Legislative Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

Today's town hall had various students running for office. Here's a very real candidate: my mom, running for Portland City Council in 2012!

Dear class,

Another interesting day, especially with the town hall meeting, which I really enjoyed! Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. Selected for today because we are studying US government, and also, because it is Halloween this weekend. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/29/15:
News Brief – Gabe
Washington's Gridlock
Town Hall
Review for Test

Homework: Read the blog. Review for Legislative test, which is next class. Here are some resources to help you with this:

The second page of this handout, charting how a bill becomes a law, will be on the test. You will need to fill in the blanks with what happens on each side of Congress, then what happens when it gets to the President.

You will need to know: the political spectrum (from left to right: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, reactionary). the number of representatives in each branch of Congress, and the eligibility requirements for them. The leaders in both the Senate (Vice President) and the House (Speaker of the House).

Next news brief: Istanbul.

News Brief: Gabe had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Pentagon personnel on site to investigate loose blimp. This is especially interesting, because later in class, some students talked in the town hall simulation about the government spending too much on the military. This blimp program cost a lot of money, with perhaps not a lot of tangible benefits.

Also, at the start of class, I talked about gender and sexual identity being a spectrum, since last class, I think a lot of students had difficulty understanding Lindsay's proposal to reform government forms to be more inclusive. With that, I showed a visual of the "Genderbread Person" to help. Hopefully, this made a bit more sense, and helped continue to build our classroom and school community. :-)

Istanbul was randomly selected to do the next news brief.

Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class:

Google Drive - New York Times Upfront: Washington's Gridlock

Here is the assignment that went with the reading:

Google Drive - Washington's Gridlock Assignment

As part of the article, I talked about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America. Also, I showed part of this hilarious video of Patton Oswalt on Parks and Recreation, using the filibuster as a tactic to stop the local city council from voting on an issue:

Furthermore, I showed this real life example of Senator Paul Ryan (KY) using the filibuster tactic in the Senate:

Town Hall: I really liked this! We had three candidates (Lindsay, Amogh, and Hector) in front of the class, representing their own views. To gear up, we watched this clip of some of the Republican Presidential candidates last night answering the question: "what is your biggest weakness?" Everyone else in the class was responsible for writing questions for the candidates in class, representing different non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups for some important issues in the country - education, jobs and the economy, immigration, the environment, healthcare. This hits LT3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

The three candidates talked about their own views on the issues, and then tried to think on their feet to answer questions from the various groups around the class.

Here was the assessment I used for LT3, after the Town Hall:

Google Drive - Town Hall Review Questions

If you missed class today, please do your best to try and complete these questions using your own opinions and thoughts. Some students were not able to finish in class, so please get this in to me as soon as possible.

Review for Test: Please study for the legislative branch test (some multiple choice, some fill in the blank, some short answer) and let me know if you have any questions I can answer about it. Look above in the homework section for links that will help. Thanks! See you next class!

Legislative Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

As part of the Legislative simulation today in class, I played the role of the President of the United States. Here I am in front of the White House, where the President lives in Washington, D.C. in 2010 (when I had a beard!).

Dear class,

I enjoyed the bill simulation today! As usual, there was also a lot of work in going through information about the Legislative Branch. Thank you for your focus and effort! Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Rhapsody in Blue" by Leonard Bernstein. Selected for today because the legislative process is long, like this song. No lyrics, but listen here.

AGENDA 10/27/15:
News Brief – Dru
Review Congress Work
Legislative Simulation
Washington's Gridlock

Homework: Read the blog. Finish the Washington's Gridlock article and related questions. Next news brief: Gabe.

News Brief: Dru had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - U.S. warship sails close to Chinese artificial island in South China Sea. This is a super interesting article to me as a Global Studies teacher, as well. Check out the map in that article, which shows where China is building islands and claiming them as territory. A good example of how the Executive Branch (President Obama authorized this close pass) has power in international relations. Thanks, Dru!

Gabe was randomly selected for the next news brief. We also checked in about the weekend and anything interesting happening (I am still sore from my half marathon on Sunday!) before moving on.

Here's Wildcat News for the day:

Review Congress Work: The past two classes, we have been working on these handouts. First, Oregon reps in Congress:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Assignment

We also looked at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:

Google Drive - 114th Congress Profile Assignment

Here is a link to the website/pdf document that has the answers:

FAS.org - Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

We went through most of the answers as a class, then I told students to keep them to prepare for the upcoming Legislative Branch test.

