No Objections ...Mock Trials over-rule
The Somers Middle School students performed mock trails of Landsford W. Hasting from our westward expansion unit and our study of the Donner Party.
There were three trials, one for each block of 7th language arts. This unit is a collaborative effort with 7th grade history during their study of Westward Expansion. The study started with reading and taking notes from primary and secondary sources on the Donner Party. Once the research was finished the students wrote an argumentative essay on who they believed was most at fault for the tragedy that occurred with the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the winter of 1846: The party themselves or Lansford W. Hastings, author of the Emigrant Guide to California and Oregon which advertised a new and “better” route to California. After the essay, they prepare for the trial which did not actually happen in history. The students choose their witnesses from the people they were introduced to during the research, write their own direct and cross examination questions and opening and closing statements. They follow a much simplified version of how a real trial is actually run. The trials ended with two not-guilty verdicts for Lansford and one guilty verdict. It really comes down to who prepares the best and who acts out their roles the most convincingly as there is ample evidence that both sides bear a portion of the responsibility. The 6th graders and staff serve as jury members and spectators for the trials.
