Acting out a Trial

My second observation session at BHS was a junior literature class. I was amazed how the average students I was with in a couple of sessions ago were exelling at acting out a trial. They read a story yesterday about a person who committed a murder while he was drunk and after he was physically and emotionally abused. They had to write their decision on how much he is guilty for the murder in the same evening. Today the teacher helped them with some notes and assign roles (the judge, the lawyers, the doctor, etc) to be acted.. Some students voluntreed and had to discuss the procedures of the trial for some time and then off on the stage! Iwas really  stunned how engaged and fervent the student were..  the lawyers coming out with smart questions, the judge sober and calm, and the doctor using medical terms and careful in what she says.. These kids learned to do that from TV.  I asked my mentor how many times they had done similar activities, and the answer was it was the first time. YEP it was watching movies.. They are learning a lot of things from Tv, how to get those things into the classroon grounds is the question at stake here. As a final procedure, the teacher asked the rest of the class who were in the position of the jury to think again of their decisions: Is the accused guilty or not guilty? After the poll the accused declared not guilty.. The teacher showed me some of the students sheets who decided some hours ago that the accused had been guilty and then changed their judgement after attending their colleagues' version of the trial to not guilty... So powerful and engaging!