The Justice Rules Program: A K-Through-12 Curriculum to ...

The Justice Rules Program: A K-Through-12 Curriculum to Educate Students About the Judicial

System

Sample Lesson Plans

Rules Make Sense!

Lesson Overview:

This lesson focuses on rules and laws in everyday life. The lesson invites the students to view rules in a more positive way, even to appreciate/value them, and to see how pervasive rules and laws are in our everyday lives.

Students will interview various adults to collect information about the frequency of rules and laws in our society. The information will be recorded, classified, and interpreted to help explain the value of rules/laws. Students will learn interviewing skills, data interpretation, predicting and generalizing. They will look at their attitudes about rules and move toward more positive responses about the importance of rules in a civil society.

Objectives:

The students will explain three sound reasons for rules in one's everyday life, e.g., "to protect me," "to keep order in a group," "so we know what to expect from each other when we are together."

The students will explain what might happen if there were no rules, e.g., "someone could get hurt," "a bigger person might control us," "the same person might take every turn," "we would never know when to do things we need to do."

The students will point out how a "good citizen" follows rules/laws. The students will explain how rules are like the laws we live by.

The students will identify at least three advantages of having and following rules in the classroom and the school.

The students will explain why they would prefer to live with rules, when compared to living without rules.

Teaching Procedures

The students will be given plain construction paper and told they are going to play a new game. The teacher will simply say, "Okay, let's play." An inquiry-centered discussion will follow, about how one plays a game or is involved in any activity without directions (rules). The discussion will allow for focusing on the need for rules/parameters/directives/leadership, etc.

Next, the class will speculate about walking to school, if there were no rules to follow or depend on. They will further talk about going to the local shopping center/mall and being there when there were no rules ? traveling to get there, making purchases, using the facilities, other examples.

The inquiry would lead to wanting to know more about how others view the need for rules/laws. The class could conclude that they can learn more about how others interpret this by conducting interviews with adults (parents, neighbors, community folk). We will derive at least three common questions for each interviewer to ask, to assure some common data: "How do rules affect you in your job?" "What

rules do you follow every day?" "Why do you think rules are important to people in our neighborhood?"

We will compile the data collected as the children report back from their interviews, interpret these, and generalize conclusions.

People Who Make Courts Work

Lesson Overview

Beginning with a situation centering on a person accused of committing a crime, students identify the various types of persons (roles) which must be present for due process (fair procedures) to occur in determining the person's guilt or innocence.

The teaching time is approximately 30 minutes and you'll need signs for students to wear: Judge, Defense Attorney, Prosecuting Attorney, Court Reporter, Jury (enough for the rest of the class).

Teaching Procedures

Begin by telling students that a hypothetical person, (don't use the name of someone in the class), has been accused of throwing a rock through a school window (or some other "crime"). Remember, a person is believed innocent until he or she has been proven guilty.

Courts try to find the truth by using processes that assure that the accused person has a fair chance to defend him/herself.

Many people have important roles to play in a court. They make certain that we all do things that are fair when the court tries to decide if someone broke the law or not. Who do we need to be in charge of making sure that everyone does things that fair way? (Answer ? Judge).

For Class Discussion

What do judges do? Volunteer attorneys guide the discussion and add any important information which students may not know. At the end of the discussion ask for volunteers to be the "judge." Select one student, have him/her wear a sign saying "judge," and take a seat up front.

Next, ask who do we need to help the defendant tell her side of the story? This person needs to know all about the law and the rules of the court. (Answer ? lawyer of defense attorney).

What do lawyers do? Again the volunteer attorney leads the discussion, sharing additional information. At the end of the discussion a child puts on a sign "defense attorney," and sits facing the judge.

Who do we need to represent the school and tell the school's side of the story? They also need to know the laws and rules of the court. (Answer ? prosecuting attorney).

What does a prosecuting attorney do? Again discuss and select a child to play the prosecuting attorney. Have the child put the sign on and fact the judge across from the defense attorney.

Who do we need to keep a record of what happens to check for mistakes and make sure that everything that happens is fair? (Answer ? court reporter).

What do court reporters do? The volunteer attorney explains the importance of a written record, and then appoints a child to be the court reporter.

The law says that people accused of rimes can choose people like them to decide if they are innocent or guilty. These people are called the jury. (The rest of children can be the jury.)

What does a jury do? How does it find defendants guilty or not guilty?

Conclude by describing all the roles and explaining how important they are so that the defendant is treated fairly. Point out that both sides have a chance to tell their story; that the judge does not take sides; that the jury decides based on what it hears in court.

Is this a fair way to decide? Why or why not?

Patriotic Games & Coloring Activities

Lesson Overview A lesson can be taught from section(s) of these books to discuss patriotic themes, symbols, and characters as a basis for the foundation of our modern system of justice.

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