Constitution Test Review - Class Recap

One of the questions on the review today had to do with Jay Z. Here he is in concert in London's Olympic Park. Photo taken July 2013.

Dear class,

I hope you enjoyed reviewing for your Constitution test today! Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
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 levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something. Selected for today because the news brief was done by Tifani. Different spelling, same pronunciation! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/14/14:
News Brief - Tifani/Logan
Grades
Finish Bill of Rights
Jeopardy Review
Death Penalty

Homework: Read the blog! Study for Constitution test next class. Next news brief: Brad.

News Brief: Tifani had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: USAToday.com - Protest resume in St. Louis over police shooting. In class, Tifani said this was about Michael Brown, the young man who was killed by a police office in Ferguson, Missouri earlier in the year. This is a new case in St. Louis. It is crazy to think about all of the gun violence and death in our country, that this event could happen so close to another police shooting.

Logan remembered to bring his article in today and selected this story: ABCNews.com - Newlywed With Cancer Picks the Day She Will Die. Another super interesting article that gets at the divisions of power and states rights. In Oregon, we passed a "Death With Dignity" law that allows people who are terminally ill (already going to die) to take their own lives with a doctor's prescription. This is obviously a very controversial issue and worth talking about. Thanks, guys! Brad stepped up to volunteer for the next news brief.

Grades: I went over how grades for progress report were calculated (they are posted by student ID number in class) and what students could do to improve them. First and foremost, that would be doing well on the Constitution test in class on Thursday! Let me know if you are at all confused about what to do in order to improve your grade.

Finish Bill of Rights: We finished our look at this handout:

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused

I wanted to be clear about what the Bill of Rights says and does. Review that sheet and the Bill of Rights for the test on Thursday, along with the philosophers that influenced the U.S. government and the Constitution.

Jeopardy Review: Speaking of review, here is a link to the PowerPoint game we played to review in class. Many of the questions are taken directly from the Constitution test (with the obvious exception of the "Mr. Fritz" and "The Class" categories):

Google Drive: Constitution Jeopardy Review

I hope you had fun with this, because I always do. Congratulations to Team 2 for winning!

Death Penalty: At the end of class, I gave some time to study, then we talked about this article:

Google Drive: New York Times Upfront - The Death Penalty Debate

Basically, I wanted to go over the Eighth Amendment protections here that relate to the death penalty. It is also interesting that the many states have the death penalty, whereas most industrialized countries do not. In any case, it's worth thinking about the debate.

Thanks for another good class - see you on Thursday! Be ready! :-)