This is the office of the Speaker of the House inside the United States Capitol Building. In 2010, when I took this picture, the Speaker of the House was Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Now, it is John Boehner (R-OH).
Welcome back from the weekend, everyone!
Today in class, we reviewed the Constitution test, checked out my blank ballot for the general election, and learned more about the legislative process. Here's the recap for today:
Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Soundtrack: “Wavin' Flag" by K'naan. Selected for today because flags are representations of countries, which have governments. I thought it would be appropriate as a pump up song for the test today in class! Lyrics here.
AGENDA 10/20/14:
News Brief – Mathew
Review Constitution Test
The Ballot
Congress Simulation
Homework: Read the blog. Study how a bill becomes a law handout - be prepared to write your own bill next class! Next news brief: Mathew (again, because it slipped his mind for today).
News Brief: Mathew forgot his news brief today, so he was assigned to do it next class.
Review Constitution Test: Students that were not in class last time we met took the Constitution test outside the room, down the hall, as everyone else went over the answers in class. Generally, I think this went well for people - if it did not, please come and do a retake on your own time (during lunches, study hall, or after school).
The Ballot: I had a lot of fun with this, because I opened my ballot that was mailed out to me (Oregon's "vote by mail" system is awesome) in front of class and explained what some of the different aspects of the system were, along with the candidates and ballot measures (some of which were put on the ballot by citizens petitioning, which is an element of our system in Oregon). Here's a sample ballot to check out, if you are interested in seeing what it looks like, again.
Congress Simulation: We actually didn't get to the real simulation part, because I wanted to make sure we understood how a bill becomes a law really well, before then. So, we went over most of the rest of this handout:
Review Constitution Test: Students that were not in class last time we met took the Constitution test outside the room, down the hall, as everyone else went over the answers in class. Generally, I think this went well for people - if it did not, please come and do a retake on your own time (during lunches, study hall, or after school).
The Ballot: I had a lot of fun with this, because I opened my ballot that was mailed out to me (Oregon's "vote by mail" system is awesome) in front of class and explained what some of the different aspects of the system were, along with the candidates and ballot measures (some of which were put on the ballot by citizens petitioning, which is an element of our system in Oregon). Here's a sample ballot to check out, if you are interested in seeing what it looks like, again.
Congress Simulation: We actually didn't get to the real simulation part, because I wanted to make sure we understood how a bill becomes a law really well, before then. So, we went over most of the rest of this handout:
We also watched this classic Schoolhouse Rock clip (is this still stuck in your head, like it is in mine?):
I think we are pretty good at this point on understanding the process. At the end of class, I had students write possible bills to debate in class next time we meet. It should be a fun simulation!
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