Authentic/ Real-World Task:
You are detectives who have been given Ponyboy’s witness statement (the novel). Based on this witness statement, your job is to submit to the D.A. (District Attorney) who AND what should be prosecuted for the crimes committed. You will gather evidence to prove who AND what is responsible for the crimes committed, prepare a defense for those who are not responsible, and prepare a presentation showing your results that will be presented to the D.A. before she decides who to arrest and take to trial.
Choose a role from the options below. If your group only has three members, you need to split up Role 4: The Technology Expert.
Roles:
Role 1: Paralegal
- Your job is to help the D.A. in interpreting the law and providing a case against the guilty parties.
- You will need to research the specific laws that are broken and determine all crimes that are committed (even those that you don't wish to prosecute).
- You will need to organize the laws and the crimes committed into a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation.
- You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
Role 2: Public Relations Officer
- Your job is to deal with the public.
- You will need to develop a poll to give to your peers, other districts, and adults who have read the witness statement (the novel) to help determine guilt.
- You will need to develop questions and conduct an interview with someone who lived during the time period in order to help the D.A. understand the atmosphere (mood) of the setting.
- You will need to organize the data from your polls and answers to your questions in a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation.
- You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
Role 3: Research Analyst
- Your job is to research primary (optional) and secondary (mandatory) sources to find data that others have published, opinions or facts, to help prove the guilt or innocence of the parties who were involved in the crimes.
- You will need to organize your opinions, data, facts, etc. from your primary (optional) and secondary (mandatory) sources into a visually appealing way so that it is easy to include the information in your presentation.
- You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.
Role 4: Technology Expert
- Your job is to research and become an expert on the technology that your peers might use for your presentation.
- You will need to explain to your peers what all of the technology options are and how to use them.
- Then, you and your peers will vote on which technology to use for your presentation.
- Once you have determined which technology to use, your job will be to organize your data (that your peers have prepared) into the presentation.
- You will be responsible for presenting an equal amount of time to the D.A. and her associates.