Legislative Simulation: Again, I really liked this. I split up the class into the House of Representatives and Senate (which had less students in it, because that's how it really works), then again into different committees. I then passed out all the ideas for bills that students gave me at the end of last class, to debate. The committees debated the ideas for bills, then chose what they thought was the best one to propose to their chamber of Congress, by answering these questions:

What are you proposing?
Who will it impact?
When will it begin or end?
Where (which states) will be impacted?
Why should this bill pass?
How much will it cost?

After the full House and full Senate debated the two bills that were put forward by the committees, they chose one bill each to vote on and send over to the other part of Congress. This ended up being a bill on raising the minimum wage and one lowering the amount of time that someone with a new driver's license cannot have a friend in the car.

Both sections of Congress debated the bills, changed them, then voted on them, sending them back to the other side (this would now be the conference committee). Eventually, only one bill passed Congress, due to an impassioned plea to reform our immigration system from Hector. So good!

Acting as President of the simulation, I signed the bill into law, with the pen that Governor Kate Brown used to sign the highway safety legislation that was enacted after my dad was killed last year.

Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class:

Google Drive - New York Times Upfront: Washington's Gridlock 

Here are the questions that go along with the article:

Google Drive - Washington's Gridlock Questions

As part of the article, we will talk about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America.

Please finish answering the questions for next class. Thank you very much!

Legislative Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

The office of Speaker of the House, which is currently controlled by Republicans, and John Boehner, but will likely go to Representative Paul Ryan soon. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

It was a sort of sleepy day in class today, as many students were tired from the very early morning pep rally here at Westview, or just that it was the end of a long week. In any case, it was basically another work/prep day for our legislative branch unit. Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Represent" by Weezer. Selected for today because we were continuing to look at Oregon's Representatives in Congress. Get it? Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/23/15:
News Brief – David
Create Bills
114th Congress
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Create a bill if you did not in class. Finish the Oregon representatives handout and the 114th Congress profile. Next news brief: Dru.

News Brief: David had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - 1 dead in shooting at Tennessee State University in Nashville. This was a breaking news story as of last night, so we tried to determine what happened. I asked the class about what implications this might have in regard to gun control and the Second Amendment. There were some good perspectives here. Thanks, David!

Dru was randomly selected for the next news brief.

Here's Wildcat News for the day:

Create a Bill: This was in preparation for next class, when we will be doing a simulation of Congress. Here were the questions I wanted you to answer in your bill proposals:

1. What are you proposing?
2. Who will it impact?
3. When will it begin or end?
4. Where (which states) will be impacted?
5. Why should this bill pass?
6. How much will it cost?

Bring these in next class, please!

114th Congress: The last new piece from today was this handout, looking at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:

Google Drive - 114th Congress Profile Assignment

Here is a link to the website/pdf document that has the answers:

FAS.org - Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

I hope this helps!

Computer Lab N210: For the rest of the class, we were in the computer lab, working on the Oregon representatives handout, as well as the 114th Congress paper and creating bills. Here is the handout that I passed out last class:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Handout

The main point here is to know who our representatives are and what they believe. It is important that we know who represents us in Congress, and what their ideas are!

Thanks for your work on this! See you next class, when we will be creating legislation of our own!

Legislative Branch, Day 2 - Class Recap

This image of the US Capitol Building is actually the background for this blog! Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Today, we talked about Back to the Future day and your Bill of Rights Quiz scores! We also started up with looking at the Oregon congressional delegation. Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Endless Possibility" from Sonic Unleashed. Selected for today by Keir, who wrote one of the greatest rationales I have ever seen: "I suggested this song because the government can do many things and they possibilities are well simply endless." Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/21/15:
News Brief – Lizette
Review Quiz
Oregon Reps in Congress
Computer Lab S219

Homework: Read the blog. Finish the Oregon representatives handout. Next news brief: David.

News Brief: Lizette had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYMag.com - Recline Rage Causes Another Emergency Landing: Woman Choked for Putting Her Airplane Seat Back. Lizette had an interesting reasoning for picking this, due to the "Passenger Bill of Rights" that the airlines recently enacted, as related to the Bill of Rights that we were learning about. Also, airline safety and regulation is under the overview of the federal government, too. Thanks, Lizette!

