Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Lesson Plan Template

Name: ___________Stephen Nelson_____________________________________Date: _____4/26/21________

Subject: ___________ELA_______________________ Grade Level: _______8th____________

I. Topic
Murder Trial - Sam Layton, continued

II. PA or Common Core Standards

Standard - CC.1.2.8.H - Evaluate authors’ argument, reasoning, and specific claims for the soundness of the arguments
and the relevance of the evidence.
Standard - CC.1.2.8.I - Analyze two or more texts that provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify
where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation.

III. Learning Objectives: Objectives must be written using observable verbs

Objective 1 - After independently reading two opposing sides in an argument, during both small-group and whole-class
discussion, students will be able to cite textual evidence in an oral defense of their position on the argument, with at
least three pieces of evidence used.

IV. Materials
Murder Trial Prosecution’s Case
Murder Trial Defense’s Case
Projector
Whiteboard

V. Lesson Development
A. Introduction
Tell students that they will be discussing the murder trial of Sam Layton, about whom they read in the previous lesson.
Have one or two students explain the prosecution’s case, then have an additional one or two students explain the
defense’s case. This should take about 7 minutes.

B. Lesson development (activities, procedures)

Break students into small groups of 3-4, pairing them with people near them while also ensuring that both sides of the
argument are represented, based upon the responses from the previous class. Give the students about 10 minutes to
discuss amongst themselves. Have each student in the group share whether they believe Sam is guilty or not guilty, and
what the most compelling piece of evidence was that they found in the case. This is partially where Objective/
Assessment 1 will be used.

Bring the group back together and do an initial tally of the class on whether they think Sam is guilty or not guilty after
discussing with their classmates. Then, using that data, begin to play devil’s advocate by using some of the following
discussion questions. Have the class defend their decision using evidence from the trial. This should take about 15
minutes. Feel free to use class discussion to also shoot off into other conversation points, too. This is partially where
Objective/Assessment 1 will be used.

Discussion questions if class thinks he’s guilty: How did Sam kill Patricia if he already left for the docks and people saw
her walking the dog? Is it really that suspicious that Sam wanted to wash his clothes and take a shower after getting back
from fishing? (Note: This takes place in a warm climate, so it’s not unusual to go fishing in the winter.) Is your gut instinct
when a parent/guardian/sibling is missing to call 911, or do you search for a while first?

Discussion questions if class thinks he’s not guilty: Why is the $15,000 not suspicious? Doesn’t it appear Sam was trying
to make a run for it? Typically, a criminal needs motive, means and opportunity. Didn’t Sam have all of those? What do
you make of Sam talking about Patricia in the past tense? Why did he tell Annie that his wife had died a year ago when
she was still alive? Can we ultimately trust Sam???

Inform the class that, in the United States, a criminal case must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Discuss what that
means for Sam’s case (What does “reasonable doubt” mean? Why is this any different than simply asking if he’s guilty?)
and see if anyone would change their vote from guilty to not guilty with this new information. This should take about 5
minutes.

C. Evidence of differentiated instruction (content, process, product, or learning environment)

Content - Using the responses from the previous lesson, each class will have different emphases in their discussion
questions. (Sixth period and the virtual students mostly found Sam not guilty, so many of their questions will be geared
at picking apart the defense’s case; the opposite is true for the other three class periods.)

Process - This lesson is focused on classroom discussion and debate, whereas the previous lesson was focused on
reading and writing, providing a variety of processes for the students to comprehend the material.

D. Closure (summary)
Ask the class to take a final vote on whether they find Sam Layton guilty or not guilty. After tallying the results, tell the
class that the murder trial of Sam Layton was closely based upon a real trial of a man named Scott Peterson, who was
convicted of killing his wife Laci in the early 2000s. Encourage them to read up more on the case if it interested them.
This should take about four or five minutes. With a minute remaining, have students pack up.

VI. Assessment/evaluation
Assessment 1 - After independently reading two opposing sides in an argument, during both small-group and whole-
class discussion, students will be able to cite textual evidence in an oral defense of their position on the argument, with
at least three pieces of evidence used.

VII. Modifications or accommodations

Students who struggle with reading will be placed in a small discussion group with students who perform well in reading,
so as to make sure all students are able to understand the material well before coming together as a class to discuss.

VIII. Self-evaluation
To be completed after the lesson.

Cooperating Teacher Approval ________________________________________ Date ___________________