Crime Punishment Stretch Teacher - Weebly

READ 180® Stretch 2 ReadingOverview

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by Malcolm Ritter

“Experts Link Teen Brains’ Immaturity, Juvenile Crime”

Text Selection: “Experts Link Teen Brains’ Immaturity, Juvenile Crime” discusses how the adolescent brain develops. ! e article was written by Malcolm Ritter, the science writer for the Associated Press, and appeared in USA Today in 2007. By carefully reading and rereading Ritter’s article, students can learn about evidence that suggests that the teenage brain is not as fully developed as the adult brain, the process by which the brain develops during adolescence, and how that process can have an impact on teenagers’ decision-making abilities—particularly in regard to decisions and behavior that lead them toward committing a crime. When writing about the article, students will analyze whether this evidence should aff ect how the court system handles teenage criminals.

Workshop Connection: ! e readings in Workshop 8 raise questions about how young people should be punished for the crimes they commit. ! is article provides evidence that can inform opinions about how teenagers who commit crimes should be treated by the judicial system.

Words and Phrases to Know: absolve, amenable, brief, circuitry, credence, impetuous, impulses, inexplicable, pragmatic, punitive, retribution, volatile

Workshop Vocabulary: *accuse, *consequences, rival, statistic, crucial

CCSS: RI.9-10.1, RI.9-10.2, RI.9-10.4, RI.9-10.6, W.9-10.1, W.9-10.2, W.9-10.4, RI.11-12.2, RI.11-12.4, W.11-12.2, W.11-12.4

PDF0380 (PDF)

* appears in “Experts Link Teen Brains’ Immaturity, Juvenile Crime”

Teacher Packet

READ 180® Stretch 2 ReadingWhole-Group Instruction

Day 1

Stretch 2 Reading2READ 180 Next Generation

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Whole Group: Reading Text Definitions

Introduce the text.

Have students read independently.

words and phrases underlined in the text.

Read aloud the text.

entire text aloud to students, asking students to follow along.

Oral Cloze Routine to encourage students to read the text as you read it aloud.

¶1 !e teenage brain, Laurence Steinberg says, is like a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake. With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash.

¶2 And, perhaps, a crime.

[read the intervening paragraphs]

¶37 “What we really want,” he said, “is to turn delinquent kids into good adults.”

a sudden desire to take an action without thinking about the results

Whole Group: (5 minutes)

Small Group: (20 minutes)

Lesson Overview:


Teacher Packet

END

READ 180® Stretch 2 ReadingSmall-Group Instruction

Day 1

3READ 180 Next GenerationPDF0380 (PDF)

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Small Group: Text-Based Questioning Text Definitions

(Q1) Think-Pair-Share What details does the author use to support his simile likening the teenage brain to a “car with a good accelerator but a weak brake” in paragraph 1?

o The author supports his comparison by stating that ____.

o the teenage brain has “powerful impulses under poor control”

o the teenage brain can “crash,” like a car out of control

(Q2) What is the effect of making the four words in paragraph 2 a separate paragraph, rather than including them at the end of paragraph 1?

paragraph stands out between the two longer

idea that teenagers have “poor control” over “powerful impulses,” which could lead them to commit a “crime.”

¶1 !e teenage brain, Laurence Steinberg says, is like a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake. With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash.

¶2 And, perhaps, a crime.¶3 Steinberg, a Temple University

psychology professor, helped draft an American Psychological Association brief for a 2005 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for crimes committed before age 18.

a sudden desire to take an action without thinking about the results

a short legal paper or document giving facts about a law case


Teacher Packet


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(Q3) What is the “ruling” referred to in paragraph 3?

the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, described in paragraph 3, that outlawed the death penalty for “crimes committed before age 18.”

(Q4) What is the meaning of “scaling back”? What does this term suggest that “state lawmakers” who cite the ruling want to do with punitive laws?

idea that the “juvenile brain” is “still maturing,” and therefore people under the age of 18 shouldn’t be punished as harshly as adults.

lawmakers” cite that ruling when considering “scaling back,” then “scaling back” means to make something less intense or less harsh.

paragraph.

could be logically substituted for “scaling back” while keeping the same cause-and-effect structure (e.g., making less, pulling back, cancelling).