David was randomly selected for the next news brief.

Review Quiz: After the news, we talked about the Bill of Rights test from last class. We went through the answers together. If you need to retake this (or any other quiz/test), let's figure out a time outside of class to do this. Updated grades are posted by student ID number on the back wall in the classroom.

Oregon Representatives: Next, it was time to learn more about who serves Oregon as representatives in Congress at the federal level. Here is the handout that I passed out in class:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Handout

The main point here is to know who our representatives are and what they believe. It is important that we know who represents us in Congress, and what their ideas are!

Computer Lab S219: For the rest of the class, we were in the computer lab, working on the Oregon representatives handout.

Thanks for your work on this! See you next class, when we will be creating legislation of our own!

Bill of Rights Test and Legislative Branch Overview - Class Recap

The United States Capitol Building, which is where Congress (the Legislative Branch of the US) meets. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Another quiz today! I hope it went well for everyone. Thanks again for your hard work! We also got started with a unit on the legislative branch. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "At the Beginning" from Anastasia. Selected for today because we are the start of a new unit: the Legislative Branch. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/19/15:
News Brief - Keir (Natalie)
Bill of Rights Quiz
Legislative Branch Overview
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Study how a bill becomes a law handout - be prepared to write your own bill next class! Next news brief: Lizette.

News Brief: Keir had the news brief today and selected this article: OregonLive.com - Oregon House committee holds first hearing on GOP ethics fixes. Though this is not all that recent (the article is from April), it still is about important aspects of our own state government, and how it is reacting to the resignation of Governor John Kitzhaber.

Natalie brought in a great news brief today, as well, which was about this story: CNN.com - Top al Qaeda leader Sanafi al-Nasr killed in U.S. airstrike, Pentagon says. It seems like this story has played out dozens of times in the last decade or so. We talked about how the Executive Branch of the U.S. government has the power to act in this way (some would say questionably).

Thanks, guys! Lizette has the next news brief.

We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Bill of Rights Quiz: We prepared for this the past few classes, as well as a bit during class today, before the quiz. Thank you for giving your best effort on this! We will go over the results together next class.

Legislative Branch Overview/Work Time: This was a handout that went through some of through some of the specifics of the legislative process, like what the legislative branch does and who makes it up. Please review the flow chart on page two, specifically. You will eventually be tested on that and we are going to work through that process together in a simulation later this week:

Google Drive - How a Bill Becomes a Law Handout

Before we did some review, I showed this old Schoolhouse Rock classic:

I also showed a Washington, D.C. license plate and talked about "taxation without representation."

We kept going with the handout until we stopped at trustee and delegate styles of legislators. Please make sure to review this handout! Thank you!

Bill of Rights Review - Class Recap

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. FDR was named as one of the Presidents in Final Jeopardy today!

Dear class,

I had a lot of fun reviewing the Bill of Rights with you today! Please be studying the content for the quiz next class, along with the structure of the U.S. government. Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “American Pie" by Don McLean. Selected for today because we were talking more about American government, and this song famously contains lots of references to American culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/15/15:
News Brief - Reilly (Natalie)
Jeopardy Review
Crash Course Rights
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for the quiz next class (be able to write down what each Amendment in the Bill of Rights is, and an example, as well as checks/balances/powers of the federal government). Next news brief: Keir.

News Brief: There was sort of a lot going on with the news brief section today. First off, we had a new student (Ashley) in class, so we welcomed her as I talked a little about how the class works. Secondly, Reilly selected this article to talk about for his news brief today: CNN.com - U.S. Deploys Troops to Africa. This prompted me to turn into a Global Studies teacher again, as we talked about Boko Haram and why President Obama is sending troops to Cameroon. It is important to know how the Executive Branch has the authority (as Commander in Chief) to direct the U.S. military.

We also talked with Natalie, who humorously did a current event article on a story from Kenya, that had pretty much nothing at all to do with the United States government. So, she graciously agreed to do another one. Thanks, Natalie! I will treasure the write up you did already. :-)

Keir volunteered to do the next news brief. Thank you!

Finally, we checked in about the upcoming weekend. I am off to St. Louis with my girlfriend for her dad's 60th birthday. I'm very excited, as I have never been before!

