Forced Choice, Day 2 - Class Recap

This is what the inside of the United States Capitol building dome looks like, in Washington, D.C. The Capitol is where Congress meets to debate legislation!

Hi everyone,

Today, we wrapped up the Forced Choice activity, which took most of class. There were some really valuable discussions and insights that were shared about how we think the world should operate! Here's the class recap for the day:

Learning Targets: 
Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments. 

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.

Soundtrack: "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones. Selected for today because I was playing "devil's advocate" for the different issues we were debating. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/6/15:
News Brief – Kelsey
Forced Choice
Reflection
European Influences

Homework: Read the blog. Keep working on the European Influences handout and questions. The next news brief is assigned to Ella.

News Brief: Kelsey selected this article to talk about today: CNN.com - What will Putin do if U.S. arms Ukraine? We talked about the interesting decisions that the United States needs to make with Ukraine and Russia, and specifically, how President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry will respond. Thanks, Kelsey! Ella, you are next up.

Forced Choice: Again, a continuation of the activity that we started last class. This time, we hit a variety of questions from 5-10, here:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection. 

2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.

3. Same-sex marriage should be legal everywhere.

4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.

5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.

6. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.

7. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?

8. I agree with the death penalty for convicted murderers.

9. People in power are always corrupt in some way.

10. Democracy is always the best form of government for anywhere in the world.

I had the class answer the questions and choose YES or NO to each of them. Then, we split up the class so that two sides were facing each other. With each question, students moved to the side they felt best represented their opinion on the matter.

Today's class was interesting! One of the discussion points had to do with the cost of the Death Penalty, and I said I would link to an article about how it costs the taxpayers of Oregon roughly 10 times more to prosecute death penalty cases, over a murder without a death penalty possibility. Here is that article: OregonLive.com - Can Oregon Afford the Death Penalty?

Super interesting!

Reflection: The prompt at the end of class (the rest of the time was just for writing) was this: Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government?

The learning target that is being assessed for this one is: Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

European Influences: When everyone was done with the reflection, the rest of class was devoted to continuing to look at the European Influences in the United States Government. Here are the links to this again:

Google Drive: European Influences Reading Handout

Google Drive: European Influences Reading Questions

We will finish this together next class and continue looking at the foundations of the United States government. See you next week!