Engaged Learning Project

Title of Project: Business Law- Understanding Your Rights

Subject(s): Business and Computer Science
Grade Level(s): 8
Abstract:
This project will allow my 8th grade students to take on the adult roles of researcher, explorer, and teacher as they lead each
other in discovering the major elements of business and constitutional law that exist in our society. Students will be learning about
elements of business law while collaborating, problem solving, and critically thinking. Students will take on the adult role of
contributing and finalizing the class rubric for this project. They will use collaboration and technology to research and create their
new product. Student teams will take on adult roles when researching their topic online and finding content they will need to
synthesize when developing their MS Moviemaker video and embedded audio recording. They will have the opportunity to work
with Mr. Nick Chester, a local lawyer and a member of the Paulding County School Districts BOE during the research phase as well
as the publishing phase of this product. Students will watch and provide feedback for each others videos. This will give the
students to learn about each others court cases and their importance. To provide a meaningful and broad audience for my students
beyond each other and our community expert, videos will be played in the cafeteria during student lunches, uploaded onto my
teacher website for the community to view, and the audio recordings will be played on our schools radio station.
Learner Description/Context:
My learners are 8th grade middle school students. The demographics of the students that will be completing this project are
Caucasian 59%, African Americans 34%, Hispanics 15%, and Asians 2%. Our schools population would be considered lower
middle class with a high number of students receiving free and reduced lunch. Our school does qualify as a Title 1 school by the
federal governments standards. Students have access to technology everyday in my class (Computer lab.) Students enjoy learning
with technology, collaboration, creating authentic products, and choice. Students have been using Edmodo throughout the entire
semester so I will not be introducing the Edmodo platform to them for the first time. Students have previously reviewed and have a
clear understanding of expectations regarding digital citizenship. Students have used Vocaroo for a previous project as well. My
students will need some instruction with the MS Moviemaker application.
This project is culturally responsive. As eighth graders, my students are becoming more interested in how the law impacts
them, what rights they have, and how they can safely and responsibly navigate the real world. Soon they will be in high school and
the laws of the land will have a greater impact on them. Being that my student population is both diverse and low socio-economic, I
intend to include court cases such as West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, Miranda vs. Arizona, Gideon vs. Wainwright, Brown v. Board of
Education, and San Antonio Independent School District vs. Rodriguez. From the purely business law side, I intend to include
cases stimulating my students interests in technology, sports, and equal opportunity: Cyber Promotions, Inc. vs. America Online,
Inc, Edward OBannon vs. NCAA, Haywood v. National Basketball Ass'n, Regents of University of California v. Bakke, Grutter v.
Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, and Young vs. United Parcel Service.
Time Frame:
15 Days (3 Weeks)
Standards Assessed:
MSBCS-BCSIII-9: The students will examine basics of business law.
ISTE Nets S- 1a-c, 2a-b, 2d, 3b-d, 4a-b, 5a-b, 6a, 6b, 6d
Learner Objectives:
After completing this learning experience, students will know basic elements of business law and be able to explain why
we have laws, how current laws are legally challenged, and at what levels of government laws confirmed as constitutional or
unconstitutional. This learning will be measured by the successful completion of the final product and its scoring on a student
generated rubric.

