The Constitution and European Influences - Class Recap

Happy weekend, everyone! Picture taken at Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon Coast in 2009.

Hi everyone,

I hope you are reading this with the confidence that you did well on the quiz today in class, and are well on the way to passing the first learning target of the opening unit. Read on to see what we did today in class!

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: “Help Yourself” by Sad Brad Smith. Selected because you should have been helping yourself by studying for the quiz as homework. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/27/14: 
News Brief
European Influences
Quiz
The Constitution

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief is assigned to Reed.

News Brief: Today's news brief was helpfully brought in by Jesse. He chose this story to talk about: CNN.com - Man selling home for $135,000 in Dogecoins. This sparked a really interesting conversation about cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) and how money is (or is not) regulated by governments. Thanks a lot, Jesse! Please remember to send me your write up for credit on the assignment.

European Influences: After the news brief, I wanted to prepare the class for the quiz, so I passed out a handout (available in class only) about ways in which the U.S. government has been influenced by European ideas (which was a quiz question). Hopefully, this helped a bit as some last minute cramming!

Quiz: This, combined with the pre-assessment slip you did a few classes ago and the nation building exercise, counts towards proficiency at SS.HS.KN.ALT.04: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics. Hopefully, you feel like you did okay on this (checking the blog may have helped)!

The Constitution: The rest of class was devoted to getting back into the specifics of what the Constitution is all about. There was a handout from last class, a worksheet of questions that went along with it, and we also used the copy of the Constitution contained in the "We The People" books.

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

The Constitution - Class Recap

Independence Hall, in Philadelphia. This is where the US Constitution was debated and signed! Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for another day of hard work! Hopefully, you are feeling confident at having a product to bring next class for some peer review. This means you should really try to have a rough draft of everything, ready to go! Here's what happened in class 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: “Two Days in February” by Goo Goo Dolls. Selected because there are now two days (in February) left of class before your historical investigation is due! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/25/14:

News Brief

Finish Nation Building
Understanding the Constitution
Study for Quiz

Homework: Quiz next class on philosophies of U.S. government (ideas, early governments, and people). Read the blog! Next news brief: Jesse.

News Brief: Rachel selected this story to talk about: TheNation.com - 20 Years Ago, an Army Veteran Reported a Sexual Assault. She’s Still Waiting for Justice. This is interesting for our study of government, because changing the laws that regulate how military justice works takes the cooperation of both the legislators and the military itself, which has its own way that the system works. Thanks, Rachel!

Finish Nation Building: I really enjoyed this activity and your presentations! The reasons behind why you chose to break away and form your own country were great. So were the flag designs! Thank you for participating here.

Understanding the Constitution: For most the rest of class, we worked on looking at the Constitution of the United States. As with every Government teacher since the beginning of time, I showed a clip of Schoolhouse Rock to start us off:

I then passed out a worksheet and some questions to answer, in regards to what the Constitution is all about. There are now "We The People" books in our room, which have the text of the Constitution at the end.

Study for Quiz: The next step is to study for the upcoming quiz next class, which will be assessing your knowledge of learning target SS.HS.KN.ALT.04: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics. Please be ready for this, next class! It is only three questions, but you need to pass it in order to demonstrate proficiency on the learning target. 

Declaration of Independence - Class Recap

The Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, New York City. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Another "short" week done! Thanks for participating today and for the fun in constructing your new governments. Here's 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: “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga & Colby O’Donis. Selected because of MORP this weekend! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/21/14:
News Brief
Declaration of Independence
Creation of a Nation

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

News Brief: Hailey had the news brief today and needs to email me her report with the link for credit.

Declaration of Independence: To start this section, I played Morgan Freeman's introduction in this video:

Then, I passed out a copy of the text of the Declaration of Independence, and asked students to get into groups of two and summarize the first bit of it (up until "He has refused his Assent to Laws") in your own words. We went over this as a class, then looked at the specific reasons outlined to revolt against the King.

Creation of a Nation: Of course, it is not enough to merely declare independence - a new country had to be formed from scratch! There were all sorts of issues with the Articles of Confederation, which formed the first U.S. Government. We looked into some of those, then I had students break up into groups of 4 to start the new nation project. Next class, we will keep working on this some more. The elements required are:

1. A Declaration of Independence (explaining 6-8 reasons for separating the western United States from the rest of the country).

2. A new national flag that symbolizes what your nation stands for. Include a description of all the symbols and colors.

3. A paragraph summary of what influences you used in creating your new constitution.

4. A new Constitution with responses to the following questions: What purpose will this government serve? How will the government be organized? How will you ensure that the government is run correctly? What if it becomes corrupt? What will be done to give each state a fair voice? If there will be voting, who is eligible to vote? Who is eligible to run for office? Is there one person in charge? What powers does that person have, and what happens if they abuse their powers? How much say does each state have in how it governs its own citizens?

Let me know if you need any help with directions on this! Have a great weekend - see you on Tuesday!