Bill of Rights Review - Class Recap

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. FDR was named as one of the Presidents in Final Jeopardy today!

Dear class,

I had a lot of fun reviewing the Bill of Rights with you today! Please be studying the content for the quiz next class, along with the structure of the U.S. government. Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “American Pie" by Don McLean. Selected for today because we were talking more about American government, and this song famously contains lots of references to American culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/15/15:
News Brief - Reilly (Natalie)
Jeopardy Review
Crash Course Rights
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for the quiz next class (be able to write down what each Amendment in the Bill of Rights is, and an example, as well as checks/balances/powers of the federal government). Next news brief: Keir.

News Brief: There was sort of a lot going on with the news brief section today. First off, we had a new student (Ashley) in class, so we welcomed her as I talked a little about how the class works. Secondly, Reilly selected this article to talk about for his news brief today: CNN.com - U.S. Deploys Troops to Africa. This prompted me to turn into a Global Studies teacher again, as we talked about Boko Haram and why President Obama is sending troops to Cameroon. It is important to know how the Executive Branch has the authority (as Commander in Chief) to direct the U.S. military.

We also talked with Natalie, who humorously did a current event article on a story from Kenya, that had pretty much nothing at all to do with the United States government. So, she graciously agreed to do another one. Thanks, Natalie! I will treasure the write up you did already. :-)

Keir volunteered to do the next news brief. Thank you!

Finally, we checked in about the upcoming weekend. I am off to St. Louis with my girlfriend for her dad's 60th birthday. I'm very excited, as I have never been before!

Jeopardy Review: I always really enjoy this, and today was no exception. I split the class into three groups, and then we played this version of PowerPoint Jeopardy to review the material we have learned so far in class:

Google Drive - Constitution/Bill of Rights Jeopardy Review

This probably will be difficult to replicate on Google Drive, but you can at least see the questions to study from. Our big winners today were Group 1. We will do this later in the year, too!

Crash Course Rights: To finish up with reviewing in class for the Bill of Rights test, I showed this Crash Course video (with captions on - I know that the narrator talks very quickly):

Some good information here (and familiar Supreme Court cases)!

Study Time: The rest of class was used for studying and/or retakes of tests or quizzes. I think this was used productively in class, so we may continue to do this. Thanks for your focus today!  One question from the quiz, for checking the blog, is: What is one power of the judicial branch listed in the Constitution? 

Have a great weekend and be ready for the quiz next class, please!