Marbury v Madison Class Debate

Lesson Plan
Student Objectives:
- Students will utilize their prior knowledge about the Marbury v Madison court case.
- Students will utilize their public speaking and debate skills in an organize class debate format.
- Students will utilize their note taking skills to prepare for their role both during and prior to the debate.
- Students will utilize their historical thinking skills both during and prior to the debate.

Lesson Procedure:
Day One:
- Students take notes on the historic Marbury v Madison court case as a whole class.
- Students then use their notes to answer the following critical thinking questions:
o Why did John Adams decide to fill open positions with Federalists? Do you believe this is a right or
wrong decision?
o Why did Marbury sue? Do you agree with his decision? Why?
o What was the end result of this court case? Why do you think this is significant?

Day Two:
- Students review yesterdays notes and have time to prepare for the class discussion on their critical
thinking questions.
- Students take part in a whole class discussion to discuss their answers with one another to gain new insight
or clarification on the topic.
- Students listen to an introduction about the debate that will occur the following day. This is not the first
debate the students have participated in, so they are fairly well informed about the procedures.
- Students receive an instruction page that clarifies all of the debate expectations and their role in the debate.
- Students randomly choose either the Marbury side or the Madison side for the debate and they will be
further divided into four groups. The smaller groups allow for more discussion during each debate. They
also promote audience listening and note taking skills during the other debates.
- Students get into their groups to design their debate while following the debate instructions. The students
receive a debate notes page that they can use during tomorrows debate. They need to come in prepared
tomorrow for the debate.

Day Three:
- Students get into their group and prepare for todays debate. Students can only use their debate notes
handout or their Cornell Notes template during the debate today. The students will have both of these prior
to the beginning of the debate.
- The room is organized with two groups of desks facing each other in the center of the room and the
remaining desks in a circle surrounding the debate desks.
- Groups 1 and 2, each representing one of the two sides will debate using our class debate format and
instructions. Groups 3 and 4 will sit around the debate groups and take optional Cornell Notes as they
observe.
- After the first two groups finish their debate, Groups 3 and 4, each representing one of the two sides will
debate using our class debate format and instructions. Groups 1 and 2 will sit around the debate groups and
take optional Cornell Notes as they observe.
- After the debate, the students then will have time to review their notes and reflect on the experience.
- The students will complete a Marbury v Madison Debate essay to decide if they would still remain on their
debate side or if they would switch to the other side after witnessing the debates and why.

Day Four:
- Students will have an opportunity to discuss their essays with their table partners and they will turn them in
to the teacher.
HANDOUT #1

Group Names: Core:

Marbury V Madison Debate Instructions

Goal: Your goal is to debate the two sides of the Marbury V Madison Supreme Court case. You will represent
one of the two sides and debate why your side should have won the case.

Task:
1. You will be assigned to one of four groups. Groups One and Two will debate in the first round and Groups
Three and Four will debate in the second round. Each group will observe the other round of debate and take
notes during the process.

2. Your group will prepare your Debate Notes using concrete legal reasons why either Marbury should have
won or why Madison should have won.

3. You will be given five points for participating and coming up with a reason your side should have won the
case and sharing that in your debate.

4. At the end of the debate rounds, you will write a mini-essay on the side you feel should have won the court
case.

Debate Format and Organization:
1. All groups will draw for the side of the case they will represent during the debate.

2. All groups will research concrete legal reasons why their side should have won the case using the Marbury
V Madison Notes handout and the textbook and record those reasons on their Debate Notes.

3. All groups will design their debate and assign roles to each group member. The number of point people may
vary.
a. Opening Statement
b. Point #1
c. Point #2
d. Point #3
e. Point #4
f. Point #5
g. Point #6
h. Point #7
i. Closing Argument

4. All group members should be prepared to rebut statements from the other side in an organized and
respectful fashion.

5. Group One and Group Two will debate for 15 minutes. Group Three and Group Four will observe and take
Cornell Notes on the first round.

6. Group Three and Group Four will debate for 15 minutes. Group One and Group Two will observe and take
Cornell Notes on the second round.

7. Each individual will complete a mini-essay about which side, Marbury or Madison, they would actually
have wanted to win the court case.
HANDOUT #2

Name: Core: Date:

MARBURY V MADISON DEBATE NOTES


I am representing the _______________________________ side of the case.


My job on my side of the debate is to be the _______________________________ person.


My individual notes to support my side are:

























MY DEBATE TEAM:

My opening statement will be given by __________________________________________.

My closing statement will be given by ___________________________________________.

My point people are:




HANDOUT #3

Cornell Notes Topic/Objective: Name:
Marbury vs. Madison Debate Notes Class/Period:
INDIVIDUAL AUDIENCE NOTES Date:
Questions: Notes:





















Summary:







HANDOUT #4

NAME: CORE: DATE:

Marbury V Madison Debate
Essay Scoring Guide

Reasons Proper Mini-Essay Form Paragraphs
1
State one reason why you
chose to stay with the side
you debated or switch to
the other side.
Used proper mini-essay
form (paragraphs,
sentences, proper
punctuation, etc.) less than
50% of the time.
Wrote less than one
paragraph
2
State two reasons why you
chose to stay with the side
you debated or switch to
the other side.
Used proper mini-essay
form (paragraphs,
sentences, proper
punctuation, etc.) 51%-
75% of the time.
Wrote 1 paragraph
3
State three reasons why
you chose to stay with the
side you debated or switch
to the other side.
Used proper mini-essay
form (paragraphs,
sentences, proper
punctuation, etc.) more than
76% of time.
Wrote 2 paragraphs


TOTAL: +______/9


















HANDOUT #5
Marbury V Madison Debate Reaction Essay
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