The Judicial Branch: From Bottom to Top

This is a self-paced activity for students that works at a number of levels. The goal is to give students an overview of the judicial process from the beginning of the case through to the United States Supreme Court. The packet follows a criminal case from the offense itself through the appeal. Students will learn terms like "jurisdiction" and "appellate" as well as understand key concepts like the importance of jury duty. The packet can be given as homework or works well for substitutes in class if you want to give your students a quick overview of the judicial process.

The language used is simple enough for Middle School students but still works at the High School level.