The Constitution, Day 3 - 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 with looking more into the First Amendment and started the Second Amendment. 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: "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns n' Roses. Selected for today because we are about to start looking at the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is about the right to have guns. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/4/16:
News Brief - Asher
Constitution Test
Tinker v. Des Moines
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Watch the Vice Presidential debate tonight! Next news brief: Xavier.
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News Brief: Asher had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - What to watch in the vice presidential debate. Tonight is the only Vice Presidential debate of the year, between Republican Governor Mike Pence and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine. We talked for a bit about the debate, noting that it is on at 6 PM tonight. We also looked at the updated Electoral College polling map of predictions from FiveThirtyEight.com

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

Xavier was selected for the next news brief.

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.

Tinker v. Des Moines: This was about the First Amendment protections, and I had students take notes on their Chromebooks as I went through this PowerPoint on some interesting cases that relate to student rights:

Google Drive - First Amendment Case Studies

We looked at some specifics of the cases, including the speech in the Bethel case and an article about the reaction from 2009 when the Westview Prowl student newspaper published an article about sex on campus.

After going through the PowerPoint, I asked students to open this document on Google Classroom and work on the answers using Kami:

Google Drive - Tinker v. Des Moines and Texas v. Johnson Cases

We went through these interesting cases and answers as a class - know them for future reference, please!

Second Amendment: To continue our look at the Bill of Rights, I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. We will watching a documentary on this next class, and move on to looking in depth at some of the other amendments.

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 conversation in class today about the first two amendments to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
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.

Soundtrack: "Where is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas. Selected for today because I think most people could have done a bit better with knowing the material for the last test. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/25/15:
News Brief - Ella
Review Constitution Test/Grades
Tinker v. Des Moines
Second Amendment
Political Spectrum

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Simone (Aldo/Chris).
--
News Brief: After I talked about President Obama's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline bill (which happened yesterday, and is the third veto of his presidency), Ella came in and talked about her news brief today which was about this story: OregonLive.com - Portland approves $15-an-hour minimum wage for full-time city workers, contractors. Since my mom was involved with this vote, it is especially interesting to me! Thanks for selecting the article, Ella.

Simone was selected next for the news brief.

Review Constitution Test/Grades: The overall scores were not too bad, but I know most people could do better, which is why we reviewed the answers together as a class. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government and the second 10 questions were about the Constitution. Your grades for the class are now posted on the wall near the door, by student ID number.

Tinker v. Des Moines: This is a famous U.S. Supreme Court case about freedom of speech at school - especially in regards to what students are allowed to wear, which is a conversation we have been having at Westview about the dress code. The class was split into groups to talk about the case and do the review questions, then we talked about it as a whole. 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.

As part of this section, we also talked about the flag burning case of Texas v. Johnson. A recap of that, which found that burning the flag was a protected form of speech, can be found here.

Second Amendment: This was just an overview of the debate surrounding Second Amendment rights, which mostly have to do with gun laws. I asked for some thoughts on specific issues that the Second Amendment raises, like if we should have the right to own any gun or ammunition. Just remember that this amendment has to do with the ability to own and use guns.

Political Spectrum: At the end of class, we started looking at the political spectrum, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum! Next class, we will finish this and then talk about the rest of the Bill of Rights, including an analysis of the Jay Z song "99 Problems." See you then!

The First Amendment - Class Recap

I happened to be in Washington D.C. in 2010 when President Obama's healthcare bill was advancing through Congress. There were a lot of angry protesters outside the Capitol, using their First Amendment rights!

Hi everyone,

We had some good discussions today, looking at the first amendment to the United States Constitution. We also began class with a quiz on the Constitution and philosophers. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
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.

Soundtrack: “Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Selected because today we talked about the First Amendment, which gives the freedom of speech as a right. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/23/15:
News Brief - Katlyn
Constitution Test
First Amendment
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Get your forecasting done! Next news brief: Aldo (Ella/Chris).
--
News Brief: Katlyn brought in the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: ABCNews.com - Mall of America Heightens Security After al-Shabab Threat. This article addresses the Mall of America in Minnesota, which has a large population of Somali immigrants. This connection (along with the video posted online) has led to heightened security at malls around America. Aldo was selected next for the news brief.

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 and the second 10 questions were about the Constitution.

First Amendment:  To start this section, I handed out a worksheet that had a few questions about what students thought about different aspects of the First Amendment. For instance, should burning the US flag be allowed? We debated our answers as a class, which took most of the rest of the period, then did another worksheet (I know, there are a lot of them to begin the semester) about the aspects of the First Amendment. At one point, I was reminded of the issues surrounding the press reporting on my mom, which made me think to show this Congressional record, about my dad!

We ended by looking at Tinker v. Des Moines (we will go into detail with this next class). 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! Lots to do next class! See you then!

