Presents a lesson plan that teaches students to identify and examine the First Amendment as it applies to school-related issues. Procedures include researching a specific case and role playing its participants, followed by a discussion and written analysis. Includes three recent Supreme Court cases. (MJP)

Outlines instructions for conducting a student forum addressing the relevance and appropriateness of character education. Five students agree to portray fictional members of the panel (teacher, minister, single parent). The rest of the class researches the issue and asks questions. (MJP)

Offers a collection of activity ideas for teaching elementary-level children about the concept of power. Strategies include role playing, discussion, and use of children's literature. (JDH)

Describes strategies such as discussion and role playing for teaching children about liberty (freedom) and related concept of responsibility. The strategies are suitable for grades K through 6 and are taken from the Kansas law-related education curriculum guide "Life/Liberty/Law." (JDH)

Describes a role-playing activity and a youth community service club project which illustrate how citizenship can be learned through experience. Shows how community involvement in educational activities can help convey positive values about society and impart knowledge and skills which help youngsters become productive members of that society.…

John F. Khanlian, Ericka B. Gray and Sandi Dittrich offer a role playing activity on mediation. Jo Ellen Ambrose's and John Nelson's lessons deal with arbitration. Lowell Ueland's simulation is concerned with plea bargaining, and Jack Hanna's activity involves a discussion of lawyer responsibility to provide pro bono services. (KO)

Profiles "Civil Law Mini-Trials," an instructional activity developed by P.A.T.C.H. (Participatory Awareness Through Community Help). The Mini-Trials allow students to participate in mock civil cases including preparation, presentation of arguments, debriefing afterwards, and a discussion of the real case verdict. Discusses other P.A.T.C.H.…

Presents two lessons for grades 1-4 which help students understand responsibility by considering situations from children's literature; in this case, THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN by Browning and FANTASTIC MR. FOX by Dahl. Provides discussion questions, suggestions for role playing, and a mock trial activity which involves students with visiting…

Presents the materials and procedures for an instructional activity using a student forum to discuss litigious activity in the United States. The forum is an organized role play where students assume the representative roles including a single working mother, the CEO of an insurance company, a corporate lawyer. (MJP)

Provides a lesson plan to involve students in classroom discussions of controversial issues. Includes such topics as the right to privacy, writs of assistance, and searching without a warrant. Provides an outline of a role-playing activity for students to use in the presentation of their arguments. (NL)

Presents a lesson designed to help students identify components of justice and discern issues of justice and injustice in daily life. Includes background information and preparation, an activity preparation phase, and an application phase in which five role-playing scenarios are used. (CFR)

Presents a lesson to help students understand the development and controversy surrounding the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. Examines constitutional amendment suggestions presented by four states represented at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Includes two sets of student questions and four primary source readings. (CFR)

Outlines class activities to help students understand how the U.S. Supreme Court reaches its decisions and how the decisions change over time. Includes objectives, resources, issues and questions, procedures, and evaluations. Suggests that students will learn the facts and issues of important civil rights cases and form opinions on the decisions.…

Recommends studying Fannie Lou Hamer's work in the civil rights movement of the 1960s to teach students a greater appreciation of the citizen's role in enforcing constitutional rights. Includes a role-playing activity, discussion questions, and a handout on Hamer. Suggests students will recognize the relationship between the Fourteenth Amendment…

Presents a classroom activity that features a mock hearing on environmental issues before an international court. Asserts that international cooperation is necessary if the world is to avert environmental disaster. Provides role descriptions for the witnesses and step-by-step instructional procedures. (CFR)