Jeopardy Review: I always really enjoy this, and today was no exception. I split the class into three groups, and then we played this version of PowerPoint Jeopardy to review the material we have learned so far in class:

Google Drive - Constitution/Bill of Rights Jeopardy Review

This probably will be difficult to replicate on Google Drive, but you can at least see the questions to study from. Our big winners today were Group 1. We will do this later in the year, too!

Crash Course Rights: To finish up with reviewing in class for the Bill of Rights test, I showed this Crash Course video (with captions on - I know that the narrator talks very quickly):

Some good information here (and familiar Supreme Court cases)!

Study Time: The rest of class was used for studying and/or retakes of tests or quizzes. I think this was used productively in class, so we may continue to do this. Thanks for your focus today!  One question from the quiz, for checking the blog, is: What is one power of the judicial branch listed in the Constitution? 

Have a great weekend and be ready for the quiz next class, please!

The Rest of the Bill of Rights - Class Recap

Rays of the sun streaming through the flag of the United States, over the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Picture taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your weekend! Lots of grading and work for me to do, but I am still looking forward to it, of course. Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “99 Problems (Clean)" by Jay Z. Selected for today because it discusses the various protections that the Bill of Rights offers. Lyrics (which are decidedly NOT clean, but Rap Genius does offer some interesting interpretations of what they mean) here.

AGENDA 10/13/15:
Wildcat News Brief - Natalie
Fourth Amendment
Pleading the Fifth
Bill of Rights Review

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for upcoming quiz (next week). Take the Political Spectrum test if you want. Next news brief: Reilly.

Wildcat News Brief: Natalie S. had the news brief today, and was unfortunately not in class, so we just checked in about the weekend, and then moved on.

Reilly was randomly selected to do the next news brief.

Here's Wildcat News today as shown in class, if you missed class or wanted to see it again:

Fourth Amendment: Because I want to get done with the Bill of Rights, today we looked through the details of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. We continued going through a packet of individual U.S. Supreme Court cases that helped set the scope of the Fourth Amendment. That packet is here:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Handout

We finished the case on the last page today, which basically said that police can have time to get a search warrant while a suspect is waiting.

Pleading The Fifth: I showed this clip to introduce the Fifth Amendment:

This led to another handout, going through the rights of the accused in the United States. I know it was a heavy day of handouts and readings, so I appreciate your focus and effort in looking at these together!

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused Handout

We went over the case studies and had some more good discussion about various student questions (one really good one was about if pirating music penalties are cruel and unusual punishment because they are excessive).

Bill of Rights Review: At the end of class, I showed the TIME overview videos for the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution, since we were wrapping up rights of the accused today in class. Here's a link to the Fourth Amendment one:

Time.com - Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy

I thought these did a nice job of explaining the history of each amendment, as well as how they are relevant today. Watch the other ones, if you want to go over them all again! See you next class!

Rights of the Accused - Class Recap

Inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Is it just me, or has this week felt incredibly long? Tiring end to a four day week of classes for many of us - thank you for your effort today! We continued looking at the Bill of Rights together, and diving into what the main ones mean.

Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. Selected for today by Finn, who related it to the philosophy of government because the song talks about a king. Nice! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/8/15:
News Brief - Ellimay
Finish Gun Nation
Review Constitution Test
Rights of the Accused

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Ellimay.
--
News Brief: Ellimay had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Obama apologizes to Doctors Without Borders after deadly Afghanistan airstrike. This prompted me to move into Global Studies teacher mode and I mentioned that our family elected to have people give money to Doctors Without Borders instead of flowers and other condolences after my dad was killed last year, because my dad was a doctor and cared a lot about people. So, this is a really awful story, and important to figure out what happened.

We also talked a bit about the upcoming weekend, before moving on.

Natalie S. volunteered for the next news brief.

I also went over the Political Compass test again, and showed my score compared to Lindsay's on the board.

Finish Gun Nation: This was the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. I think this episode does a really good job of looking at both sides of the debate, and is pretty powerful. I enjoyed our conversation afterwards. Thanks for your participation with this, everyone!

Review Constitution Test: This was from last class, and we also had students who missed last class complete this while the documentary was ongoing. I passed back the scantrons, which had the grades marked on the side, and we went through the whole test together. If this test went poorly, never fear, because there will be a retake in a few classes on the Bill of Rights and the branches of government. Please make sure to review the material!

