Courts in the Classroom Teacher's Resource Guide

The Big Ideas menu breaks down the site content into major themes such as Privacy and Censorship. Using The Big Ideas menu bar allows a student writing a report on censorship, for example, to directly access all storylines about or related to the censorship theme (Free Speech, Free Press, and Protesting). In this example, all three storylines concern the First Amendment and the right of expression. After going through the material in each of the links, students will have a better understanding of the meaning of censorship and how it impacts our daily lives. They will also gain understanding of the Supreme Court’s role in interpreting what is protected expression under the First Amendment, the exceptions, and how the lower courts apply the decisions of the Supreme Court in subsequent cases.

However, not all included storylines in a theme will be directly on point. Storylines might be included in a theme because they demonstrate how various laws and rights are applied in court procedures. For instance, the Criminal Cases storyline under the Due Process menu does not specifically talk about due process. However, the story demonstrates due process. Some of these relationships will require a teacher or a judge to mediate the content and make the necessary connections. Nonetheless, every module stands alone. That is, it has an objective (captured in its title), with a beginning, middle, and end.