UPHOLD or OVERRULE — Prompt Decoding Court

In this small-group activity, students take on roles to debate and decide how a prompt should be answered. The Attorney analyzes the prompt and argues whether it should be UPHELD (answered with a WHY—reason, cause, or value) or OVERRULED (answered with a HOW—method, evidence, or process). The Judge listens to the reasoning and makes the final call, allowing multiple answers only when students can clearly explain their thinking using prompt language. The Jury evaluates the decision and supports their agreement or disagreement by citing decoding rules. This activity encourages careful reading of prompts, academic discussion, and strong justification before writing.