Judicial Branch, Day 7 - Class Recap

Inside a subway station in Washington, DC, where the three branches of our federal government are based.

Dear class,

We finished the judicial branch today in class, with wrapping up the movie and taking the test! Here's what happened today in class:

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 levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Money" by Pink Floyd. Selected for today because trials and lawyers cost a lot of money to run.

AGENDA 5/10/15:
Wildcat News Brief – Emily
12 Angry Men
Judicial Branch Test
Class Feedback

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any late/incomplete work. Next news brief: Angel.

Wildcat News Brief: Emily had the news brief today and talked about this story: CNN.com - North Carolina, U.S., square off over transgender rights. This is an important ongoing news story that directly relates to what we have been talking about in class, with the Department of Justice suing the state of North Carolina over some of the provisions in their recently passed law. Very important to continue to monitor! We also talked about last weekend, before moving on.

Angel was assigned to do the next news brief.

If you missed class, or wanted to see Wildcat News again, here it is:

12 Angry Men: Before the test, we finished watching one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever: 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a great way to wrap up the judicial branch unit, as we learn more about the jury process through watching this film. I know it is old and black and white, and I was glad to see that students were paying close attention. Here is the film note-taking assignment, if you missed class or lost your copy:

Google Drive: 12 Angry Men Film Questions

We will wrap this up next class, as I wanted to be sure to give students enough time to finish the judicial branch test in class.

Judicial Branch Test: As promised, 40 questions, multiple choice. It has been an extremely busy week, and I will hope to get these grades get entered ASAP. Thank you for your effort on this! We will start our last unit on State and Local government soon - next class, we will be going to the computer lab to be working on a citizenship paper. See you then!

Judicial Branch, Day 6 - Class Recap

The exterior of the Colosseum in Rome. At the end of gladiator fights, the loser would famously be judged by the emperor. Photo taken summer 2014.

Dear class,

It is always great to see you in the morning before the weekend! It helps brighten my day immensely. Here's what happened today in class:

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: "Oye Como Va" by Carlos Santana. Selected for today because of it being Cinco de Mayo (remembering a famous Mexican victory over the French) and because Carlos Santana is an amazing Mexican-American guitarist. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/6/16:
Wildcat News Brief – Hannah
Juries
Study Guide
12 Angry Men

Homework: Read the blog. Study for the Judicial Branch test next class! Turn in any late/incomplete work - know your grade and how to improve it. Next news brief: Emily G.

Wildcat News Brief: Hannah had the news brief today and talked about this story: NYTimes.com - One Week in April, Four Toddlers Shot and Killed Themselves. We discussed this tragic story and brainstormed possible solutions and consequences. This definitely relates to our discussion earlier in the year about the Second Amendment! We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to.

Emily G. was assigned to do the next news brief.

If you missed class, or wanted to see Wildcat News again, here it is. Check out Emily's awesome Signal to Noise entry at the end!:

Juries/Study Guide: Most of class was spent going over many questions about the judicial branch. I also passed out this study guide (the juries reading was on the back side) for preparation:

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Test Study Guide

Google Drive: Reading on Juries for Judicial Branch Test

One of the questions on the test will be (thanks for checking the blog!): In this case the U.S. Supreme Court declared that no one accused of a crime has to stand trial in any court in the land without benefit of counsel unless he or she specifically refuses it.
A. Dred Scott v Sanford C. Gideon v Wainwright
B. Plessy v Ferguson D. Brown v Board of Education

If you aren't sure, guess in the comments and I will tell you what the answer is!

12 Angry Men: To finish class, we started watching one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever: 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a great way to wrap up the judicial branch unit, as we learn more about the jury process through watching this film. I know it is old and black and white, and I was glad to see that students were paying close attention. Here is the film note-taking assignment, if you missed class or lost your copy:

Google Drive: 12 Angry Men Film Questions

We will finish watching this next class, then take the Judicial Branch test! See you then.

Judicial Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

The flag of the United States, before the Holiday Bowl football game in 2008, which the Oregon Ducks won over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Today, we had an interesting mock trial on saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class.

Hi everyone,

I really enjoyed the discussions and debates the the mock trials brought up today, and I had the sense that most students did, too. 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: "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars. Selected for today because it was May the 4th! Star Wars Day!

AGENDA 5/4/16:
News Brief – Nyree
Mock Trials
The National Judiciary
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Get any late work in ASAP to improve your grade. Next news brief (no write up needed, just talk about it): Hannah.

News Brief: Nyree had the news brief today and talked about this story: OregonLive.com - 'You suck!' child yells; Ted Cruz compares him to Donald Trump, offers lesson in respect, parenting. This was an interesting article about what has been happening in the campaign for president, and we also had an extended check in at the start of class about Ted Cruz (and later, John Kasich) dropping out of the race for the nomination. This means that Donald Trump will almost certainly be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, so we had a long question and answer session about that, where I talked about how both Clinton (to a lesser extent) and Trump are quite unpopular overall. What a strange and interesting time in analyzing what is going on with our government! Thanks for the discussion!

Hannah was assigned to do the next news brief.

Mock Trials: We had a really excellent discussion on the issues: school segregation, drug searches at school, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class. Please complete the rest of your mock trial packet, if you did not in class! Here are the actual results of the cases, with audio of the arguments, if you are interested:

Case #1: Oyez.org - Morse v. Frederick

Case #2: Oyez.org - Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

Case #3: Oyez.org - Safford Unified School District v. Redding

Case #4: Oyez.org - Elk Grove United School District v. Newdow

We finished all the cases within the class! Thank you for participating in this - I thought it was a pretty cool activity and I was glad to see students engaged in trying to answer these important legal questions.

The National Judiciary/Work Time: I passed out this handout, so students could read and review them to prepare for the upcoming test. I will see how it goes next class with going through these, but the test will be on this reading, as well as the Supreme Court cases that we have been studying.

Google Drive: The National Judiciary Readings and Questions

Please keep working on this! Sound good? Let me know if you have any questions I can answer! Thanks again for an enjoyable class this morning! :-)