This year, Jasmine Quinonez’s class was struggling to comprehend themes and apply real life connections to stories. However, through discussions when students had to take a stance on a difficult topic, they were able to better understand and make connections to stories. This in turn increased their scores and comprehension.

Sometimes these discussions were done in a courthouse setting. They would rearrange the room to form a court and students would role play and have to explain and defend their stance as a member of the court.

This type of discussion not only got some students interested in law, but kept students engaged in a fun way discussing difficult topics and using high level thinking. Discussions and court sessions often got the kids excited for the texts they were reading and helped them make inferences about the content.