One of the challenges faced by teachers of American history and government is how to teach complex topics that touch all facets of history. While many feel comfortable teaching historical events within a rigorous context by using primary sources and other resources, teachers may be more tentative about tackling other topics, such as the Supreme Court, that are more nuanced and harder to analyze. According to a recent NBC News report, nearly two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice, let alone explain topics such as judicial review, writ of certiorari and original jurisdiction.

In the summer of 2013, I had the privilege of attending a Supreme Court seminar through the Street Law organization in Washington, D.C. The aim of this organization is to help teachers better understand law and democracy and develop skills to improve lives and strengthen communities. Here are a few techniques I learned.

Moot court. In a moot court, students read, analyze information and rule on a lower court’s decision. Since the focus of a court is on the argument rather than the facts of a case, a moot court is particularly useful in getting students to focus on larger constitutional principles.

While a moot court seems like it is very narrowly focused on the Supreme Court, teachers can tailor the idea of simulations to foreign policy scenarios, congressional negotiations or historical town hall meetings. The idea behind these types of simulations is to shift the heavy lifting to students, who become responsible for the critical thinking and creation of new knowledge. This type of learning also prompts students to interact and grow with one another instead of compete against one another in a traditional test-driven environment.

Classifying arguments. Another strategy I like to use with students is classifying arguments. This type of exercise allows students to read excerpts from arguments to the Supreme Court and decide which side, if any, the argument supports. In the age of the Common Core Learning Standards, the ability to identify and evaluate arguments is essential. This type of activity can be used as a scaffolding exercise to help students create their own arguments. It can also model what an effective argument looks like and help students develop content knowledge.

With the Supreme Court, the arguments made by lawyers are absolutely essential to make sense of the case, how the court rules and future ramifications. By focusing on arguments, teachers are focusing on the “bread and butter” of the case and ignoring side issues.

Fishbowl tag discussion. This technique divides students into an inner and outer circle and develops students’ listening and speaking skills. An essential question for a unit of study provides an opportunity for students to discuss, listen and share with one another. As students in the inner circle share a particular insight, they invite students from the outer circle into the inner circle. The students in the outer circle are asked to respond to claims they have heard thus far.

Ultimately, the goal of this exercise is to develop a community of learners, but more importantly, hold students accountable for becoming active listeners. Too often, students tend to “zone out” if a student speaks too much, resulting in the exact opposite of the learning community we aspire to create. This technique attempts to correct for this, allowing students to learn content knowledge from one another.

Continuum. This type of activity encourages students to share their opinions on controversial issues. For example, if the topic is affirmative action, a guiding question may be “Does treating people fairly mean treating people the same?” Students will then be asked to move across the classroom on a continuum indicating whether they agree or disagree, ultimately culminating in a brief discussion.

This is a strong icebreaker activity and encourages even quiet students to share their perspectives. Our classrooms are typically the most ideologically diverse environments our students will encounter in their lives, and we should leverage this unique opportunity.

While I have focused on the Supreme Court, the above techniques can be modified and applied to multiple topics within social studies to improve instruction for all students, including English language learners and special education students.