The Mini Page — 2007 Activities
THE FOURTH & FIFTH AMENDMENTS
Issue 11
March 10-16
This week's standards:
Students understand the purpose of government. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and Governance)
Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practice)
Activities:
1. Pretend two friends have asked you to help them settle an argument. Draw a picture of yourself being a judge in a courtroom where you will make your decision. Draw your friends telling their stories in the courtroom.
2. Write three different and polite things you could say to friends if they asked you something you didn't want to answer. Ask your friends what they would say. Compare your ideas.
3. Can you make a list of the qualities or skills you think a member of a jury should have? Would you like to serve on a jury? Why or why not?
4. Which amendment in today's Mini Page (a) guarantees that you will be told if the government wants to arrest you for something, (b) guarantees that you don't have to say anything in court if you don't want to, and (c) says that a judge has to give the police permission to search your house?
5. How would you design a system that you and your friends could use in your classroom to settle disputes and protect students' rights? Write a paragraph describing the system you would design.
Be sure your system addresses these questions: Who can bring a complaint about another student to the class? Who listens to the complaint? Who listens to the two sides of an argument? Who decides how the argument will be settled? How will you guarantee that the procedures will be fair to everyone?
Standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
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