The Executive Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

The grounds of the White House and surrounding Washington D.C., as seen from the top of the Washington Monument. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We wrapped up our work on the Executive Branch cabinet simulation today. Next class, we will have presentations from all of the various departments, so be prepared! Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Princess of China" by Coldplay and Rihanna. Selected for today because a monarchy could be considered as a type of executive (okay, I was stretching it today). Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/19/14:
News Brief – Luke/A-b
The Cabinet
Computer Lab S210

Homework: Read the blog. Study the cabinet descriptions reading (blog exclusive). You might want to download the pdf and then rotate the page (because it is in landscape format). Or, just turn your head, I guess)! Next news brief: Kyle.

News Brief: A-b had the first news brief today and brought in this article to talk about: USAToday.com - Obama to visit Las Vegas — immigration orders imminent? This is an important developing story that we will have to monitor - especially because it comes as we are in the middle of a unit on the Executive Branch! We might have more to talk about with this next week.

Luke brought in his news brief today, as well. Here's what he selected to talk about: CNN.com - Steve King on hostage review: No paying ransom. This is another interesting policy decision. Typically, the United States has always said that we do not negotiate with terrorists. Some countries do (like Germany). We talked a bit about ISIS and the U.S. citizens that have been killed by them.

Thanks, both of you! Kyle was selected to do the next news brief. Not many left to do now!

The Cabinet: After the news brief, we watched this video on how the Presidential Cabinet works (from December 2009):

This is essentially how it is going to look next class, when we do the simulation!

Here's a link to the cabinet project (advising the President) that we worked on in class today:

Google Drive - Presidential Cabinet Assignment Handout

Here are the sign ups for each of the cabinet positions:

- Manuel and Logan - Defense
- Kylie and Jocelyn - Education
- Ariana and Jazmin (+A-b/Sandra) - Health and Human Services
- Brad and Seth - Housing and Urban Development
- Luke and Kyle - Interior
- Amanda and Spencer - Justice
- Abby and Tifani - Labor
- Mathew and Simzaid - State
- Tony and Timothy – Transportation
- Chloe and Katharyn – Treasury
- Enrique and Kerwin – Homeland Security
- Sammy and Brendan – Environmental Protection Agency
-Trish and Abby G. – United Nations
- Jerick and Alfredo – Agriculture

Computer Lab S210: We spent the second part of class in the lab. Next class will be presentations, so please be ready to go!