As part of an overall unit on the Justice System in American for 9th Grade students, I want my students to undertake this

unit on Juvenile Justice. This is adapted largely from PBS and Street Law. This was written as part of an English lesson but I am adapted it for social studies goals. To me it fits well within both and I cannot think of a better way to ensure literacy learning in social studies.

Grade: Grades 912 Subject: Content Area Reading, Drawing Conclusions, Research Skills, Descriptive Essay, Judges and Courts Skill: Drawing Conclusions, Fact and Opinion, Identifying Author's Purpose, Charts and Graphs, Descriptive Writing Duration: 10 Days Unit Plan: Juvenile Justice

Overview
As preparation towards completing a community service project and composing an essay, students will investigate various positions on the subject of Juvenile Justice. They will discover that all positions investigated and presented in the text and video are based on facts. They will utilize the technique of emotional, logical, and/or ethical appeals by its authors, etc. to complete their projects.

Objective
Students will:

Pre-read text and make predictions Identify an author's purpose and intended audience for text and video Synthesize main ideas presented in text or video Practice gathering facts vs. opinions for research Annotate text by (1) substituting challenging vocabulary for other words for understanding (2) pin-pointing the main idea(s), (3) highlighting and noting potential evidence that can be used in an essay (3) asking questions to the author of the text. Identify and comment on the use of logical, emotional, and ethical appeals by an author or videographer.

Directions
As an ongoing practice: 1. Refer to page 6 in the Juvenile Justice Student Guide and display (via document camera or overhead) 2. Inform students that for all text they use in this unit, they will be answering the questions on page 6 before, during, and after reading. 3. Discuss the ideas of author's purpose and intended audience with students 4. Provide guided practice with one short article (teacher's discretion) or use the article, Startling Finds on Teenage Brain by Paul Thompson, included in this unit. Days 2-4 1. For these days, students will need access to computers or teachers can print transcripts from the website: PBS Frontline: Juvenile Justice 2. Students need to complete the tasks on the Making Predictions and Asking Questions page (page 6 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide) first 3. Students will complete the chart on page 7 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide titled Chart of Defendants' Crimes and SentencesPBS Frontline: Juvenile Justice. Days 5-6 1. Print and photocopy the article, Startling Finds on Teenage Brain by Paul Thompson so that each student has their own copy. 2. Instruct students to find the words on page 9 of their Juvenile Justice Student Guide in the article to provide synonyms for them for assistance in reading the text. 3. Ask students to preview the questions on page 10 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide. 4. Provide instruction on what logical, ethical, and emotional appeals are in argumentative or persuasive text. For assistance, see http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Writing%20Resources/Handouts/appeals.htm 5. Ask students to read in small groups 6. Lead discussion of the use of appeals by Paul Thompson and collectively answer the questions on page 10. Day 7 1. Print and photocopy the article, Juveniles Tried as Adults Up 170% by Raul Hernandez so that each student has their own copy. 2. Ask students to preview the questions on page 11 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide. 3. Provide review on what logical, ethical, and emotional appeals are in argumentative or persuasive text. For assistance, see http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Writing%20Resources/Handouts/appeals.htm 4. Ask students to read in small groups 5. Students should work in pairs to answer the questions on page 11.

Days 8-10 1. Students will need to watch several chapters from the episode When Teens Get Life from the PBS series, FRONTLINE. The entire episode can be viewed online at Scholastic.com 2. Although the episodes somewhat intertwine with each other, there are five distinct cases that students should investigate: Jacob Ind, Erik Jensen, Nathan Ybanez, Andy Medina, and Trevor Jones 3. If you can secure a computer lab or access to multiple computers, I encourage teachers to have students view these videos at school to provide clarification to students during viewing, assistance in completing the chart on page 8, etc. 4. If students need to access these videos outside of school, please provide in-class preview and context to each case listed above. 5. If students do not have access to computers or the internet at home here are some other options: 6. 1. Purchase the DVD of the series by visiting http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/etc/tapes.html 2. Watch the online episode in class using a computer/LCD connection 3. Download the textual transcript in lieu of the video at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/etc/tapes.html 7. Students should INDIVIDUALLY complete the chart on page 8 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide as they view or read the episode.

Evaluation

At the end of reading all the articles viewing the FRONTLINE episode, ask students to revisit their initial thoughts they wrote in their thought bubble (page 2 of the Juvenile Justice Student Guide) on the essential question, If a teen commits a crime, would justice be served if he/she were punished like an adult who commits the same crime? As a quick write or exit slip activity, pose the question again and ask if their thoughts have changed. Ask them to cite a specific resource (article, etc.) that really moved them.

Materials 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Juvenile Justice Student Guide Juvenile Justice Statistics (DOJ) Startling Finds on Teenage Brains Juveniles Tried as Adults up 170% Computers with internet to access PBS Frontline: Juvenile Justice

Set Up and Prepare Teachers will guide students through the tackling of text over the course of 1-2 weeks as research to answer an essential question of: If a teen commits a crime, would justice be served if he/she were punished like an adult who commits the same crime? The materials listed above are included on this webpage. My suggested pacing for this lesson is as follows:Ongoing task: (Pg 6) Making Predictions and asking questions (use with all text)Days 2-4 of this lesson: (Pg 7) Chart of Defendants' Crimes & Sentences: Juvenile JusticeDays 5-6 of this lesson: (Pg 9) Startling Finds on Teenage Brains Vocabulary Development (Pg 10) Interpretation and Reflection Questions (Thompson article)Day 7 of this lesson: (Pg 11) Interpretation and Reflection Questions (Hernandez article)Days 8-10 of this lesson (Pg 8) Chart of Defendants' Crimes & Sentences: When Kids...