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The Trial of SpongeBob SquarePants is a fun activity to help students practice using logical evidence and reason (logos) in persuasive writing and speech.
The Common Core State Standards for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades mention the word "evidence" nearly twenty times! But one of the things my students struggle the most with is how to use logical evidence in persuasive essays, speeches, or debates. So I wanted to create a fun way for students to experiment with this skill.
In this two-day activity, within the context of a silly murder mystery featuring the accused Mr. SquarePants and a dead Mr. Krabs, students will take a prepared set of physical evidence and eye-witness testimony and select and organize the facts that most help them as either defense attorneys or prosecution attorneys. All the while, students will practice the following skills:
* Arguing persuasively using logical evidence
* Discriminating between evidence that helps them prove their point and evidence that either doesn't help or actually hurts their case
* Organizing evidence in a logical sequence
* Understanding and explaining what a particular piece of evidence proves
Your students will have a blast with this. It's structured in a way that struggling students can still understand the concept and participate, while advanced students can get wildly creative with it (I had one student defense team use the logical evidence to prove not only that SpongeBob was innocent, but that I was likely the real killer!)
This activity could be used in either an English class or a government class as a great way to introduce students to...
* Persuasive essay writing
* Persuasive speaking
* Debate
* Mock trials (this is how I use it in my class)
The product will come in a zip file containing a PDF file along with the original Word file--just in case, like me, you like to make little tweaks to purchased lesson plans. The file will also contain a teacher's guide with lesson plan instructions, objectives based on the Common Core Standards, and a key with possible answers for both the defense team and the prosecution team.
If you like logical-argument and mock-trial aspects of this product, check out my activity for Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" - Insanity Plea!
TRADEMARK NOTE: SpongeBob SquarePants is a trademarked and copy-written character of Viacom International Inc. The creators of SpongeBob do not authorize or endorse this product, which is why I am sharing it for free.
Enjoy, and don't forget to write a review and follow me for store updates!
Created by Arik Durfee
The Common Core State Standards for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades mention the word "evidence" nearly twenty times! But one of the things my students struggle the most with is how to use logical evidence in persuasive essays, speeches, or debates. So I wanted to create a fun way for students to experiment with this skill.
In this two-day activity, within the context of a silly murder mystery featuring the accused Mr. SquarePants and a dead Mr. Krabs, students will take a prepared set of physical evidence and eye-witness testimony and select and organize the facts that most help them as either defense attorneys or prosecution attorneys. All the while, students will practice the following skills:
* Arguing persuasively using logical evidence
* Discriminating between evidence that helps them prove their point and evidence that either doesn't help or actually hurts their case
* Organizing evidence in a logical sequence
* Understanding and explaining what a particular piece of evidence proves
Your students will have a blast with this. It's structured in a way that struggling students can still understand the concept and participate, while advanced students can get wildly creative with it (I had one student defense team use the logical evidence to prove not only that SpongeBob was innocent, but that I was likely the real killer!)
This activity could be used in either an English class or a government class as a great way to introduce students to...
* Persuasive essay writing
* Persuasive speaking
* Debate
* Mock trials (this is how I use it in my class)
The product will come in a zip file containing a PDF file along with the original Word file--just in case, like me, you like to make little tweaks to purchased lesson plans. The file will also contain a teacher's guide with lesson plan instructions, objectives based on the Common Core Standards, and a key with possible answers for both the defense team and the prosecution team.
If you like logical-argument and mock-trial aspects of this product, check out my activity for Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" - Insanity Plea!
TRADEMARK NOTE: SpongeBob SquarePants is a trademarked and copy-written character of Viacom International Inc. The creators of SpongeBob do not authorize or endorse this product, which is why I am sharing it for free.
Enjoy, and don't forget to write a review and follow me for store updates!
Created by Arik Durfee
K-12 Subject:
Teaching Duration:
2 hours
Type of Resource:
Answer Key:
N/A
# of Pages/Slides:
11
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668.97 KB | 11 Pages
FEEDBACK
cherisekennedy
My students just loved this. They asked if we could another one. Thanks so much.
May 10, 2013 
alyshalord
This is great!
