Looking down the National Mall, from the top of the Washington Monument. The United States Supreme Court building is behind and to the left of the Capitol Building. Photo taken in 2010.
Dear class,
Whew, what a complicated day it seemed like today! I'm glad we finally made it on to doing the mock trials. We will finish them up next class and then learn more about the Judicial Branch. Here's what happened today in class:
Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Soundtrack: "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley. Selected for today because if Mr. Marley had shot a sheriff, he would be in big trouble with the judicial branch. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 12/11/14:
News Brief – Gaby/Keegan
Mock Trial Prep
Trials
Homework: Read the blog. Next news brief: Manuel.
News Brief: Gaby had the news brief today and talked about this story: DailyCaller.com - Sessions On Executive Amnesty: Obama’s ‘Entirely New Immigration System’ A ‘Stunning Event’. We talked about this, as well as the new federal budget. Here are some specifics: WashingtonPost.com - What’s in the spending bill? We skim it so you don’t have to.
Manual was assigned to do the next news brief.
Mock Trial Prep: I know this was confusing - I will have to reassess how I teach this! Basically, I split everyone up into different cases. Each case had lawyers (for the petitioner and respondent), judges (representing the Supreme Court), and observers (to take notes). Most of class was spent preparing for the trials and organizing the notes on the cases.
Trials: We did get to do one of the mock trials today: about the famous "Bong Hits for Jesus" case. Although the justices in the room found unanimously in favor of the student, the real case found in favor of the school district. Here it is, if you want to check it out:
Manual was assigned to do the next news brief.
Mock Trial Prep: I know this was confusing - I will have to reassess how I teach this! Basically, I split everyone up into different cases. Each case had lawyers (for the petitioner and respondent), judges (representing the Supreme Court), and observers (to take notes). Most of class was spent preparing for the trials and organizing the notes on the cases.
Trials: We did get to do one of the mock trials today: about the famous "Bong Hits for Jesus" case. Although the justices in the room found unanimously in favor of the student, the real case found in favor of the school district. Here it is, if you want to check it out:
Basically, the court said that schools have a right to stop promotion of illegal drugs, while students are under their care. While the student was on a public sidewalk, he was still under the care of the district, apparently.
We will keep going on these, next class! Please finish your legal briefs for your side of the case you were assigned (the first page in the cases packet), and your justice form for the second case in your packet.
See you next week!
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