James Chase-Wegner, ITEC Graduate Degree Candidate

Engaged Learning Project

The hook or Introduction:
On the very first day of the project, I will have the schools resource officer visit my classes and perform a mock arrest. I
will ask him to repeat the Miranda Rights for my students and discuss the importance of understanding your rights. My students
will be given the opportunity to ask questions regarding lawful arrests, search and seizures, and what to do when approached by a
police officer.
This project should be interesting to my students because they will learn about the laws that govern private citizens and
businesses. Students should be interested to learn about their rights as a United States citizen. Students should be interested to learn
about crimes that occur, the legal process for establishing guilt through evidence and precedent, and how that decision can be
challenged in higher courts.
Process:
*Day 1: First, the schools resource officer will visit my classes and demonstrate a mock arrest. The officer will discuss the purpose
of police officers and their place in society. I will ask him to repeat the Miranda Rights for my students. Students will be allowed
to ask a few questions regarding lawful arrests, search and seizures, and what to do when approached by a police officer.
*Day 2-3: To build knowledge needed for this unit. Students will be given a list of terms that they will need to find pictures and
meanings for. They will use the internet to search for these. Students will create a MS Publisher document with the meanings and
pictures they have found. These posters will be displayed in the hallway outside my classroom during this unit, providing a larger
audience and opportunity for the posters to be used as a teaching tool for others.
*Day 4: Play the online simulation Do I Have the Right? Students take on the adult role of acting as the lawyer for those coming
in off the street with potential cases involving constitutional rights. Students must decide whether a clients constitutional rights
have been denied or abused. The student will make decisions as to whether the potential clients case deserves a lawyer from their
law firm and what type of constitutional right has been denied. As students make correct decisions and team up potential clients
with lawyers in their firm for winning cases their firms popularity rating increases. Each case won earns them more money in
which students can hire lawyers with expertise in various constitutional rights.
*Day 5: Teacher will introduce Constitutional Rights Video Project. Students will perform an adult role by creating the scoring
rubric for their projects. Students will take an incomplete rubric containing only the categories to be scored and collaboratively
discuss what represents a score of 3, 2, and 1 for each topic area. The students will offer specifics that will be added to the class
rubric for this project. The rubric will be used to grade their MS Moviemaker projects when completed.
*Day 6-8: Students will collaborate in small groups via Edmodo. Student groups will be able to choose from a list of court cases
that deal with constitutional rights. Students will assist each other in answering guiding questions about their groups Supreme
Court case. Students will identify who played the major court case roles (Defendant, Plaintiff, Public Defender/Lawyer, Prosecutor,
Jury, and Judges.) Students will find past or current events online that relate to the groups Supreme Court Case or Constitutional
Amendment. Students will find pictures that represent the case and the Constitutional Amendment in general. Students will post
the links, pictures, and answers to their cases guiding questions to their Edmodo small group blogs. Students will complete a short
reflection of their individual learning up to this point and submit that reflection via Edmodo.
*On Day 6 Nick Chester, local lawyer and a member of the Paulding County School Districts BOE, will work collaboratively with
students to understand their specific court cases key points and the cases impacts on society as a whole. During his visit to our class
he will move from group to group. He will offer direction as to what students should be focusing on during their presentations.
Students will be able to pose questions about their court case and engage in adult conversations regarding constitutional law.
*Day 9-12: Students will take on the adult role of collaborating in small groups to create a 2 minute MS Moviemaker video that will
teach others about the constitutional right and court case they studied. (Teacher will provide a screencast students can review
whenever they have questions about the basic functions of MS Moviemaker and a completed MS Moviemaker Video Project
exemplar.) Students will use Vocaroo to create an audio recording of their learning that will be embedded into their MS
Moviemaker video. When completed, the videos will be uploaded to Edmodo for a student feedback day.
*Day 13: Students will evaluate each others court case videos by watching them and providing feedback through Edmodo.
Students will be given a rubric that describes how they should provide feedback on the videos. Students will evaluate and provide
positive feedback regarding at least three other groups videos.
*Day 14: Nick Chester will once again visit our class and view the presentations. After watching the videos, Mr. Chester will share
his thoughts regarding all of the videos and he will select what he believes to be the most informative and well done video. He will

James Chase-Wegner, ITEC Graduate Degree Candidate

Engaged Learning Project

answer the reflection prompt that students will be given tomorrow. Crimes and civil wrong doings are committed daily in the
United States. People and businesses are taken to court for various reasons. Why as a United States citizen should you believe in
due process and checks and balances? What protections do you have as a citizen, consumer, and employee in the United States?
Explain your answer in complete sentences. Students may take notes during Mr. Chesters answer that they can use when writing
their personal reflection tomorrow.
*Day 15: Students will write a reflection of their learning for this unit. Students will respond to the following writing prompt. .
Crimes and civil wrong doings are committed daily in the United States. People and businesses are taken to court for various
reasons. Why as a United States citizen should you believe in due process and checks and balances? What protections do you have
as a citizen, consumer, and employee in the United States? Explain your answer in complete sentences.
*Student videos will be played in the cafeteria during lunches to provide a larger audience. The Vocaroo audio recordings will be
played on our schools radio channel parents hear as they drop off and pick up students. Videos will be uploaded to my school
website for the community to watch and enjoy. Parents will be invited to watch the videos through my Remind parent
communication system.
Product:
The end-products will be the Business Law Posters, Vocaroo audio recordings, and MS Moviemaker videos. Technology is
integrated throughout the project via online collaboration tools (Edmodo), productivity tools (MS Publisher and MS Moviemaker),
the use of internet search engines, and simulation software (Do I have a right?). Students will provide feedback to each other after
the completion of the projects and be graded on their feedback based on a teacher created rubric. Students will assist in the creation
of the Final Project Rubric. Students will collaborate and give consensus to the expectations for the various topic areas on the Final
Project Rubric.
Technology Use:

