CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: John Williams

School:
FCHS
American Government

Date: 10/06/15
Grade Level:

12

Content Area:

Title: First Amendment, Mock Trial

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)

Lesson #:__ of __

(Write Content Standards

Civics Standard
2.d Analyze the role of the founding documents and the
evolution of their interpretation through governmental action and court cases.
Documents to include but not limited to the United States Constitution and the Bill
of Rights (DOK 2-3)
Understandings: (Big Ideas)
How does the First Amendment of the Constitution apply to students?
What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
1. What is the meaning of civic participation in a democratic republic?
2. How do citizens act as a check on government?
3. What strategies can citizens use most effectively to influence public policy?

Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets) OR (Success Criteria)

I can: determine the difference between civil rights and civil liberties.

I can: explain the five principles of the First Amendment

This means: I will gain an understanding of the First Amendment by

examining court cases involving free speech.

List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with
each assessment)
Groups will present hypothetical arguments and use their understanding of LT1 and
LT2 to base their position on the hypothetical. SCOTUS judges will make their
decisions based on LT1 and LT2

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Should be a creative title for you and the
students to associate with the activity.
Think of the purpose as the mini-rationale
for what you are trying to accomplish
through this lesson.

Approx. Time and Materials

How long do you expect the activity to
last and what materials will you need?

Anticipatory Set
The hook to grab students attention.
These are actions and statements by the
teacher to relate the experiences of the
students to the objectives of the lesson,
To put students into a receptive frame of
mind.
To focus student attention on the
lesson.
To create an organizing framework
for the ideas, principles, or
information that is to follow
(advanced organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any time a
different activity or new concept is to be
introduced.
How do you intend to engage your
students in thinking during the
Anticipatory Set?
Why are you using it at this point in
your lesson?

Procedures

The First Amendment for Students

Purpose: to gain knowledge of our first amendment rights and liberties
as citizens of the Untied States.

50 minutes: Power Point Slide, hypothetical court case hand out, desks
and gavel
Merica Day, FCHS February, 2014
- What do you remember about this? Was it, in your opinion, a free
speech issue? Turn and talk to a neighbor (1 min)
- Call out for responses

The strategy I intend to use is: Vocal/visual question prompt

I am using this strategy here because: it has relevance to their school,
their time as students at FCHS
Teacher will: Start with hook discussion, end discussion with Learning
Targets and Success Criteria, transition into slideshow lecture. Students

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

(Include a play-by-play account of what
students and teacher will do from the
minute they arrive to the minute they
leave your classroom. Indicate the length
of each segment of the lesson. List actual
minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-questioning strategies
-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice
-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other

How do you intend to engage your

students in thinking during the
PROCEDURE?
Why are you using it at this point in
your lesson?

Closure
Those actions or statements by a teacher
that are designed to bring a lesson
presentation to an appropriate conclusion.
Used to help students bring things
together in their own minds, to make

will: pick up handout at the front, discuss prompt from teacher, take out
notebook and write down LTs and take notes on slideshow (15 minutes)
Teacher will: Introduce case study and hypothetical case with mock trail, ask each student to
read all four actual cases by themselves and ponder the prompt questions at the top of the
sheet. Students will: listen to instruction, read silently about the cases. (5-7 mins)
Teacher will: take nine students to act as judges (pick an entire row from side to side, not front
to back, and as many others as we need) and then split the rest of the class in half,
geographically, explain that we will be looking at the hypothetical in our groups, and arguing for
either side as a group, and the judges will decide the case based on what they know of the
precedent-setting cases and their first amendment knowledge. Students will: move into groups
(5 mins)
Teacher will: move desks in front to face class. Students will: read and discuss as groups, the
hypothetical and delegate speakers to argue, up to 4, speakers write down points to present on
using precedent cases (8 mins)
Teacher will: call class to order on court case, ask for arguments from each side. Students will
present argument, each side is given 3 mins to present without rebuttal, judges will take notes
on prompted questions on sheet using two column notes (8 mins)
Teacher will: close down arguments and dismiss judges. Students will: Judges adjourn to hall
for 3 mins to decide case, groups will discuss how their arguments went (3 mins)
Teacher will: call in judges and ask them to present ruling and give reasons why. Students will
listen to ruling (3 mins)
Teacher will: prompt discussion on how students tied the hypothetical to precedent setting
cases and to their lives as students. (till end of class)

The strategy I intend to use is: Group work and collaboration

I am using this strategy here because: it will get them to apply the
lecture to broad concepts like court cases
Think about how this hypothetical case could be applied to your life?
How does this draw parallels to the Merica Day issue of a year and a
half ago? How do you feel about your First Amendment rights? Do you
feel students have free exercise of their First Amendment rights?

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

sense out of what has just been taught.
Any Questions? No. OK, lets move on is
not closure. Closure is used:
To cue students to the fact that
they have arrived at an important
point in the lesson or the end of a
lesson.
To help organize student learning
To help form a coherent picture and to
consolidate.
How do you intend to engage your
students in thinking during
CLOSURE?
Why are you using it at this point in
your lesson?

Differentiation:
Differentiation should be
embedded throughout your
whole lesson!!
This is to make sure you have
met the needs of your students
on IEPS or 504

The strategy I intend to use is: Discussion prompts

I am using this strategy here because: It fits with the theme of
discussion as an expression of free speech
I have provided copies of each court case and the hypothetical to every
student. Students can refer back to these during the trial and keep as
notes.

To modify: If the activity is too advanced

for a child, how will you modify it so that
they can be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a
child, how will you extend it to develop
their emerging skills?

Assessment
How will you know if students met the
learning targets? Write a description of

Assessments are difficult for this lesson because of time constraints,

but diligent note taking during lecture and discussion during and after
the trial should give teacher an idea of the skills and content gleaned

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

what you were looking for in each
assessment.

from the lesson.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize
assessment data to justify your level of achievement)
One of the things I wanted from the students after teaching this lesson
was more questions about the First Amendment. I feel like the First
Amendment is over simplified to be considered only limited to freedom
of speech. I wanted students to understand that it is so much more
than that. One of the ways I feel like I accomplished this was the
discussion held towards the end of class. I had questions that I didnt
know the answer to, which was ideal for the lesson. I wanted deep
thinking on a complex issue, and I feel we achieved it.
2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would
you make if you were to teach again?
Time, more time, of course. I would do this on a block day with more
time for discussion and for examination of the court cases. I feel like
this would have been better if we had drawn more inferences on the
daily life of all students/teenagers.
3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice,
reteach content, etc.)
The next lesson will build off of this one by describing how the First
Amendment fits into historical and contemporary society. Basically,
trying to dispel what is considered free speech and its limitations.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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