This
site was developed to provide teachers with a full range of resources
and activities to support the teaching of landmark Supreme Court cases,
helping students explore the key issues of each case. The "Resources"
section features basic building blocks such as background summaries and
excerpts of opinions that can be used in multiple ways. The "Activities"
section contains a range of short activities and in-depth lessons that
can be completed with students. While these activities are online, many
of them can be adapted for use in a one-computer classroom or a classroom
with no computer.
Depending
upon the amount of time you have to teach the case, you may want to use
one or more of the "Resources" or "Activities" in
conjunction with one or more of the general teaching strategies.
The
general teaching strategies include moot court, political cartoon analysis,
continuum exercises, and Web site evaluation. Instructions for these strategies
can be found by selecting a link from below:
The
standard resources available for each case include:
- Background
summaries and questions for three different reading levels. The
level is the highest reading level, the
level
is the average level, and the
level features vocabulary for ESOL students.
- Diagrams
of how the cases moved through the court system
- Excerpts
from the majority (and where appropriate) the dissenting opinions
- Links
to the full text of the Supreme Court's decisions
In
addition, many case-specific activities have been developed, including
a range of short activities and in-depth lessons that can be completed
with students. These include moot court activities, political cartoon
analysis, continuum exercises, and Web site evaluations. |