Lawyer Up

Materials: Instructions:
 * None
 * Students are divided into pairs. In each pair, one student is the accused and the other is his or her lawyer. Give each pair a situation, usually some kind of crime or strange event that the accused student might be guilty of. For example, they may be given a prompt such as "the police found you with a stolen book in your bag," or "you were dressed as Santa Claus and offering money to strangers." That student will then attempt to explain themselves using very informal language. Their "lawyer" will then attempt to "translate" what their partner said using extremely formal language, as if speaking to a judge, usually starting with the phrase "what my client is trying to say is...". After each pair makes their defense, the rest of the class can judge whether they made a good case or not.