JudgeJuliette

WrittenbyLauraGehl

IllustratedbyMariLobo

SterlingPublishing

Teacher’sGuide

WritingPrompts/DiscussionQuestions:1.Ifyousuddenlygotpermissiontogetapet,whichpetwouldyouchoose?Why?2.IfJudgeJuliettelivedinyourneighborhood,whatcasewouldyoubringtohercourtroomtosettle?Forexample,isitfairthatyouhavethesamebedtimeasyouryoungerbrother?OrisitfairthatyourMomismakingyoupayforavasethatyoubrokewhenitwasanaccident?Orifyouhadtheideatomakeandsellcookies,butyourfriendhelpedwiththebakingandselling,shouldtheprofitsbesplitevenly,orshouldyougetmoreofthemoneybecauseitwasyouridea?WhatdoyouthinkJudgeJuliettewouldsayaboutyourcase?3.Attheendofthebook,JudgeJulietterecusesherself,becausejudgescannotbeinchargeofcasesinvolvingtheirownfamilymembers.Doyouthinkthisisagoodrule?Whyorwhynot?4.WriteastoryabouttwokidswhohaveadisagreementandbringtheirproblemtoJudgeJuliettetoresolve.IncludedetailsaboutwhateachkidtellsJudgeJulietteandhowJudgeJulietterulesonthecase.

ResearchProjectideas:1.Sometrialshaveonlyajudge(thisiscalledabenchtrial),somehavebothajudgeandajury(thisiscalledajurytrial).Researchthedifferencebetweenthesetwotypesoftrials.Whataretheprosandconsofeachtypeoftrial?2.Pickanactualtrialthattookplaceinthepast,andreadaboutthetrial.Whatevidencedidtheprosecutionpresent?Whatevidencedidthedefensepresent?Whatwastheverdictofthetrial?Writeasummaryofthetrial.Then,basedonyourresearch,writewhetheryouagreewiththeverdictandwhy.3.IntheUnitedStates,wehaveafederalcourtsystemwiththreelevels:districtcourts,circuitcourts,andtheSupremeCourt.ResearchtheprocessbywhichcasesmovefromthelowercourtsuptotheSupremeCourt.Thenwriteaboutthegeneralprocess,orwriteaboutabouthowonespecificcasemovedfromdistrictcourttocircuitcourtanduptotheSupremeCourt.4.Manypeoplebelievethecourtsystemsinourcountryareunfairintheirtreatmentofpeopleofdifferentracesandethnicities.Researchthisissueandwriteareportaboutyourfindings.Doyouagreethatthecourtsystemisbiasedagainstcertainracialorethnicgroups?Ifso,howcanwechangeit?Holdamocktrialinyourclassroom!Therearealotofresourcesavailableforholdingamocktrial.Hereareafew:https://government.mrdonn.org/mocktrials.htmlhttps://www.pabar.org/public/education/lawday/10ldlessonplanguide.asphttps://www.19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us/1610/Guide-to-Conducting-Mock-Trialshttps://www.kidsdiscover.com/teacherresources/mock-trial/