¶4 !at ruling relies on the most recent research on the adolescent brain, which indicates the juvenile brain is still maturing in the teen years and reasoning and judgment are developing well into the early to mid 20s. It is often cited as state lawmakers consider scaling back punitive juvenile justice laws passed during the 1990s.

relating to punishment


Teacher Packet


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(Q5) How would Justice Kennedy’s statement be different if instead of writing “ill-considered” he used a stronger word, such as “evil”?

attached to the word “ill.” Point out that the word connotes “illness” or “sickness”—a condition put upon someone; whereas “evil” implies that someone purposefully hurts others.

the word “ill-considered,” Justice Kennedy is describing how teenagers make bad decisions, but he is not attaching any sense that they are purposefully choosing to be bad or are evil.

(Q6) Think (Write)-Pair-Share What does Justice Kennedy believe about teenagers? Cite evidence to support your answer.

o Justice Kennedy believes that teenagers are ____. (less responsible than adults for the bad decisions they make) He states that they make ____ (“ill-considered actions and decisions”) because they have a ____. (“lack of maturity and underdeveloped sense of responsibility”)

¶5 “As any parent knows,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the 5-4 majority, youths are more likely to show “a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility” than adults. “. . . !ese qualities often result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions.”

¶6 He also noted that “juveniles are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure,” causing them to have less control over their environment.

¶7 Some child advocates have pointed to the Supreme Court decision and the research as evidence that teens—even those accused of serious crimes—should not be regarded in the same way as adults in the criminal justice system.

impulsive, or done quickly or without thought


Teacher Packet

Stretch 2 Reading


Day 2

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Revisit the text.

the text.

or ask a volunteer to summarize what they read the previous day. Provide sentence starters:

o Yesterday, we read that the author ______.

o We also learned that the brain ______.




asking students to follow along.

Oral Cloze Routine to encourage students to read the text as you read it aloud.

¶8 Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine who has testified before legislative committees on brain development, says the research doesn’t absolve teens but offers some explanation for their behavior.


¶14 In fact, in just the past few years, Steinberg said, brain scans have given biological backing to commonsense notions about teen behavior, like their impulsiveness and vulnerability to peer pressure.

to say that one is free from blame, or to forgive

Whole Group:

Small Group:

Lesson Overview:


Teacher Packet


Day 2


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Small Group: Text–Based Questioning Text Definitions

(Q1) Idea Wave Reread paragraphs 8 and 9. How are teenagers more likely than adults to act due to their level of brain development?

o Compared to an adult, a teenager is more likely to ____.

o “act impulsively” when stressed

o not think about “consequences” before acting

o “act on instinct”

o make bad choices when “emotional”

(Q2) What background information does the author include about Dr. Fassler? Why does the author include this information?

Dr. Fassler is a “psychiatry professor” and includes

kind of testimony he has given.

information, the author is presenting Dr. Fassler as an expert on juvenile brain development.

¶8 Dr. David Fassler, a psychiatry professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine who has testified before legislative committees on brain development, says the research doesn’t absolve teens but offers some explanation for their behavior.

¶9 “It doesn’t mean adolescents can’t make a rational decision or appreciate the difference between right and wrong,” he said. “It does mean, particularly when confronted with stressful or emotional decisions, they are more likely to act impulsively, on instinct, without fully understanding or analyzing the consequences of their actions.”

to say that one is free from blame, or to forgive


Teacher Packet


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(Q3) What is the effect of putting the experts’ descriptions of juvenile behavior in a list format?

descriptions, or very similar ones, have been used in previous paragraphs.

descriptions in a list format, the author is not only providing a clarifying summary of many of the

¶10 Experts say that even at ages 16 and 17, when compared to adults, juveniles on average are more:

volatile.

short-term payoffs and underplay longer-term consequences of what they do.

action.

quick to change without warning and potentially violent


Teacher Packet


Day 2


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(Q4) What do the statistics in paragraph 12 mean? Out of a group of 12 violent teenagers, how many of them would likely be violent as adults, and how many of them would “grow out of it”?

three or four violent teens are likely to remain

(Q5) QuickWrite Review paragraphs 8–14. What do the experts Ritter quotes all have in common? Why does he quote these experts in this article?

o The experts Ritter quotes are all ____. (psychologists/psychiatrists; experts on the human brain)

o Ritter quotes these experts because ____. (this article is a science article about juvenile brain development and crime; using quotes from experts on the human brain gives credibility to the ideas he presents in his article)

¶11 Violence toward others also tends to peak in adolescent years, says psychiatrist

likely to start around age 16, and people who haven’t committed a violent crime by age 19 only rarely start doing it later, he said.

¶12 "e good news here, he said, is that a violent adolescent doesn’t necessarily become a violent adult. Some two-thirds to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it, he said. “"ey get more self-controlled.”

¶13 Some of the changes found in behavioral studies are paralleled by changes in the brain itself as youths become adults.