Rights of the Accused: To end class, we looked at the (clean version) lyrics from 99 Problems by Jay Z to see how the song is related to knowing our rights, especially those from the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. I then passed out this packet, which was about various different cases regarding privacy and rights:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Packet

Before the end of class, we went through the 8 cases listed in the handout, then read over the case on the last page (we didn't get to the questions at the end). We ended there for the week, and will pick back up next time there. Thanks, everyone. :-)

The Political Spectrum - Class Recap

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The soldiers are carrying guns, which relates to the Second Amendment! Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We had another good day in class today about the Second Amendment to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Paradise" by Lighter Shade of Grey. Selected for today by Hector, who made the case that it related to class by governments hoping to help create paradise, and his "Creation of a Nation" activity. Listen to the song here.

AGENDA 10/6/15:
News Brief - Madelin
Constitution Test
Political Spectrum
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Ellimay.
--
News Brief: Madelin had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: NYTimes.com - California Legislature Approves Assisted Suicide. We had a discussion in class about how Oregon was the first state to approve assisted suicide for terminally ill patients who did not want to continue living with excruciating pain. We talked a little about this - a very interesting debate question. As Madelin noted, California is the fifth state to have authorized assisted suicide.

We also talked a bit about the weekend, before moving on.

Ellimay was selected for the next news brief.

Here's Wildcat News for the day, which we watched in class:

Constitution Test: As promised! I hope that this went well for everyone. I will try to have them graded and entered later today. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government, the second 10 questions were about the branches of government/checks of power, and the last 10 questions were about the Bill of Rights.

Political Spectrum: I went over the political spectrum in class, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum, and where they are on the line from left to right, in relation to each other!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test I showed at the end of the PowerPoint. Try it yourself!

Second Amendment: To continue our look at the Bill of Rights, we started watching the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. We will finish watching this next class, and move on to looking in depth at some of the other amendments.

The Constitution, Day 2 - Class Recap

Fireworks over Niagara Falls, in 2009. 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for continuing to work on getting to know the Constitution better! I know it may not be the most fun part of class, but it is so important for knowing the foundations of how our government works! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Selected for today because we were talking about the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is partially about freedom of speech. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/2/15:
Wildcat News Brief - Giovanny
The Bill of Rights
The First Amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines

Homework: Read the blog! Prepare for Constitution test next class by studying the handout answers! Next news brief: Madelin.

Wildcat News Brief: Today's article was brought in by Giovanny, who selected this obviously hugely relevant story: CNN.com - Oregon shooting: Gunman dead after college rampage. Along with a great recap by Giovanny, I went over some of the basics of what happened, and showed students the response plan (posted around the room) should Westview ever find ourselves in a similar situation. We also talked a bit about gun laws, the possible influence of religion on this case, and President Obama's address to the nation about the shooting. As I said in class, I try to not live my life in fear of such an event, and I also know that we, as a society, need to do much better. A very sobering start to the class today, for sure.

We also watched Wildcat News for the day:

The Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. We continued looking at the Constitution packet I passed out last class, which had the Bill of Rights as a part of the last couple of pages. Please make sure to study the entire packet for the test next class. If you missed class the last two times, here it is to download and fill out by reading the Constitution:

Google Drive: Understanding the Constitution Handout

As I said, here's the reward for checking the blog: a (tough, because I did not specifically ask you this in class) question from the Constitution test:

All of the following are included in the Preamble to the Constitution EXCEPT _____________.
a. establish justice c. the pursuit of happiness
b. provide for the common defense d.  promote the general welfare

The answer would be C.

As far as the Bill of Rights, I showed this clip from The Daily Show, looking at what some people working for FOX News had to say in regards to the Bill of Rights and the Boston Marathon bomber:

The Daily Show
Daily Show Full Episodes,More Daily Show Videos,Comedy Central Full Episodes

After this, we went through the Amendments and tried to put them in our own words. Some of them are a bit tricky, so be sure to ask (or search for examples) if you are confused about which one is which!

Tinker v. Des Moines: We ended by looking at Tinker v. Des Moines and analyzing what happened. This is a famous U.S. Supreme Court case about freedom of speech at school. Ultimately, the justices decided 7-2 that the students protesting the Vietnam War by wearing armbands were within their rights to do so. A summary of the case can be found here.

That was it for the day and week! Test next class! See you then!