The Judicial Branch BUNDLE for Civics, Government & American History

This Judicial Branch BUNDLE for Civics, American Government, and American History introduces students to Article III of the Constitution: the Judicial Branch! Reading passages, comprehension reviews, hands-on scenarios activities, and a creative one-pager reinforce all the key concepts and vocabulary for your Judicial Branch unit, including the U.S. Federal Court System, Types of Law, Sources of Law, Trial Process, as well as Marbury v. Madison and the power of judicial review! This 6-resource bundle has everything you need to teach the Judicial Branch in your middle or high school Civics, American Government, or American History class. 

Compatible with the following Florida State Standards for Middle School Civics (and easily applicable to other states’ curriculum as well!):

• SS.7.CG.3.9 Explain the structure, functions and processes of the judicial branch of government.
• SS.7.CG.3.10 Identify sources and types of law.

This 6-resource Judicial Branch BUNDLE includes:

✯ The Judicial Branch Article & Review for Civics & American History. This resource introduces the Judicial Branch with an engaging 5-page reading passage and 3 pages of comprehension review! The lesson breaks down all the key concepts related to the Judicial Branch, including:

• An overview of Article III of the U.S. Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789 and how they both shaped the U.S. court system
• The Levels of the Federal Court System (District Courts, Appellate Courts, and the Supreme Court)
• District Courts and our constitutional due process rights
• U.S. Courts of Appeals and the decisions they can make (to uphold a case, remand a case, or reverse a case)
• How the Supreme Court works, from how Justices are appointed, the Writ of Certiorari, the power of judicial review, and the types of opinions the Supreme Court can release (majority opinion, concurring opinion, dissenting opinion, unanimous opinion).
• the Judicial Branch’s various checks and balances with the Legislative and Executive Branches.
• The trial process, including Jury Selection, Opening and Closing Arguments, Calling Witnesses and Cross-Examination, and Reading the Verdict!

✯ Judicial Branch Vocabulary Match for Civics & American History. Students match definitions to 20 vocabulary words related to the Judicial Branch in this cut-and-paste activity, then provide an example of each word—they can draw, glue in a picture, provide a real-life example, or write a creative sentence!

Vocabulary words include: Judicial Branch, Article III, Judicial Review, U.S. District Court, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, Judge, Jury, Plaintiff, Prosecution, Defense, Writ of Habeas Corpus, Writ of Certiorari, and more!

✯ Who Hears the Case? Judicial Branch Activity | U.S. Courts for Civics & History. Which cases do District Courts have original jurisdiction over? What cases go straight to the Supreme Court? In this hands-on lesson, students will read a short article on original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, and the U.S. federal court system, compile their notes in a graphic organizer, and match example scenarios of court cases (many straight from American History!) to the levels of the federal court system. Great practice for the three levels of the U.S. court system! 

✯ Judicial Branch: Types and Sources of Law Article & Matching Activity for Civics. Review the Origins of Law, Types of Law, and Sources of Law in the American Court System with this article and cut-and-paste matching activity! 

A three-page Types and Sources of Law article provides an overview of early law systems in human history and their influence on the American judicial system, as well as the types and sources of law in the American government. A comprehension review is included, as well as an engaging matching activity, where students pair each type and source of law to both a definition and an example court case (many directly pulled from American History!) 

• Origins of Law included: Hammurabi’s Code, Rome’s Twelve Tables and Justinian Code, Napoleonic Code, English Common Law, and Natural Law.

• Sources of Law included: Constitutional Law, Statutory Law, Case Law, Administrative Law

• Types of Law included: Civil Law, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Military Law, Juvenile Law

✯ Marbury v. Madison Landmark Supreme Court Case Article & Review. Introduce the landmark Supreme Court case that established the Judicial Branch’s power of judicial review with this easy-to-follow reading passage and comprehension review! 

Students are introduced to Marbury v. Madison in digestible, interesting, easy-to-understand language. They should walk away from the article with a firm understanding of the power of judicial review and how the Supreme Court gained this power through Marshall’s ruling in Marbury. A short-response comprehension review checks students’ understanding of the article. 

✯ Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court Case Comic Strip One-Pager for Civics. Finally, this Marbury v. Madison comic strip one-pager illustrates the story behind this historic case! The Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court case is broken down into an easy-to-understand comic, where students illustrate the events leading up to John Marshall’s landmark Supreme Court decision. 

What teachers are saying about the Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court Case One-Pager:

“I really loved this one! It was super convenient to grab and my students loved it. It was super easy to explain and a great resource to get into the nuances of Marbury v Madison. Highly recommend.” – Lizzy Q. 

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For the most part, the resources in this Judicial Branch Bundle come as a non-editable, printable PDFs, with Answer Keys included. The Judicial Branch Article & Review, Marbury v. Madison resources, and Who Hears the Case? all have accompanying digital version available through TPT Easel! (The resources with cut-and-paste matching activities are not available digitally.) TPT Easel resources can be easily assigned directly to your Google Classroom or shared with students via a URL.

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