Washington DC – August 24, 2009
Our Courts’ first interactive, online civics games are now available at Ourcourts.org. The website is the vision of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to engage middle school students about civics and government.
“Law and government are not about abstract rules or dry facts,” Justice O’Connor said of the new games. “They are about how people use the rules and facts to get things done. Our Courts’ first two games teach students how to apply the law through the eyes of a judge or a lawyer. They are fun and engaging for students, and easy to use in the classroom or at home.”
In the first game, Do I Have A Right?, players run a fledgling law firm and must advise incoming clients using the Constitution and Bill of Rights. By winning cases, players earn prestige points to grow their firm and take on new clients. Students learn to identify constitutional issues and match them with specific amendments. The game is designed for both single-period classroom use and out-of-classroom learning. Each iteration of Do I Have A Right? is unique, so students can play multiple times and print their results after each game.
The second game, Supreme Decision, casts the player as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk who must help his or her justice decide a challenging First Amendment case. In the fictional case, Ben Brewer is a student suspended for wearing his favorite band t-shirt to class against school policy. The player evaluates disagreements between pairs of justices to decide key issues in the case. Ultimately, the student helps decide whether the school policy violated the 1st Amendment freedom of speech. Supreme Decision is designed for classroom and at-home use, and students can print or email their results after each play.
In addition to these new games, Ourcourts.org also features premier lesson plans for middle school teachers including new units on the judiciary and Constitution; a message board for students to exchange ideas with Justice O’Connor; and a section showcasing middle school student community projects. Our Courts’ content is all free of cost and designed to meet or exceed state social studies standards.
About Our Courts
Our Courts (www.ourcourts.org) is the vision of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to create an interactive program to engage middle school students in civics. Our Courts is a free, web-based curriculum developed by education, law, entertainment, and technology experts across the country. Our Courts is a project of iCivics Inc., and operates in partnership with Arizona State University and Georgetown University.
Do I Have a Right? is designed by Filament Games (www.filamentgames.com). Supreme Decision is designed by Cabengo LLC (www.cabengo.com).
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CONTACT
Jeff J. Curley
(202) 661-6527
jjc232@law.georgetown.edu