May 1, 2013
Eisaacs (TpT Seller)
My students LOVED this!!!! We had a great time, and it was awesome to see what they came up with! Thanks so much!
April 26, 2013
todaydreaming
Very fun! I will be using this in my civics class.
April 4, 2013
Tinkerbell087
Fantastic activity, the children will love it, thank you for sharing.
April 3, 2013
Adventures in Science (TpT Seller)
This is awesome, thank you! I plan on using it with my Crime Scene Detective's Club! It fits in perfectly with forensic science as well!
March 21, 2013
Jared Speight (TpT Seller)
Incredible resource. Honestly, I hate the television show, but my students love it. This looks like it will be a great resource to get them to make evidence-based decisions.
March 14, 2013
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
I hate SpongeBob too, but if we can use it to teach some form of higher thinking, then why not? Thanks for the review!
March 18, 2013
Lexay L (TpT Seller)
This looks so fun! I didn't like the idea of my students reading about being cut in the throat with a metal spatula, so I changed it to him only dying from blunt force trauma. I know, I know, I'm weird. Thank you for including the word document! I am so excited to use this as an introduction to writing persuasive essays.
February 3, 2013
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
No, no. I'm the weird one. It's funny, I hate violent movies and video games, but then I have a really morbid sense of humor in the classroom. I think that's awesome that you made it work for you.
Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for the feedback!
February 6, 2013
bangsthomas
I did this with my 6th grade class and they loved it! Do you have anymore similar to it?
January 31, 2013
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Not yet, unfortunately. I've got a long list of product ideas that I want to make, and it includes several other ideas for fun mock-trials or evidence-gathering activities. So hopefully in the future...
February 6, 2013
cstaab
I did this with my intro to debate students and they loved it!
January 27, 2013
kdobson
This is TOTALLY awesome!!! TFS
January 20, 2013
meggy1984
Even middle school kids found this fun!
January 19, 2013
Jill Connley
As a Spongebob fan myself, I cannot wait to use this with one of my classes! I'm not sure where I will fit it in this term, but hopefully I will have a chance to use it later this year! Thanks so much!
January 14, 2013
beckcoop77
Fabulous! Can't wait to implement with my students this term.
January 6, 2013
ryans23
this is fantastic! amazing product! A++
December 22, 2012
exceptionalUSC
great
December 7, 2012
Heather Sowells (TpT Seller)
This is SUCH a great lesson. I am so excited to share this with my students. They always find it difficult to develop a good argument when it comes to their persuasive writing. I am so grateful you have shared this! Thank you!!
November 29, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Thanks! I've had a lot of success with this activity and the kids always love it. Let me know how it goes!
December 3, 2012
JTrainor
Got students motivated to support arguments.
November 19, 2012
celayne
Top notch. Helped students to develop argument essay.
November 14, 2012
shalen44
Fun way to teach persuasive writing. We even set the classroom up like a courtroom. The kids got a kick out of it.
November 8, 2012
Cris Phillips (TpT Seller)
Brilliant!!!! I do a whole class gigantic rhetoric project with my seniors culminating with The Trial of Oedipus Rex (one day, it might end up on here), and this would be a marvelous mini-activity to add to the mix prior to the big thing! Excellent Stuff! Best, Cris
November 4, 2012
Nothy Lane (TpT Seller)
This is the best resource I've gotten from Teachers Pay Teachers. My class loved this. I have a class of mostly ESL students and some of them stayed up all night putting together their arguments. I saw my students in a different way - interested, invested and motivated. This is absolutely outstanding! Please make more of these - I want to buy them!
October 27, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
That is so awesome! There is nothing like the the teacher-adrenaline rush of seeing students get really motivated and excited about something. That's what I live for in this job.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing!
October 27, 2012
Lillian Weis
How creative and fun! I love this. I teach 3rd graders and want to see if I can find a way to use with my students.
October 26, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
You can't go wrong with SpongeBob! Hope your kids love it and if they do I also have a SpongeBob themed customizable PowerPoint review game you might want to try out. Thanks for the review.
