Mock Trial

.5 Credit

Grades 11 and 12

This course is designed for students who not only have an interest in pursuing a career as an attorney or in law enforcement, but also for those who enjoy writing, problem solving, acting and using evidence to win arguments. Students learn legal terminology, courtroom procedure, Pennsylvania law as it applies to the cases we study, public speaking skills, questioning techniques, analysis of evidence, and more. We use case materials that have been provided by the Pennsylvania Bar Associations Young Lawyers Division, which are used for the statewide Mock Trial Competition each year to create a courtroom scenario in which students will audition for roles as prosecuting/plaintiffs and defense attorneys and witnesses for each side. We spend the semester practicing with old case materials from past years and prepare our case for the current years competition. All students that sign up for the course are required to participate in the District Mock Trial Competition that is held in January of each year and any level of competition that the team makes it to beyond districts.

Assessment Plan: Students are assessed throughout the course using formative and summative assessments to address knowledge of terminology and procedure; written assignments for opening/closing statements, witness questioning, and analysis of evidence; and a final project based grade to act out a prepared case.