Cat in the Hat Gets Busted

What would Dr. Seuss make of it? His title character in "The Cat in the Hat" found guilty of trespassing by a jury of elementary school children? In fact, every class that heard his case during the Successful Kids program that was held at Mark Twain Elementary in Federal Way this past summer convicted the mischievous cat.

According to the prosecuting attorneys, the "Cat" went someplace he wasn't supposed to go and made a mess. His defense attorneys claimed he cleaned up said mess. But after the case was presented and submitted to impartial juries (other summer school classes), the "Cat" turned up guilty every time. Apparently Judge Judy isn't the only smart cookie out there.

Putting children's favorite book characters on trial is how Steve Brown, an attorney and a Seattle School Board member, makes books come alive for students through his kidLAW program. Students use the plot, story, characters, and setting to present a court case. Brown provides the background on how trials work, including class discussions about why we have trials, who's who at trials, when things happen at trials, and trial rules.

When the class culminates in a jury trial, students take the whole case very seriously. They dress the part; boys don ties and jackets provided by Brown and girls wear professional-looking clothes, as well. The students also observe courtroom manners, to be quiet when others are talking and to stand up when the judge enters the room.

The best part of the kidLAW program is it reaches all the students. In order to present a viable case they must really delve into the book.

"Kids who don't like to read like to prepare for a trial," explained Brown. The Mark Twain students' "The Cat in the Hat" books were filled with post-it notes marking passages relevant to the case. One student scrawled questions he planned to ask witnesses in large letters on a notepad.

"Everyone gets a different benefit," said Brown. "One ESL (English as a Second Language) child conquered some of her fears and at the same time gained public speaking experience, and one boy who didn't do much work prior to the trial said he realized how hard it is to be a lawyer." Some of the students were forced to think on their feet when a witness said something they didn't expect.

Brown advocates trial preparation as the best learning experience to encourage higher-level thinking. Students must decide which characters in the book will be the most helpful witnesses and predict what those witnesses will say. While planning their strategy for winning the case they are forced to re-read the book several times and they become actively engaged in the challenge.

"I never know for sure what's going to happen. Instead, I get to marvel at the wonderful and persuasive facts and arguments that the kids create," said Brown. You can read more about kidLaw at www.kidlawtrials.com

All the students who participated in "The Cat in the Hat" courtroom trials received a copy of the book to keep courtesy of the 21st Century Community Learning Center Successful Kids grant.

September 17, 2002