Nearly every president has had the opportunity to name a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. But what makes someone an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice? High schoolers test their prior knowledge about the Supreme Court before working together to create a resume for the next nominee using a collaborated list of criteria. After small groups present their fictional nominees, they write an essay to select the best nominee from all presented.

Concepts

the supreme court, supreme court justices, resumes, the united states government, the three branches of government, the judicial branch

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the knowledge assessment to introduce a unit on the Supreme Court or the Judicial Branch of government
• Have learners conduct additional research using the provided links

Classroom Considerations

• Supplement the activity with more information about current Supreme Court appointments and nominees

Pros

• Helpful during a presidential election or when discussing the three branches of government
• Assessment includes interesting pieces of political trivia
• Lesson is general enough to account for any era of the Supreme Court
• Creative, educational, collaborative, and relevant

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.3 RH.11-12.3