¶14 In fact, in just the past few years, Steinberg said, brain scans have given biological backing to commonsense notions about teen behavior, like their impulsiveness and vulnerability to peer pressure.


Teacher Packet

Stretch 2 Reading


Day 3


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Revisit the text.

the text.


o Ritter explains how ______.

o One detail he includes is ______.




paragraphs aloud.

text aloud.

¶15 It’s one thing to say teens don’t control their impulses as well as adults, but another to show that they can’t, he said. As for peer pressure, the new brain research “gives credence to the idea that this isn’t a choice that kids are making to give in to their friends, that biologically, they’re more vulnerable to that,” he said.


¶23 Giedd emphasized that scientists can’t yet scan an individual’s brain and draw conclusions about how mature he is, or his degree of responsibility for his actions.

believability

Whole Group:

Small Group:

Lesson Overview:


Teacher Packet


Day 3


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(Q1) Think-Pair-Share What are some of the key ideas of paragraph 15?

o One key idea of paragraph 15 is that ____.

o Another key idea is that ____.

o teenagers can’t “control their impulses as well as adults”

o new “research” supports this idea

o teenagers are “biologically” inclined to give in to “peer pressure”

¶15 It’s one thing to say teens don’t control their impulses as well as adults, but another to show that they can’t, he said. As for peer pressure, the new brain research “gives credence to the idea that this isn’t a choice that kids are making to give in to their friends, that biologically, they’re more vulnerable to that,” he said.

believability


Teacher Packet


Day 3


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(Q2) What scientific evidence does the author include in paragraphs 16–18 to support the idea that teenagers have trouble making decisions and understanding consequences?

author includes in paragraphs 16 and 17 about how the “nerve circuitry” functions in the frontal “lobes” and how it “weighs how much priority to give incoming messages.”

in paragraph 18 from Dr. Giedd about how “brain scans show that the frontal lobes don’t mature until age 25.”

¶16 Consider the lobes at the front of the brain. !e nerve circuitry here ties together inputs from other parts of the brain, said Dr. Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health.

¶17 !is circuitry weighs how much priority to give incoming messages like “Do this now” versus “Wait! What about the consequences?” In short, the frontal lobes are key for making good decisions and controlling impulses.

¶18 Brain scans show that the frontal lobes don’t mature until age 25, and their connections to other parts of the brain continue to improve to at least that age, Giedd said.

a system of electrical circuits, or the path that electrical signals follow; in this case, how information travels through the brain


Teacher Packet


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(Q3) What point is the author trying to make by using the word “overwhelm” in paragraph 19?

“higher” or “more.” Explain that “whelm” is from an old English word meaning “to sink under a large amount of water or other mass.”

o By using the word “overwhelm,” the author is trying to make the point that ____. (teenagers can’t help but act irrationally at times; they are “buried” or “submerged” when dealing with “high emotion”)

(Q4) Ritter opened his article with Steinberg’s description of a teenager’s brain as being like a “car with a good accelerator but a weak brake.” Why does Ritter include it again in paragraph 20?

likely to understand the analogy after having read paragraphs 1–19.

restated the analogy because he agrees with it.

¶19 !e inexplicable behavior and poor judgments teens are known for almost always happen when teens are feeling high emotion or intense peer pressure, conditions that overwhelm the still-maturing circuitry in the front part of [the] brain, Giedd said.

¶20 As Steinberg sees it, a teenager’s brain has a well-developed accelerator but only a partly developed brake.

unable to be explained


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(Q5) QuickWrite What parts of the brain does Steinberg liken to an accelerator or a “gas pedal”? What parts of the brain does he liken to a “brake”? Why does he make these comparisons?

o Steinberg likens the parts of the brain that ____ to an accelerator. (“arouse a teen emotionally and make him pay attention to peer pressure and the rewards of action”)

o He considers the brake to be the parts of the brain that ____. (control “impulses, long-term thinking, resistance to peer pressure and planning”)

o He makes these comparisons to ____. (clarify for non-scientists how the juvenile brain functions; emphasize that erratic or uncontrollable behavior in teenagers is to be expected)

¶21 By around 15 or 16, the parts of the brain that arouse a teen emotionally and make him pay attention to peer pressure and the rewards of action—the gas pedal—are probably all set. But the parts related to controlling impulses, long-term thinking, resistance to peer pressure and planning—the brake, mostly in the frontal lobes—are still developing.

¶22 “It’s not like we go from becoming all accelerator to all brake,” Steinberg said. “It’s that we go from being heavy-foot-on-the-accelerator to being better able to manage the whole car.”

¶23 Giedd emphasized that scientists can’t yet scan an individual’s brain and draw conclusions about how mature he is, or his degree of responsibility for his actions.