Edmodo to communicate, collaborate, and provide feedback to peers Teacher as Facilitator, Student as Teacher, Student
Collaboration
Smartboard to display and collaborate on final project rubric
MS Publisher to construct/publish original products Authentic Project
MS Moviemaker to construct/publish original products Authentic Project
Vocaroo to construct/publish original products Authentic Project
Headphones & microphones for recording- Authentic Project
Google Search Engine to explore and find content related to their court case Student as Explorer
Do I have The Right? Simulation Game to assume the role of lawyer- Meaningful, Student as Explorer
Remind to reach a broader audience Meaningful Experience, Student as Teacher
Teacher Website to reach a broader audience Meaningful Experience, Student as Teacher
P.B. Ritch Radio Station to reach a broader audience Meaningful Experience, Student as Teacher

References and Supporting Material:

Business Law Standards Vocabulary (Civil Law, Criminal Law, Tort, Contract, Property Law, Arson, Forgery,
Embezzlement, Identity Fraud, Slander, Libel, Constitution, Rights, Labor Laws, Supreme Court, Verdict, Decision,
Opinion, Dissent, Court, Trial, Judge, Jury, Prosecutor, Public Defender, Plaintiff, Defendant, and Bailiff)
Google Search
MS Moviemaker Video Skeleton Rubric (For students to collaborate and contribute to)
MS Moviemaker Video Exemplar (Does not include voice over.)
ChrisBrantley1. (2014). Gideon v. wainwright. [Video File] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YcDtghvCGg

Basics of MS Moviemaker to help answer questions students will have about adding pictures, text, and audio.
Bass, J. (2006). Movie maker video editing tutorial. [Video File] Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZXK68NS7gU

James Chase-Wegner, ITEC Graduate Degree Candidate

Engaged Learning Project

Court cases to be discussed by students: (Case/Year/URL/General Case Information)

West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/landmark_westcoast.html

o The federal government can support a minimum wage.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html

o Separate but equal is not constitutional.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_gideon.html

o Right to an attorney

Miranda v. Arizona (1966): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_miranda.html

o Understanding your rights when arrested

Haywood v. National Basketball Association (1971): http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2009-05-12spencer-haywood_N.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haywood_v._National_Basketball_Ass%27n

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/401/1204/case.html
o Right to work. Before 1971 the NBA had a policy where teams must wait 4 years after a players graduation from
high school before he can be drafted.

Frontiero v. Richardson (1973): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_frontiero.html

o Rights to benefits should not be different based on gender

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973):

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/content/supremeCourt/files/SupremeCourt_LandmarkCases.pdf
o The constitution does not state that government has to provide services like education or welfare. Constitution
only places limitations on governmental power.

Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_regents.html

o Providing for equal opportunity in college admissions cannot be clearly decided by race alone.

Cyber Promotions, Inc. v America Online, Inc. (1996): http://www.cyberspacelaw.org/easton/easton5.html

o The first amendment and the internet. Cyber Promotions learns that it in fact can not use AOLs customer base
for its own commercial interests without consent.

Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (2003): http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_grutter.html

o Providing for equal opportunity in college admissions cannot be aided by race. Grutter was viewed as
constitutional due to the University of Michigan looking at applicants on an individual basis and only considering
race as a plus factor. Gratz v Bollinger also heard in 2003 found that Michigan did indeed boost applicants
admission scores by 20 points if they were from a minority population or attended a high school that had a high
minority population or was considered an economically disadvantaged high school. This was seen as
unconstitutional.

