This assignment is the culminating activity of a mock trial, written by Roosevelt High School history teacher Brian Gibbs, and based on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The mock trial is the centerpiece of our unit on Rome. The theme for the unit is Choices and Responsibilities: The Forces That Shape Society. The unit engages students as participants in the simulation of a significant historical event and enhances their ability to discern implications and draw inferences. As observers of the trial or as actors in it, students gain an understanding of the unit’s theme and its connection to the trial and to the multiple perspectives it elicits. The activity of the Special Edition Newspaper on the Trial of Julius Caesar is designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to recognize and replicate those multiple perspectives through the different genres of writing typically found in the newspaper.

Objectives:

1. To understand the multiple perspectives held by the participants in the trial relative to the conduct and outcome of the trial, the events preceding it; and to evaluate the potential effects of the decision rendered.

2. To write for a purpose (to report, to editorialize, to interview), an occasion, and an audience.

3. To practice the development of pertinent and penetrating interview questions and the skill of oral interviewing.

4. To take a position and support it with evidence from a variety of sources.

5. To write with appropriate levels of diction for the genre, given the audience and occasion.

6. To learn to use desktop publishing software.

Materials, Tools and Resources Required:

• PageMaker, AppleWorks or similar program
• Copies of daily newspapers
• Computers with access to Internet (for additional examples of factual news accounts, editorial commentaries, and interviews)

World History:

Students have studied:

1. The basic forms of government throughout world history and investigated the connection between a government’s structure and the creators’ view on the essential question: Can the people be trusted to govern themselves? (This activity is adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute materials.)

2. The rise of Rome through Caesar’s dictatorship. They have identified and analyzed Caesar’s choices and studied the “ripple effect” of those choices on the history of Rome.

3. The elements of a trial, as presented in the simulation, and they have learned that Caesar was accused of (1) destroying the republic of Rome and (2) betraying Rome in pursuit of his own power and glory.

Students have studied:

1. Shakespere’s play, Julius Caesar.

2. Independent from the reading of the play, different genres of writing: the essay, the factual account, the interview, the letter.

3. Point of view and begun initial study of diction, selection of detail and their effects.

keyboarding, cut and paste, save.

Rationale:

Writing is the most accurate reflection of thinking that we as teachers have available to us. The aggregate skills that are fundamental to the understanding of history-predicting, sequencing, interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, etc.- are best taught through writing. This activity requires students to employ such skills in their writing and reinforces their understanding of multiple perspectives through written portrayals of different points of view in a variety of articles.

In the first article, students will practice their sequencing skills and their ability to separate fact from opinion.

In the second and third articles, students will practice the skill of asking appropriate questions and then presenting different perspectives by choosing significant points to include or exclude in their presentations.

The fourth article is the most complex. It requires students to take a position and support it with appropriate evidence but also to add interpretation or commentary.

Article five is an exercise in interpreting the literature, again practicing multiple perspectives, but, this time, by assuming the role of Brutus’s wife, Portia.

This culminating activity offers numerous learning opportunities. It not only engages students in the process of recognizing and then recreating different perspectives on the same subject, it also creates an opportunity for them to review the effect of purpose, audience, and occasion on their own writing. Through this process they not only confront the effect of multiple perspectives on what eventually becomes history, they themselves must attempt to look at the same event through different eyes.

The compilation of the different genres of writing, juxtaposed in the same document, then, presents an occasion for students to review their own growing mastery of various writing forms and to compare the effect that form has on content.

Using the technology to enhance student presentation of their work is a valid exercise in and of itself. Most students have not developed the habits of mind that allow them to develop seamless presentations or writings or perfectly logical sequences of thought. Expectations of careful, if not seamless, presentation and practice are the only way to develop those habits.

Introduction:

To be sure your students are familiar with the different types of writing found in daily newspapers, organize students into small groups and distribute copies of the paper, giving different days’ editions to different groups.

