Seventh grade students at Liberty Park Middle School in Vestavia Hills recently participated in a mock trial. The students were assigned this activity as an introduction to argumentative writing. Students were given a case and then assigned to the defense, prosecution, or jury. The students spent both class time and out-of-class time preparing their cases with claims, evidence, rebuttals, and opening and closing statements.
Each team, either the defense or the prosecution, presented their case to a jury of students who had participated in their own jury preparation to get them ready to take an unbiased look at the evidence. The jury then had to decide who presented the best claim with the strongest support of evidence. Seventh grade English teachers Lindsay Corley and Leigh Mathews, stated that this activity engaged students in argumentative writing outside just the normal essay paper.
In addition, the teachers said that the activity served as a great team-building exercise as students had to figure out how to put aside their differences and find common ground for the sake of their cases. Because of this assignment, Corley and Mathews believe that students will be better prepared to begin working on thesis statements and the argumentative writing process that will be introduced in class in the coming weeks.
-Submitted by Linda Rummell
