Trial Simulation - Defense vs. Prosecution - Citing Evidence in Arguments

Students in Room A-4 today became lawyers!  Simulating a trial, students investigated the evidence against the famed Spongebob SquarePants for the murder of Mr. Krabs!  Students were divided into Prosecution teams (proving SpongeBob to be guilty of the crime) and Defense teams (proving Spongebob might be innocent).  Teams began by reading through the evidence highlighting and annotating to help build their case.  Next, in teams they participated in collaborative discussion led by a team facilitator to discuss the evidence and the connections among pieces of evidence to formulate their case.  Finally, students combined pieces of evidence to write detailed arguments explaining how SpongeBob is guilty or innocent (depending on their case). Students collaborated on and determined roles for oral presentations, wrote a closing statement, and created a visual (PowerPoint, movie, sketch, live reenactment, etc.) to help support their case.  Students will present their cases tomorrow in front of the class and the winning team will be determined by the "judge"--a.k.a. Miss Lukins!  Enjoy the building of cases below:

Check out videos of collaborative discussion below: