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.
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:
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:
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!
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!
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