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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF JAN. 19, 2015 Jury-picking is under way in Boston Marathon deadly bombing trial![]() ![]() Look for coverage related to this case and summarize what's new or what's ahead.
![]() Find other news about public safety, terrorism or national security. Pick a quote worth sharing and describe how it makes you feel.
![]() Now read about a different court case and list any unfamiliar words. Look up their meanings.
Federal court jury selection is under way in Boston for a sensational trial that’s sure to make headlines for weeks. The criminal defendant is a shaggy-haired, bearded 21-year-old named Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (pronounced Joe-CARR SAAR-neigh-YEVV). He's accused of planning and carrying out two Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 that killed three people near the finish line and injured about 260 others -- the worst terrorism attack in America since 9/11. Authorities say Tsarnaev carried out the plot with his older brother, Tamerlan, who died three days later in a police shootout. The defendant faces 30 charges, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction. He’s also accused of killing a campus police officer as the brothers fled. Prosecutors say the brothers, Russians from the restive Republic of Chechnya, carried out the bombings in retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim countries. Defense lawyers failed to get the trail moved out of Boston. When it starts, possibly as early as Jan. 26, they're expected to argue that their client had a difficult childhood and was strongly influenced by his brother. It's the most closely watched U.S. terror case since the prosecutionr of a man accused of bombing an Oklahoma City federal building in 1995. (He was convicted in 1997 and executed in 2001.) If Massachusetts jurors in the current case convict the former college student, they then will hear arguments for a decision on whether he'll receive the death penalty or life in prison.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024
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