are the basis for
discussion on lst Amendment Right, Freedom of Religion. Any
and all can be discussed in depth or simply touched upon.
The wide range of cases help students to understand that
this "freedom" has limits and bounds and is constantly under
attack.

PURPOSE: While learning the details of trial process and
procedures, students are also developing a number of
critical skills that are universally necessary:
1. critical analysis of problems
2. strategic thinking
3. questioning skills
4. listening skills
5. skills in oral presentation and extemporaneous
argument
6. skills in preparing and organizing material

For grades 9-12
The purpose of the activity "Arrest" is to give students
first hand knowledge about an arrest of a classmate and his/her
subsequent trial. Students become active participants in the
legal process as they become witnesses, jurors and defendants in a
trial simulation.