Edward OBannon v. NCAA (2014): http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/11328442/judge-rules-ncaa-ed-obannonantitrust-case http://espn.go.com/pdf/2014/0808/espn_wilkindecision.pdf

o University and colleges can pay student athletes for revenues earned through the use of student names and
likenesses to make money for colleges in marketing, product sales, and video games.

Young v. United Parcel Service (2015): http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/25/supreme-court-rules-againstups-in-pregnancy-discrimination-case

o Currently under debate in the courts this case recently gave a 6-3 verdict in favor of Peggy Young stating the UPS
would have to defend its position as to why other employees could be given light duty, but women at UPS are
placed on unpaid leave while pregnant and requested to work light duty by her doctor.

James Chase-Wegner, ITEC Graduate Degree Candidate

Engaged Learning Project

What modifications have you made since you submitted your draft for feedback?
I eliminated all of the testing and direct instruction from the original idea template for this project. I originally created a
unit lesson plan where I scaffolded instruction by introducing vocabulary through direct instruction, but changed this to more of a
self-discovery activity. I brought my students into the decision making process of establishing their projects grading rubric. I
removed some possible activities from the project to allow more time for focus and reflection. I improved the ways in which I
would incorporate different outside experts. I tried to be clearer on what adult roles my students would be assuming during the
project. I worked hard to clarify the process that I will take to reach the completion of this project. I improved my learner
description and stated why this project should be interesting to my population of students. I selected court cases that would interest
my students and found reference material for fellow teachers that may try to reproduce this project. I added an additional student
reflection to bolster the ongoing assessment piece after the research process.
Which indicators of Engaged Learning will be high in this lesson and Why?

Standards based- Address state and ISTE Nets -S standards.

Authentic/Meaningful- Students will learn about laws that have a direct impact on them. Students will have the
opportunity to work with an expert in the field of law while completing their research over the important court cases. The
expert will be able to clarify the importance of the courts decisions and let the students know if they are on track. Students
will take on roles of an adult at various stages of the project. Their final product will be shared with a large audience.
Student-directed- Students will select, research, synthesize, and create their videos over the court case.
Multi-Disciplinary- ELA, Social Studies, Technology, and Business Law
Culturally Responsive- Students will learn about how the legal system works, specific crimes, laws, and court cases that
may impact them and their families. They will be using technology that is age appropriate. Students will not be
responsible for using technology outside of school for this project, removing any economic barriers.
Student as Explorer- Students will explore the internet to find information and graphics about their topic. They will be able
to interact with an expert in the field during the learning phase.
Student as Teacher- Students will learn from each others work and provide feedback to each other upon the completion of
their final products. Students work during the unit will be displayed and published in various places to enhance the
learning of students outside of the class and others in the community.
Student as Producer- Students will be synthesizing information and creating a final product of their design.
Teacher as Facilitator- Teacher will facilitate the student collaboration needed to decide on of the final product rubric.
Teacher as Guide- Teacher will provide exemplars for students. (Law Terms Poster, Video, and Student Feedback)
Collaborative- Students will work together in small and large groups to elevate learning on several activities during unit.
Performance Based- Students will create a product. Students will provide feedback to one another. Rubrics will be used
for grading on each part of the project. (Law Terms Poster, Video, and Student Feedback)
Generative- Students will assist in the creation of the Final Project Rubric. Students will provide feedback on each others
projects.

Which indicators would you like to strengthen?

None. I have continually looked to strengthen my EL lesson plan by listening to the advice of my peers and professor.

What LoTI level do you think this lesson would be and Why?

I believe this project is LoTi level 5 because my students will work collaboratively and take on adult roles to create a new
meaningful product that will be shared with a large audience. Students will use technology throughout the project to assist
them in their learning and in the creation of their final product. I believe that Mr. Chester will provide excellent ideas and
feedback for my students. His inclusion will hopefully inspire them to consider pursuing an education and career in the
field of Law.

What help would you like to receive from us?

Anything you see that could be improved would be helpful.

James Chase-Wegner, ITEC Graduate Degree Candidate