James P. Brochin
A. Learning Objectives-The students will be able to:
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1. Identify the historical antecededents to and reasons for the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments
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2. Define and place in a time line the Medieval and Spanish Inquisitions, witch hunting, the English Levellers and the English Bill of Rights
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3. Imitate the Inquisitorial style of interrogating an accused
B. Standards Addressed: National Standards "World History Across the Ages-Standard 1"; Connecticut Frameworks Content Standard 5 (United States Constitution and Government) and Content Standard 3 (Historical Themes)
C. Physical Arrangement: Modified V shape
D. Instructional Materials: 1) Primary source document of Bernard Gui's inquisitorial technique; 2) handout with full text of bill of rights; 3) handout on Joan of Arc; and 4) handout defining heresy 5) student worksheet on Miranda and the Fifth and Sixth Amendments; 4) chalkboard; 5) flipchart pages 6) VCR; 7) DVD player
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E. Student Groupings: individual and groups of two; demonstration with teacher and one student
Initiation Strategy: The teacher introduces the Fist, Fifth and Sixth Amendment and tells the students that over the next seven days or so that we are going to discover where they came from, why they exist, and the modern threats to them
F. Lesson Strategy:
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1. The teacher leads a class discussion of the text of the three amendments, and asks the class to summarize their meaning, and focuses on the rights to free speech and assembly, freedom of religion and from the establishment of religion, to remain silent and to a jury trial.
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2 The teacher introduces the students to the Medieval Inquisition's persecution of heretics and suspected witches, and demonstrating Bernard Gui's suggested inquisitorial method with a student.
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3. Students are asked to pair up with their neighbor and read a definition of heresy individually, then share their understanding of that with their partner, then share it with the class.
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4. Students read primary source on witch burning budget.
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5. Students are introduced to the story of Joan of Arc, and are shown a ten-minute segment of George Bernard Shaw's "St. Joan."
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6. Students are introduced to Spanish Inquisition's persecution of Jews and Muslims who remained in Spain after 1492.
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7. Throughout the lesson students are asked to keep in mind the theme of the lesson, that during these times people did not have freedom of thought, freedom of religion, the right to a jury trial, the right to remain silent or the right to counsel. It was a very dark period as far as individual rights went. I ask the students to make the connection between these cruelties and the necessity for our Bill of Rights.
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8. Closure: Teacher ask students to imagine that they are Joan of Arc, and forced to choose between confessing heresy and having to spend her life in prison and being burned at the stake.
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9. Homework: Students are asked to compare Gui's Inquisitorial technique to St. Joan's interrogation, and write a short essay on how both of those together violate the Fifth, First, and Sixth Amendments.
