1. Daniels, Erika. "On the minds of middle schoolers." Educational Leadership 62.

7
(2005): 52-54.
2). The purpose of this work is to encourage teachers to respond to the social, as well as
academic needs that these middle schoolers present. 3). Daniels talks about her experience
with teaching middle schoolers, provides reports on how the students feel with the new course
load and work, and gives suggestions on how teachers can improve their classes for these
students. 4). This article is directed at teachers who work with middle schoolers. 5). For me, this
article is the foundation for what to do and what not to do when coaching my middle schoolers
on the mock trial team. It gives me more insight on what these kids are going through, and how I
can help them as well as teach them. 6). No special features. 7). This teacher is primarily
arguing off of her own experience with middle schoolers, and not off of any statistics that she
has collected.

1. Lucas, Stephen E. "Teaching public speaking." Teaching communication: Theory,

research and methods (1999): 75-84.
2). The main purpose of this work is to inform the reader on how to approach public
speaking when you teach it. 3). Stephen offers advice on how to form a lesson plan, what order
to teach specific public speaking skills to students, how to set objectives on what you want them
to learn, and tips on how to improve the students delivery. 4).The author never assigns an age
group to the students he discusses, but it can be inferred from his advice that his target
audience is teachers in middle and high school. 5). All of the information here is extremely
relevant to my senior project: the information on how to organize a lesson and tips on speaking
have essentially become the backbone of my lesson plan for this year. 6). No special features.
7). This book was published three years ago and has yet to receive a review on Google books.
While what Ive read so far sounds good, Im making a gamble on the rest of the content in here.

1. Bernstein, Eve, Sharon Rose Phillips, and Stephen Silverman. "Attitudes and
perceptions of middle school students toward competitive activities in physical
education." (2011).
2). The main purpose of this work is to report the findings made from a study of the
attitudes of middle schoolers when placed in a competitive environment. 3). This article goes in
depth on how middle schoolers of varying skill levels would act in a competitive environment. It
discusses how students have had fun in competitive activities, how time commitment affects
overall performance, and how the structure of competitive activities can alter student
performance. 4). It has been published in the journal titled Journal of Teaching in Physical
Education, so it is reasonable to infer that the intended audience is physical education
teachers. 5). My mock trial students wont be competing in any kind of athletic activities, but they
will be in a fiercely competitive environment. I could learn a thing or two on how to help them
thrive in these kinds of situations. 6). No special features worth noting. 7). As previously stated,
this test was conducted in physically competitive environment. Not everything written here will
transfer fluently to mock trial.

1. Kuhn, Deanna. "Teaching and learning science as argument." Science Education

94.5 (2010): 810-824.
2). The main purpose of this article is to argue that arguing over scientific matters should
be an important part of science education. 3). This article delves into how scientific argument
can enhance the understanding of scientific matters. It also includes how the arguments should
be held, along with their directions and patterns of development. 4). This was written for science
teachers in general, as the teachings apply to a broad range of grade levels. 5). For me, the
specifics on how scientific argument should be carried out will be great in teaching these middle
schoolers how to properly argue. This article also gives tips on how to encourage students to
listen to each other - a vital skill in mock trial. 6). No special features worth noting. 7). This

article specifically covers scientific discussion, not legal discussion. Still, the tips on how to listen
to anothers argument should be helpful.

1. Chinn, Clark A. "Learning to argue." Collaborative learning, reasoning, and

technology (2006): 355-383.
2). The main purpose of this section is to teach the reader how to argue effectively. 3).
This book describes how argumentation is used in learning and teaching, and then goes into
strategies on how to argue well. The book stresses the need to listen as well as speak, and also
talks about composure and etiquette while arguing. 4).This was written for a broad audience:
anyone who can read in english and wants to learn how to argue, really. 5). This book is more
for me then for my students; if I want to teach something, then I personally need to know how to
do it well, and I can never be a good enough speaker. 6). No special features worth noting. 7).
Like Teaching Public Speaking, this book was published three years ago and has yet to
receive a review on Google books. Its another gamble with the content.