Social

Studies

Lesson Plan 1 (75 minutes)

What: Students will receive an introduction of the mini course objectives and what
will be required of them throughout the course. Students will also learn about
Supreme Court Proceedings, the roles they will play in the trial simulation, and the
Supreme Court case of Roe vs. Wade.

How: A syllabus will be created for the course, which will contain the courses
essential question, course assignments and learning objectives. This syllabus will be
reviewed in class. An opening activity will be used to introduce court cases as agents
of change and as ways to settle to disputes. Students will work together to compile a
list of what they know and do not know about court cases and Roe vs. Wade.
Students will also be introduced to the roles they will have in the trial simulation,
and will use these roles to try and figure out how cases make it to the Supreme
Court. The lesson will end with an assignment of roles for each position of the
argument.

Why: Currently in Social Studies my students have just completed a research paper
that deals with controversial issues surrounding the constitution. I feel that it would
be relevant to use a controversial issue to help them learn how legislation in our
country is created and certain issues are resolved.

Goal/Objective: Students will gain an understanding of what will be asked of them
through this mini course. Students will gain an understanding of how cases make it
to the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Proceedings, The Hyde Amendment, and the
roles they will play during the simulation.

Materials: Over head projector, Teacher Version of Mini Course Syllabus, Mini
Course Syllabus for students, T-Chart Print outs, Someone to scribe

Beginning: (5 minutes) All needed handouts for the students will be placed on the
sitting spaces. As an opener students will be asked to jot down everything that
comes to their mind when they think about change in our country. (2 minutes)
Students will turn and talk with another student to share their jots. (1 minute) I will
then call on students to share a loud what they wrote down with the whole class and
allow students to share their thoughts on each others comments (2 minutes)

Transition: Ok these are all good thoughts everyone. As some of you have already
mentioned it, one of the ways we will be looking at change in our mini course is
through the Supreme Court, which is a big part of our Judicial system. Now raise
your handle if you are familiar with the Supreme Court Case of Roe vs. Wade.

During:

Students will then be asked to share and comment on what they know about the Roe
vs. Wade Supreme Court case and current debates around abortion. (5 minutes)

Transition: Great! This is all very good. So as many of you know, this will be the
debate topic for our trial simulation, so being familiar with this will be pretty
important. Heres what our preparation for the trial simulation will look like.

After this discussion I will go over the Mini Course syllabus with my students. The
teacher copy I have will be prompted with reminders to wait and allow for
questions after certain points in the syllabus, as well as specifics and examples that I
will mention to the students on the type of work they will be doing and the varying
skills they will learn. I will again wait after I am done explaining the syllabus for any
remaining questions that may come up. (5 minutes)

KWL-Chart: (15 minutes) Students will then fill out their T chart for Supreme Court
proceedings. This T- Chart will outline for them what they do know, do not know,
and wish to know about Supreme Court proceedings and how cases make it to the
Supreme Court.

Transition: Ok, thats about it? Im extremely impressed with how much you all
know. And for your questions, many of them will be answered very soon.

I will then direct them to the handout that contains a list of the roles of people that
are integral to the Supreme Court Process. They will read each of the roles aloud and
I will also take time to provide clarity around the roles. I will then direct them to the
description below of the roles people played in an actual court case. The
proceedings and roles will be misplaced so that in the process of attaching the
names of the roles to the written will help students understand the process of
Supreme Court trials and the process for court cases to make it to the Supreme
Court. (10 minutes)

I will then review the Power Point that outlines all of the roles and proceedings in
both processes so that there are not any lingering misunderstandings about this
exercise. Questions will also be taken during this time period. (10 minutes)

Transition: Ok good? So now what were going to do is select teams and roles, and
talk about what each of these will look like within the simulation.

Students will be randomly divided up into two teams and roles will be randomly
assigned. This will most likely be done by selecting folded papers with roles and
teams on them from the jar. Roles will be described in reference to the simulation.
Particularly who will collaborate with who and the sequence of events for the
simulation. (15 minutes)

Debrief (10 minutes) Specifics on the assignment for Tuesday will be the first thing
to be addressed in the debrief. Aspects of research will be addressed in a short
power point slide. Time will be allotted for any residual questions or concerns.