October 26, 2012
Rachel Sylvester (TpT Seller)
I've been struggling with how to get my students to use evidence, as well. Thankfully, I always check your store first when I'm in need, and stumbled across this FREE gem. Can't wait to use it!!
September 30, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Thank you so much. I appreciate you coming back often. Thanks for the feedback.
October 22, 2012
Karen Mondary (TpT Seller)
I am introducing this next week. The kids know something is coming, and they are excited!
September 18, 2012
krause00
Fun stuff
September 9, 2012
kcrame
This was great fun for my middle schoolers. It was fun for me to watch them work in groups to crack the case. We did a mock trial afterwards and it worked really well.
August 23, 2012
kivell2
My students loved this! Thanks.
July 29, 2012
jeni vargas
I presented this lesson for my formal observation. My principal loved it and my students were completely engaged! Thanks!
June 20, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
That's awesome. It's always nice to have something fun and engaging during an evaluation like that.
June 29, 2012
Natasha Dines (TpT Seller)
A fun way to introduce or review persuasive techniques. Very popular with the kids!
June 18, 2012
laboothe
My 7th graders LOVE SpongeBob! Thank you for sharing!
May 29, 2012
daniellemcalister
This is an excellent activity that all ages enjoy (even my cool 7th graders)!!
May 18, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
I'm always surprised by how far SpongeBob's influence reaches. You'd think that junior high kids would have decided that they're too cool for "lame" cartoons, but my students always get so excited about this activity. Thanks for the feedback!
May 19, 2012
Loralie Baum
Great lesson! My students loved this introduction to persuasive techniques.
May 13, 2012
Sarah Johnson (TpT Seller)
My students love spongebob and since we are currently studying the justice system I know they will have fun with this! I am excited to use it!
May 10, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Hope it goes well. My class has had a lot of fun with it the last two years.
May 12, 2012
Jackie at School (TpT Seller)
Clever - read through it and I am looking forward to using it.
May 8, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Great! I hope it goes well with your students. We just did it a week ago as part of a larger mock-trial unit, and my kids had a blast with it. Thanks for the review.
May 12, 2012
Joan Wilcox
My students have LOVED everything I've purchased from you. Thanks for all the freebies too!
May 1, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Thank you! I'm actually using the SpongeBob trial tomorrow. I'm excited.
Thank you for such positive feedback!
Thank you for such positive feedback!
May 2, 2012
Almaschool (TpT Seller)
Great activity. I'm going to use it to introduce my persuasive writing unit next year in my gifted 6th class. They love to debate issues.
April 22, 2012
gmcfall
Started this as a "filler activity" and the students loved it! They keep on asking who else we can put on trial. TY
April 20, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
I love it when even a "filler" (something the students think is just a game or a fun activity) can still be worthwhile and educational. Thanks for the feedback!
April 29, 2012
luceroestrada
I used this activity for my Saturday class, since I really want them to understand the importance of critical thinking in reading and writing. It's a mixed class with a first-grader, fourth-grader, and two ESL students in high school. It went surprisingly well, and the students had so much fun. I'm very glad I purchased this product. Thank you!
April 18, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
That's awesome that it went well in such a mixed class. Thanks so much for the feedback!
April 18, 2012
allarios
My kids had a ton of fun with this activity. It really helped them to see the difference between restating the details and pushing themselves to explain their new thinking.
April 10, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Awesome! I'm looking forward to using this with my kids in a couple of weeks. I'm glad it went well for you.
April 13, 2012
nordonia
My classes loved this. I loved how you were so thorough. Thanks!
April 1, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Awesome! I'm glad to hear it went well for you and your students. Thanks for the feedback.
April 1, 2012
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
llanglois127
Why are mos of your free items not downloading? Ex. Sponge Bob Trial
October 26, 2012
Arik Durfee (TpT Seller)
Is it saying "502 Bad Gateway?" Another downloader just commented about that. I wonder if TpT is having a server issue.
I'll see what I can find out and then I'll get back to you.
I'll see what I can find out and then I'll get back to you.
October 26, 2012
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I taught English at the junior high level for five years. I now teach 9th grade English in an English/physical science combo class at an innovative new school that focuses on cross-curricular classes and project-based learning. I'm also an aspiring novelist.
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