The First and Second Amendments - Class Recap

I happened to be in Washington D.C. in 2010 when President Obama's healthcare bill was advancing through Congress. There were a lot of angry protesters outside the Capitol, using their First Amendment rights!

Hi everyone,

We had some good discussions today, looking at the first two amendments to the United States Constitution. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
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.

Soundtrack: “Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Selected because today we talked about the First Amendment, which gives the freedom of speech as a right. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/7/14:
News Brief - Jocelyn
First Amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Logan.
--
News Brief: Jocelyn had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - High court refuses to rule -- and gives tacit victory -- on same-sex marriage. This was a super interesting story that happened yesterday - with at least 5 (and possibly up to 11) states now having legal same sex marriage, due to the United States Supreme Court declining to rule on lower court cases that gave same sex couples those rights. We talked about how this is made possible by the Constitution and the process for judicial review. Really interesting discussion! Logan was selected next for the news brief.

First Amendment:  To start this section, 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
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

I handed out a worksheet that had a few questions about what students thought about different aspects of the First Amendment. For instance, should burning the US flag be allowed? We debated our answers as a class. After this, we tried to identify what the most crucial part to the First Amendment is. Was it freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, or petition?

Tinker v. Des Moines: 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.

As part of this section, we also talked about the flag burning case of Texas v. Johnson. A recap of that, which found that burning the flag was a protected form of speech, can be found here.

Second Amendment: This was just an overview of the debate surrounding Second Amendment rights, which mostly have to do with gun laws. At the end of class, we started looking at the political spectrum, which was the first few slides of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Next class, we will finish this and then talk about the rest of the Bill of Rights, including an analysis of the Jay Z song "99 Problems." See you then!

The First Amendment - Class Recap

I happened to be in Washington D.C. in 2010 when President Obama's healthcare bill was advancing through Congress. There were a lot of angry protesters outside the Capitol!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for checking in on the blog during your long weekend!  Read on to check out what we did today!

Learning Targets Addressed:

SS.HS.KN.ALT.04: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.05: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: “Cry Me A River” by Justin Timberlake. Selected because of the ongoing crisis in Crimea, Ukraine, and because it was raining out today. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/7/14:
News Brief
First Amendment Debates
Tinker v. Des Moines
High School As A Prison

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Dawnte.
--
News Brief: Eddy had the news brief today but it slipped his mind and he was not prepared. Hopefully in the future!

First Amendment Debates: Last class, I handed out a worksheet that had a few questions about what students thought about different aspects of the First Amendment. For instance, should burning the US flag be allowed? We debated our answers as a class. After this, we tried to identify what the most crucial part to the First Amendment is. Was it freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, or petition?

Tinker v. Des Moines: 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.

As part of this section, we also talked about the flag burning case of Texas v. Johnson. A recap of that, which found that burning the flag was a protected form of speech, can be found here.

High School As A Prison: At the end of class, I read a Rolling Stone article aloud and had students respond to the following questions:

1. Have you ever felt targeted by someone in power? If yes, what happened? If no, why do you think that is?
2. Do you feel more or less comfortable with SSOs with guns at Westview?
3. Do you feel like adolescent students deserve more rights than they currently receive? Can you think of an example? If you were to make a list of 10 rights that every student should have, what would it consist of?

Thanks for your focus and effort in class! Have a great long weekend!

The Political Spectrum and Constitution - Class Recap

This is the room inside Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Constitution of the United States was debated and signed. Picture taken in 2008.

Dear class,

Thank you so much for another great day of talking, listening, and debating! I hope that you found it as interesting and enlightening as I did. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

SS.HS.KN.ALT.04: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.05: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. Selected for today because we were talking about the Bill of Rights! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/5/14:
News Brief
Political Spectrum
Finish Constitution Questions
The First Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Eddy.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Emi. She chose this article to talk about: CNN.com - Court: School was within its rights to ban U.S. flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. This is interesting, especially considering our discussion about the Bill of Rights. Did the students have a right to free speech violated?

I also talked for a while about the ongoing situation in Ukraine, where the U.S. government is trying to help ensure that Russia does not take over.

Political Spectrum: I have kept referring to the different political parties and philosophies in the US government, so I thought it would be good to just go over what they are. Here is a link to the PowerPoint I went through during class:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

The link to try and do your own political compass test to find where you are on the spectrum (like I did on the last slide of the PowerPoint) is here: Political Compass Test 

Finish Constitution Questions: Next, we went through the answers to the rest of the questions about the Constitution, in regards to how our government is set up. We talked about elements of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the US government.

The First Amendment: At the end of class, I passed out a handout which asked you to think about various aspects of how the First Amendment to the US Constitution applies to our lives. We will have a bit of a debate on this next class!