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Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom
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I was thinking back on my A.P. U.S. History class in high school, where every other week we would participate in a structured debate or mock trial. I haven't had the opportunity yet to incorporate…Continue
Tags: Sources, DBQs, Primary, Experiential, Mock
Started this discussion. Last reply by Andrew Pass Oct 15, 2009.
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"Fascinating discussion. I agree with most others on this thread that video can be an important component of the classroom. I also think it's important to consider how video is used. If you just show a video, without following up with an…"
Andrew Pass replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"A couple of responses:
First, I think that a debate can be an excellent way to prompt students to interact with primary sources. However, at times debates become more of an opinion sharing experience. Therefore it would be important for you, as the…"
Eric Heerschap replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"I recently conducted a similar lesson, but it wasn't quite mock trials. Students were assigned to different branches of the government, and given scenarios that mock real procedure in government. Things like passage of bills, election of…"
Andrew A.S. Rothman replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"Echoing what others have said, I think that a debate is much easier to set up than a trial- there are fewer roles, and thereby potentially less time spent on teaching the activity (as opposed to the content.)
One thing that I've seen to be…"
Susan Yao replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"I am also concerned that students become too attached to one side of a debate when they have to argue it in class. My friend had an interesting way of getting around this: She would assign students to a certain side of a debate, but on the day of…"
Rozella Kirchgaessner replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"Mock Trials can stimulate discussion, but the lead time must include creating meaningful witness statements that provide enough content upon which to build a direct and cross examination. It also helps to have some documents or other artifacts that…"
Michael Hutchison replied to Jason's discussion Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom"Jason,
I used to teach a freshman-level introductory social studies class, and did a mock trial each semester.
I loved doing them. It was fun, and depending on the class, it went well, or sometimes not as well. That said, the things that were…"
Incorporating Mock Trials and Debates into the Classroom
I was thinking back on my A.P. U.S. History class in high school, where every other week we would participate in a structured debate or mock trial. I haven't had the opportunity yet to incorporate debates or mock trials in my student-teaching classroom, and was wondering if anyone could offer advice and perspectives on what one should expect while organizing this kind of classroom activities, and what procedures do students seem to have the most trouble with. Do you find these activities…See More
CRN: Kobrin and Various Teaching Resources
Learning History by Doing History Kobrin, Abbott, Ellinwood, and HortonIn this article, the authors discuss the importance of allowing your students to see how people who write and interpret history have "significant power over" (P.39) those who don't. For this reason, students should not merely study "historiography" (P.39), which is the acceptance, memorization, and digestion of the teacher's or other authors' views on history. Rather, students should "learn" history through "their own…See More
Harvard Social Studies Methods (T213)
Welcome! This group is intended to be a forum for Education T213: Teaching History, Political Science/Political Philosophy, and/or Social Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. All are welcome to contribute to this page.See More
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Center for History and New Media
PBS Teachers
National Archives and Records Administration
Best of History Web Sites
Digital History
BBC History
The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
EDSITEment
Internet History Sourcebooks
Timeline of Art History
History Channel
History News Network
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