Teacher Packet

Stretch 2 Reading


Day 4


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Revisit the text.

the text.


o In that section, Ritter explains how ______.

o The author states that ______.




paragraphs aloud.

text aloud.

¶24 Brain scans do show group differences between adult and teen brains, he said, “but whether or not that should matter (in the courtroom) is the part that needs to be decided more by the judicial system than the neuroscientist.”


¶30 For the rest, he thinks it makes sense to try rehabilitating young offenders in the juvenile justice system. "at’s better than sending them through the adult system, which can disrupt their development so severely that “they’re never going [to] be able to be a productive member of society,” Steinberg said. “You’re not doing society any favor at all.”

Whole Group: (10 minutes) (10 minutes)

Small Group: (20 minutes)

Lesson Overview:


Teacher Packet


Day 4


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(Q1) Think-Pair-Share Why might requests for Steinberg to “testify more” have increased “in the past few years”?

o Requests for Steinberg to testify might have increased because ____.

o his message is getting through to the state legislators he “consults” with

o recent research, such as differences shown through “brain scans,” is more compelling than past research

¶24 Brain scans do show group differences between adult and teen brains, he said, “but whether or not that should matter (in the courtroom) is the part that needs to be decided more by the judicial system than the neuroscientist.”

¶25 Steinberg, who frequently testifies on juvenile justice policy and consults with state legislators on the topic, said it’s not clear to him how much the research on teen brains affects lawmakers. "ey seem more swayed by pragmatic issues like the cost of treating teens as adults, he said. But he noted that he has been asked to testify more in the past few years than before.

practical, or related to everyday ideas as opposed to philosophical ones


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Day 4


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(Q2) What is the effect of pointing out that there is “nothing particularly magic about the age of 18” in regard to juvenile brain development?

development is a multi-layered process that happens over time; it is not like !ipping a switch, where one day the brain is one way and the next day the brain is another way.

an expert, when he writes “different mental capabilities mature at different rates.”

to “15 or 16” when stating at what age teens can “generally balance short-term rewards and

that this brain function can be mature in a given teenager at the age of 15 or 16. Explain how this supports the idea that there isn’t one moment or “magic” for when the brain develops.

¶26 In any case, experts say, there’s nothing particularly magic about the age 18 as a standard dividing line between juveniles and adults in the courtroom.

¶27 Different mental capabilities mature at different rates, Steinberg notes. Teens as young as 15 or 16 can generally balance short-term rewards and possible costs as well as adults, but their ability to consider what might happen later on is still developing, he said.


Teacher Packet


Day 4


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(Q3) Why is “age 18 . . . better than 15” for a “standard dividing” line between juveniles and adults in the court system?

“matures” throughout the teenage years. Guide them to conclude that the higher the dividing line, the more likely it is that an individual over the dividing line will have a more developed brain and will therefore be more responsible for his or her actions—and more deserving of being tried in the adult system.

(Q4) QuickWrite Why is Steinberg against sending non-violent young offenders “through the adult system”?

o Steinberg is against sending non-violent young offenders through the adult system because ____. He also believes that ____.

o it can “disrupt their development”

o it will prevent them from becoming “productive members of society”

o it’s not good for “society”

¶28 A dividing line of age 18 is better than 15 and not necessarily superior to 19 or 17, but it appears good enough to be justified scientifically, he said.

¶29 Steinberg said he thinks courts should be able to punish some 16- or 17- year-olds as adults. "at would be reserved for repeat violent offenders who’ve resisted rehabilitation by the juvenile justice system, and who could endanger other youth in the juvenile system if they returned. “I don’t think there are a lot of these kids,” Steinberg said.

¶30 For the rest, he thinks it makes sense to try rehabilitating young offenders in the juvenile justice system. "at’s better than sending them through the adult system, which can disrupt their development so severely that “they’re never going [to] be able to be a productive member of society,” Steinberg said. “You’re not doing society any favor at all.”


Teacher Packet

Stretch 2 Reading


Day 5

19


Revisit the text.

the text.

Summary Routine

o The main idea of this article is ______.

o One detail Ritter includes is ______.



¶31 Ash said that to decide whom to treat as an adult, courts need some kind of guideline that combines the defendant’s age with the crime he’s accused of. !at should leave room for individual assessments, he said.



