Preparation for Readings

• Hand out a worksheet with terms and concepts such as: premeditated murder, hung jury, circumstantial evidence, reasonable doubt and acquittal. Assign students to look up the meaning of these terms. As a reading activity, go around the room and have students read aloud the results of their research. Discuss these and answer any questions the students may have.
  
  Distribute a sheet containing reading material from any source such as excerpts on how the jurors deliberate from the book; "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" by Melvin Zerman; or anything similar. Ask for volunteers to read sections of these aloud. Discuss.
  
  

Background Reading

• Assign for homework research on various historical events that took place at the time of the play. Include the McCarthy Era and Eisenhower years. Have students report to the class the material based on their readings.
  
  

Read the Play Silently

• Have students read the play at home silently. Instruct them to look for themes such as how, in a democracy, men should be allowed to express their own opinions without being ridiculed. Tell them to take notes on how each character reacted and how the concept of circumstantial evidence developed. Discuss their interpretations of the readings.
  
  

Read the Play Aloud

• Assign 12 students to read the role of each of the jurists aloud in Act 1. Assign another 12 students to read these roles as they appear in Act 2. Ask how the oral reading with vocal interpretations and gestures changed their viewpoints from how they felt after reading the play silently.
  
  

Enrichment Readings

• Set up a library corner in the classroom. Include books that deal with the problems discussed so far from the play. Add to these several of the John Grisham novels which deal with a hung jury. Have the students select one book to read and give an oral book report at the conclusion of their readings. Compare these to the play.
  
  

Post Readings

• Assign students to read reviews of the television broadcast or of the movie of "The 12 Angry Men." Report these to the class. Ask each student to read the modern version of the play which is called, "Twelve Angry Jurors," and give a summary to the class comparing this with the original play.
  
  Alternatively, assign the class to read a recent court case in the news and to analyze it in essay form.