The theme of justice is at once timely and timeless, and it is one that unites social studies and English Language Arts curricula across middle and high school classrooms in the US and around the world. Whether students are analyzing the rhetorical tactics of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird or preparing for their own mock trial, learning about The Hague and its role in global justice or studying the power of poetry in the US civil rights movement, there are endless possibilities—worldwide—to leverage this theme to engage students in curricular content and the systems and structures that surround them.
As you prepare to engage students in Write the World’s “justice”-themed creative writing competition, consider leveraging the activities, teaching strategies, and resources below to scaffold students’ thinking. A comprehensive lesson plan is also available, to help you integrate the writing competition seamlessly into your curriculum.
Pull students into the central theme of justice by starting with multimodality—a critical tenet of Universal Design for Learning. When students examine the picture above, what do they notice? What do they wonder? How might this image represent justice, and what is the artistic significance of each detail? What, in their opinion, does not represent justice in this image, and why not?
Engage them in pair or small-group analysis utilizing these prompts. Then, transition into a whole class discussion in which each group shares their observations, interpretations, and arguments (e.g., whether or not this image truly represents “justice” in their eyes). Then, build upon their inquiries with a twist: Share that the iconography in the above image, while referred to as “the scales of justice,” is actually used by the US Supreme Court as a symbol of law, while justice is instead portrayed by a mythological female figure.
Using open-ended questioning, gather students’ reactions to this discrepancy. Then, probe for conceptual and analytical thinking: Are there differences between law and justice? If so, what are they? If not, why not? What makes students say that? What global symbols represent law and justice? What similarities and differences do students notice in how various countries and cultures represent or symbolize these concepts, and what can we learn from these observations?
After they have engaged in analysis and discussion, invite students to design their own symbol of justice (individually or in groups). They might create a sculpture, drawing, poster, digital image, or other medium of their choosing; no matter their approach, they should create an artist’s statement describing the significance and symbolism of their creative decisions. You might then facilitate a Gallery Walk in which students reflect on and respond to others’ works.
While students might be familiar with justice as it relates to the social and political issues of our time, they may be less familiar with the historical events that led to the creation of the justice system that surrounds them. In the US, examining the court cases that galvanized the amendments to the US Constitution offer compelling entry points for discussions about participatory democracy and the role of the citizen in shaping and defining justice for generations.
One starting place, for instance, might be the United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which affirmed birthright citizenship as a protection of the Fourteenth Amendment—a timely topic in the US today.
But this approach is not limited to the US, nor to democracy. In fact, you might inspire students to strengthen their global perspective by looking at court cases tried in the International Criminal Court to consider global definitions of justice.
You can invite students to connect court case studies to creative writing in any number of ways: Ask them to pen a poem or flash fiction piece from the perspective of a key ‘player’ (plaintiff, witness, juror, judge, court stenographer, etc.); a personal narrative that connects the historical case to their lives; or a screenplay that makes connections between the historical case and current events. You might assign such work as a formative assessment, an opportunity for conceptual craft feedback, that scaffolds students’ ascension toward the summative assessment of their Write the World ‘justice’ competition entry.
Mock trials are a hallmark of social studies and government classes, but they can also take place in English Language Arts. ELA students might:
Recreate fictional court cases from course texts or debate historical legislation that connects, contextually, to the stories they are reading.
Take a stand on issues important to the school community (e.g. dress code versus no dress code; real snow days or virtual school with an earlier summer break; suspensions or student jury trials, etc.).
Or debate elements of craft and style, like whether or not authors should use the Oxford comma, and why.
Across subjects, use mock trials as an opportunity—not only to practice analysis, rhetoric, collaboration, and CCSS speaking and listening skills—but as gateways toward creative writing. In addition to the informational and analytical writing that will likely go into student preparation, invite students to also write a story, poem, play, vignette, or sci-fi piece that centers the same tension as the debate, and that implicitly or explicitly makes a ‘case’ for their side.
Download the free 90-minute lesson plan, aligned to Common Core State Standards!
Join us on Monday, August 17 at 5 pm EST for a free professional development webinar where you'll engage in collaborative lesson planning to integrate the competition into your curricula! This workshop is free for educators; learn more and register today to reserve your spot!
Looking for more ways to engage students in writing about themes of justice, law, and social change? These additional curricular resources—many of which are sponsored by Supreme Court Historical Society—offer many other ways ‘in’ to these topics at the secondary level:
Writing for Social Change Curriculum Packet (produced in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation)
Rule of Law Writing Lesson Plan (sponsored by Supreme Court Historical Society)
Teaching the Rule of Law: Four Ways to Support Writing in Social Studies (sponsored by Supreme Court Historical Society)
Teaching & Writing about Disability Pride: Curriculum Packet (a way into teaching about accessibility law or the disability rights, justice, and pride movements)
For more resources across a range of topics and writing genres, our Teaching Writing Resource Library offers many free assets for middle and high school educators!