Ask students to find examples of factual reporting, commentary, editorials, write-in advice columns, and interviews. Since interviews most typically are printed in the Sunday Opinion section of major city newspapers, you may have to clip and photocopy one for use as part of this activity. You may also find it useful to show a video of an accomplished interviewer at work and discuss the strategies used.

After reviewing, selecting and sharing their selections within the small groups, students should be asked to present the examples to the larger group and identify the elements in each type of writing that are characteristic of its type. Ask students also to describe the typical format, if they discern one, that characterizes each kind of article.

Review again with students the objectives of the activity, reenforcing the idea that history is created by those who record it, and that its recording is influenced by the perspectives, the point of view, of those who write about given events.

Requisite Components of the Newspaper Activity

1. A headline that announces the jury’s verdict in the trial of Julius Caesar and five articles that will encompass multiple perspectives of the trial.

2. Specified types of articles and perspectives to be written.

   The first article, the one attached to the headline, is an informative piece in which the author gives a factual account of the trial. He answers the basic who, what, when, where, why and, if appropriate, how but gives no interpretation or opinions.

   The second and third articles will be interviews with two of the participants in the trial. In these articles, the students will practice asking questions that will elicit the interviewees’ interpretation and/or opinion about the trial and the events leading up to it. The subjects of the interviews should have different perspectives.

   In article four, the student will write an editorial or commentary on his own perspective of the trial.

   The fifth piece will be an advice column like Dear Abby or Ann Landers. The students will write from the perspective of Portia asking for advice about how to handle her husband, Brutus’s dark mood and refusal to share with her what is troubling him. They will also write Abby’s or Ann’s reply.

3. Several filler items of varying length.

   Some suggestions for students might be horoscopes, a sports report from the evening chariot race, advertisements for togas or slaves or new chariots, or a weather report.

4. PageMaker, AppleWorks or a similar program to create their newspaper.

   PageMaker, AppleWorks Tutorials

The development of the newspaper will, obviously, depend on your circumstances. When students sign up for the computer lab at our school, a lab - social studies teacher takes groups of five and teaches them to use the program, and he supervises as they work on the project. If you are not going to use a lab but have four or five computers in your room, students can work on the projects there. I recommend you create a team of "techies" who can take over the teaching of the program to other students. If there are students in the class who can run the program, the teacher does not have to spend time in servicing students. If no one in the class can run the program, the teacher only has to teach a small cadre, and they can teach the others. (Trust me, they will learn it faster and probably teach it better than you can.)

Grades 9 - 12

Historical Interpretation

3.	Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present day norms and values.
Historical Research, Evidence and Point of View
4.	Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate and employ information from multiple sources and apply it in written presentations.
National Standards for United States and World History Addressed:
Grades 5-12
Standards in Historical Thinking
Standard 1: Chronological Thinking
C.	Establish temporal order in constructing historical narratives.
Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
I.	Draw upon (visual), literary, and (musical) sources.
Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
D.	Consider multiple perspectives.
Standard 5: Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-Making
F.	Evaluate the implementation of a decision.
World History Standards
Grades 5-12
Era 3: Classical Traditions, Major Religions, and Giant Empires, 1000 BCE-30 CE.
5-12: Describe the political and social institutions of the Roman Empire and analyze why Rome was transformed from republic to empire.
California English-Language Arts Content Standards Addressed:
Grades 9-10
Writing Strategies
1.0.	Students write coherent and focused essays that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned argument. The writing demonstrates students' awareness of the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.
Organization and Focus
1.1.	Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintains a consistent tone and focus throughout the piece of writing.
Research and technology
1.8.	Design and publish documents by using advanced publishing software and graphic programs.
Speaking Applications
Grades 11-12
Organization and Focus
1.1.	Demonstrates an understanding of the elements of discourse (e.g. purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing narrative, expository, persuasive, or descriptive writing assignments.
Literary Response and Analysis
3.0.	Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct in-depth analyses of recurrent themes.
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2.	Analyze the way in which the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, using textual evidence to support the claim.
National EducationTechnology Standards for Students Addressed:
3.	Technology productivity tools
*	Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology enhanced models, preparing publications, and producing other creative works.
*	Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information from a variety of sources.