1-Pager
Back to Plan
Launch

🎭 Trial of the Locktons Launch (45 min)

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Content Expertise Effective Communication Collaboration Academic Mindset Self Directed Learning CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.6 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.9 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.9 Big Ideas Performance Tasks Real-World Challenge Learning Partners and Clients

Students enter a brief mock hearing in which they react to short excerpts from *Chains*, a Delaware bias scenario, and quotes from Legal Aid of Delaware and Hispanic/Latino community center staff. The class sorts what they notice into actions, labels, power, and fairness using chart paper and sticky notes. The teacher introduces the courtroom-style case and community hearing products, along with sentence frames for claim, evidence, and respectful disagreement.

Plan day
Day 1
Duration
45 min
Grouping
Whole Class
Steps
5 steps

Lesson plan

5 steps · 45 min
# What teachers do
1 Open with a quick mock hearing hook. Read aloud one short excerpt from Chains, one brief Delaware bias scenario, and one quote each from Legal Aid of Delaware and Hispanic/Latino community center staff. Ask students to silently notice where someone is being judged by actions, labels, power, or fairness, then turn and talk with a partner using a sentence frame such as "I notice..." or "I think this is about...". (8 min)
2 Introduce the four sorting categories on chart paper: actions, labels, power, and fairness. Briefly define any new words in student-friendly language, model placing one example under a category, and explain that students may disagree respectfully if they can give evidence from the text or quote. (7 min)
3 In small groups, give students excerpt cards and sticky notes to sort onto the four category charts. Have groups discuss where each piece belongs, write one short reason on a sticky note, and use sentence starters for claim, evidence, and respectful disagreement as they compare viewpoints across the novel excerpt, Delaware scenario, and community quotes. (12 min)
4 Bring the class together for a whole-group mock hearing share-out. Invite groups to defend one placement they agree on and one placement they debated, while classmates listen, add on, or respectfully disagree using evidence; chart key ideas about how power affects fairness in both history and present-day Delaware. (10 min)
5 Reveal the two project products: the courtroom-style case about the Locktons and the community hearing recommendation about judging people by actions rather than labels. Explain that students will gather evidence from literature, history, and community perspectives over the next lessons, then ask them to write one early claim and one question they still have on an exit slip. (8 min)
Preparation (23 items)
  • Select and print 1 short, grade-appropriate excerpt from Chains that shows the Locktons' use of power and its effect on others.
  • Write or print a short Delaware scenario about unfair treatment tied to language barriers and bias in a workplace or public space, using age-appropriate language.
  • Prepare 2-4 brief quotes from Legal Aid of Delaware advocates and Hispanic/Latino community center staff that highlight fairness, bias, language barriers, or access to help.
  • Create four large chart papers labeled actions, labels, power, and fairness, with simple student-friendly definitions under each heading.
  • Make excerpt cards or strips so small groups can physically sort evidence from the novel, scenario, and partner quotes.
  • Prepare sticky notes, markers, and an exit slip with prompts for one early claim and one inquiry question.
  • Post and/or print sentence frames such as "My claim is...", "My evidence is...", "I agree because...", and "I respectfully disagree because...".
  • Preview vocabulary that may need support, including bias, fairness, labels, power, evidence, and hearing, and prepare quick oral definitions or visuals.
  • Plan mixed-readiness partnerships or groups so each group includes students who can support discussion, reading fluency, and note placement.
  • Review norms for discussing unfair treatment respectfully and prepare a reminder that students should analyze actions and systems without stereotyping any group.
  • The Bread Choice: Isabel steals leftovers from the Lockton kitchen to feed a starving prisoner of war, knowing she will be whipped if caught.
  • The Information Leak: Curzon asks Isabel to listen at the Locktons' door and report their plans to the Patriots.
  • The Modern Effort: A worker at a Delaware poultry plant stays late every night to help a new coworker learn the safety rules because the manual isn't in their language.
  • The "I" Brand: Madam Lockton demands that Isabel be branded with an "I" so that the whole city of New York sees her as "Insolent" (disobedient) before she even speaks.
  • The Name Change: Madam Lockton decides to call Isabel "Sal," ignoring her real name and treating her like an object she can rename.
  • The Language Label: A Delaware scenario where a receptionist speaks loudly and slowly to a customer with an accent, assuming they aren't intelligent because they are "Non-English Speaking."
  • The Secret Money: Master Lockton hides a "mountain of paper money" in a false-bottomed chest to bribe people into joining the King's side.
  • The Legal Gap: Madam Lockton tells Isabel, "The law does not listen to the word of a slave," using the legal system to keep Isabel silent.
  • The Workplace Threat: A Delaware supervisor tells a worker, "If you complain about the broken equipment, I'll make sure you never find work in this town again."
  • The Legal Aid Quote: "True justice is impossible if one side of the courtroom can't understand the language the judge is speaking. Fairness requires a bridge, like a translator, so everyone can defend their rights."
  • The Reader: Reads the card aloud to the trio.
  • The Prover: Challenges the group—"Wait, is that Power or is that just a Label?"
  • The Scribe: Writes the one-word reason on the sticky note and places it on the chart paper.
Student-facing instructions
You will listen to short examples from a novel, a Delaware situation, and community voices, then work with classmates to decide what each example shows about actions, labels, power, and fairness. Your materials are excerpt cards, sticky notes, chart paper, and sentence frames. Your task is to talk with your group, sort each piece of evidence into a category, explain your thinking with evidence, and share one early claim and one question that you want to investigate as this project begins.