One of the assignments that I did in Quarter 2 for ELA was the "Mary Bloody Mary" Court Trial. I remember it quite vividly. The class was assigned roles of which would apply to a court, with their opinion taken in. Then, the attorneys, (including me!!) both defensive and prosecuting would group with their teams. Each individual had to then make at least 1 question for each one of our witnesses. The court trial was to be about whether or not the accused, a character from our core novel, "Mary Bloody Mary" was guilty: Anne Boleyn. We were also each given a handout which was in accordance to our roles. We were to complete it in order to present a beginning and concluding statement for the judge and jury.

        On the day of the trial, we used dialogue most commonly utilized by those in court to give the classroom the feel of a court. The prosecution side dominated( my team!!) the whole argument. I was a major part of that action, but my team, Samantha and Josue were pretty good. They had questions prepared and announced their statements.  The defense were also prepared in their questions but the intensity of the situation and my questions were what I took advantage of in the time period and managed to sway the argument back to the prosecution. In the end, the vote was almost cast to innocent but my teacher, Mrs. Dragon intervened and instead suggested a majority vote because she was convinced that the prosecution made a better case not just in preparation but in execution and wits. 
      What I did well was that I took charge when it was time to question the witnesses and was well prepared to prove that the accused was guilty.  Perhaps something I could have done better was speak louder and a little more clear. Though I did ask my teammates if they wanted to question the witnesses further, perhaps I could have urged them on a little more to motivate them. What I learned is that there was another side to Anne Boleyn's story: she was shamed by her family, unwanted by her people and treated as an outcast. This goes to show how even though a person my be guilty for a crime, they have another side to the story and what made them a certain way. I also learned how King Henry VIII was also to blame for his madness and his daughter Mary's illegitimacy because he was the one to choose Anne as his lover and he himself wanted an male heir so he discarded his daughter from legitimacy so that his to-be son from his to-be wife would become the legitimate heir.