Rights of the Accused - Class Recap

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

Dear class,

Thanks for checking in on the blog! We continued looking at the Bill of Rights together today, 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 for the philosophy of government because the song talks about a king. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/8/17:
News Brief - Veronica
Review Constitution Test
Gun Nation
Rights of the Accused

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Tanner.
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News Brief: Veronica had the news brief today but was not in class, so I filled in and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Obama irked and exasperated in response to Trump's wiretapping claims, sources say. We discussed this story and the process for wiretapping. I also fielded some questions about the new healthcare plan offered by the Republicans in the House of Representatives.

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

Tanner was selected for the next news brief.

Review Constitution Test: This was from last class. I passed back the tests, which had the grades marked on the top of each side. 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!

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, as well as what students thought should happen now with gun rights in America. 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!

Rights of the Accused: To end class, we started looking at the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. I then passed out this packet (or students accessed it on Google Classroom), which was about various different cases regarding privacy and rights:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Packet

Before the end of class, we finished the 8 cases. We ended there for the week, and will pick back up next time there. Thanks, everyone. :-)

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: "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. Selected for today because I was hoping students would have right answers on the Constitution test, and because we are continuing to learn about the Bill of Rights.

AGENDA 3/6/17:
Wildcat News Brief - Priya
Constitution Test
Political Spectrum
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Veronica.
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News Brief: Priya had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Trump touts call for increased military spending during ship visit. We discussed this story and the implications of more military spending in the United States.

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

Veronica was selected for the next news brief.

Here is Wildcat News again, if you wanted to watch it or missed class:

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

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 and let me know what you get!

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. Thanks, everyone!

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 3/2/17:
News Brief - Sam K./Bryce
Review Constitution
Bill of Rights
The First Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Prepare for Constitution test on Monday by studying the handout answers (as well as reviewing the philosophers and European influences)! Next news brief: Priya.

News Brief: Sam K. started us off with this today, and shared about this story: WashingtonPost.com - Trump says he is open to immigration compromise including legal status. We discussed this for a while in class and also watched this 90 second recap of President Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday: CNN.com - Trump's Speech to Congress in 90 Seconds.

Next, Bryce had his news brief, since he missed last class. Here was the article he selected: WWeek.com - A Multnomah County Judge Allegedly Helped an Undocumented Immigrant Escape ICE Through Her Courtroom Door. What a super fascinating story. We talked for a bit in class about sanctuary city policies, whether or not the judge committed a crime, and the relation to the immigration debate.

We also checked in for a bit about the upcoming weekend, before moving on.

Priya was selected for the next news brief.

Review Constitution: 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 Constitution portion done for the test on Monday. 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.

Bill of Rights: 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

Clearly, this is a more liberal perspective on the Bill of Rights. I think the video does a good job of going through many of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution!

The First Amendment: We ended by looking at how the First Amendment impacts students at school. With that, we went through this PowerPoint, as we discussed each case:

Google Drive - First Amendment Case Study PowerPoint

We looked at some specific examples of cases where students had questions about how far their rights go. We ended by looking at the famous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case, which we will continue to discuss next class. Thanks, everyone!