Whole Group:

Small Group:

Lesson Overview:

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Day 5


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(Q1) Idea Wave What factors would the experts quoted in this article likely say that the court system should consider when trying a juvenile?

o The experts would probably agree that the court system should consider factors such as ____.

o “the defendant’s age”

o the apparent maturity level of the defendant

o the “crime” the defendant committed

o how best to rehabilitate the juvenile

o how punishing or rehabilitating the juvenile will “protect society”

o how punishing or rehabilitating the juvenile will “deter” the juvenile from committing a “future crime”

¶31 Ash said that to decide whom to treat as an adult, courts need some kind of guideline that combines the defendant’s age with the crime he’s accused of. !at should leave room for individual assessments, he said.

¶32 But “we don’t have very good measuring sticks” for important traits like how impulsive a juvenile is, he said.

¶33 In any case, the decision for each defendant should balance a number of reasons for punishment, like retribution, protecting society, deterring future crime, and rehabilitation, said Ash, who’s a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Judicial Action.

an action taken to punish wrongdoing


Teacher Packet


Day 5


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(Q2) What is the significance of the author’s use of “moral” in paragraph 34?

responsibility, legal responsibility, and other forms of responsibility, such as family responsibility.

“moral” responsibility (i.e., the teenager is morally responsible for the murder, but that is not the same as being legally responsible) in regard to the

¶34 Even if a 14-year-old murderer is held morally responsible for the crime, he will have matured by the time he’s 18, and in the meantime he may be more amenable to rehabilitation than an adult murderer is, Ash said.

willing to change or listen


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Day 5


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(Q3) Why does the author bring up “parents” in paragraph 36?

Most parents have probably seen the positive effect of “rehabilitation” or guiding juveniles to

another type of “expert.”

(Q4) Think (Write)-Pair-Share Why did the author close with the quote from Ash?

o The author closed with Ash’s quote because ____. (it sums up the main idea of the whole article; the closing line is the one readers will remember)

Assign Writing Homework

detailed on page 23.

o Choice A: Argument Letter

o Choice B: Informational Essay

¶35 In fact, most experts conclude that rehabilitation works better for juveniles than for adult offenders, he said.

¶36 And just as parents know how irrational juveniles can be, Ash said, they also know that rehabilitation is a key goal in punishing them.



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READ 180® Stretch 2 ReadingWriting Prompts

23 Stretch 2 ReadingREAD 180 Next Generation

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Choice A: Argument Letter Choice B: Informational Essay

Lawmakers are considering changing a law so that judges have more power over the decision about whether a teenager should be charged as an adult. This change would allow judges to keep 16- and 17-year-olds who have been charged with committing a violent crime in the juvenile court system rather than being forced to try them in the adult court system.

Write a one-page letter to the lawmakers arguing your point of view on whether they should change the law. Use at least two pieces of relevant evidence from the text to support your claim. Use one piece of relevant evidence from the workshop readings as well.

Remember to point out a weakness in an opposing argument in your letter.

Review paragraphs 10–13. Then write a thorough, organized, one-page informational essay explaining how these paragraphs develop one idea that is central to the text as a whole.

Pick one of the ideas listed below or come up with your own idea:

The juvenile brain is still maturing in the teen years.

Teenagers cannot control their impulses as well as adults.

Some people believe that rehabilitating juvenile offenders is preferable to punishing them in the adult system.

Establish the idea that you will discuss at the beginning of your essay. Cite factual details from the text to support your thoughts about how these paragraphs develop the idea you selected. Include discussion of other parts of the text where appropriate.

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Teacher Packet

READ 180® Stretch 2 ReadingExtension Activities

24 Stretch 2 Reading

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Extension Reading Extension Research Extension Project

Have students go to the library and !nd books and poems by Jimmy Santiago Baca, who served time in a maximum security prison for drug dealing as a youth. Today, he is one of the most distinguished poets in the United States. He has also written several books, including an autobiography.

Reading Baca’s work could help students understand more deeply the signi!cant ways that people change in their late teens and early twenties.

Ask them to make comparisons to Anthony Carroway’s story as they read Baca’s books and poems.

Explain that every controversy has two sides. Then have students go online or to the library and search for the opposing argument to a key idea presented in this reading—that teenagers should be punished less severely than adults for similar criminal actions.

Encourage them to look for quotes, statistics, and evidence that support the idea that harsher laws encourage teenagers to act more responsibly.

Have students summarize their !ndings in a brief paragraph that they will present to the class.

Point out that images have the power to provoke emotion in people. Ask students to consider what emotions the images in the rBook, including the one of a young teen reading comics behind bars, provoked in them.

Ask students to search online or in books for images related to “juvenile crime” or “rehabilitating juvenile criminals.” Then have them use the images to create a PowerPoint slideshow with the goal of provoking a speci!c emotion in viewers.

READ 180 Next Generation


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