Mock Trial: We’ve Got a Case to Win!

Mock Trial club allows learners to take a hands-on approach to learning about the different roles and responsibilities of the legal system through a range of light-hearted and fun mock court cases such as: Is the Third Little Pig in “The Three Little Pigs” guilty of the demise of the Big Bad Wolf? Is the Grinch from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” guilty of theft even when he returned everything? Mock trial helps students practice skills such as public speaking, persuasive argument, and critical thinking. 
Class will meet twice a week for six weeks. Two court cases will be covered each week and take two consecutive class sessions (Part A and Part B) to prepare, argue, resolve, and debrief.  All students will participate in both trials, but their roles will switch in each case to ensure that each learner gets to practice the attorney roles as well as the witness or jury roles. The attorney roles will involve analyzing evidence and persuasive speaking. The witness roles will involve public speaking by retelling details as laid out in the case overview. The jury roles will involve using critical thinking skills to evaluate the prosecuting and the defense arguments. No student will take the role of the accused. 
In the first session of each week, designated as Part A, both cases will be introduced. Terms and skills for both cases will be taught and/or reviewed. For the first case, learners will be assigned roles - Prosecuting Attorney, Defense Attorney, Witnesses, Jury Member. For the second case, roles will be changed so each student gets to participate in the lead activity of the attorneys and the support activity of either witness or jury member. Students will go into break-out rooms to prepare their argument based on case and attorney role. On the second session of the week, designated as Part B, “attorneys” for case 1 will present their arguments with the support of witnesses and jury members for that case. Case 1 may take up to 15 minutes. Then “attorneys” for case 2 will present their case with the support of witnesses and jury members for that case. Case 2 may take up to 15 minutes. Once both cases have been presented, jury members for their respective cases will go into breakout rooms and have 10 minutes to discuss evidence and determine a verdict. Verdicts will be communicated to the teacher through the chat feature. The teacher, in the role of judge, will deliver the verdict for each case. The remaining time will be used to discuss the cases and what students learned.
Example of weekly structure and first topics:
Week 1 Part A:  Case 1- The Third Little Pig, Case 2/The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 
Week 1 Part B: Case 1- The Third Little Pig, Case 2/The Grinch Who Stole Christmas 
Week 2 Part A: Case 1 – Goldilocks, Case 2/Billy Goats Gruff
Week 2 Part B: Case 1 – Goldilocks, Case 2/Billy Goats Gruff
New topics will be presented in upcoming weeks. 
IMPORTANT NOTE – This class requires a minimum of 8 students for optimal learning experience.