The Rest of the Bill of Rights - Class Recap

Rays of the sun streaming through the flag of the United States, over the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Picture taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your weekend! Lots of grading and work for me to do, but I am still looking forward to it, of course. Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.05: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.05: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: “99 Problems (Clean)" by Jay Z. Selected for today because it discusses the various protections that the Bill of Rights offers. Lyrics (which are decidedly NOT clean, but Rap Genius does offer some interesting interpretations of what they mean) here.

AGENDA 2/27/15:
News Brief - Simone
Political Spectrum
Rights of the Accused
The Death Penalty

Homework: Read the blog! Take the Political Spectrum test if you want. Next news brief: Yeli.

News Brief: Simone had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com -  Move to Ban a Bullet Adds to Its Appeal. We talked about how President Obama might have a hard time getting this idea past the Republican controlled Congress, who, being mostly conservative, usually has a pro-gun stance.

We also addressed the "What Color is this Dress?" controversy. Obviously, it's blue and black.

Yeli was selected to do the next news brief.

Political Spectrum: This was leftover from last class, so we finished it up. Basically, I wanted everyone to have some foundation for knowledge about the different political philosophies we are going to be talking about this semester. If you missed it, the PowerPoint is here:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint 

The last few slides are about the political compass test. If you want to take it, check it out here.

Rights of the Accused: Because I want to get done with the Bill of Rights, today we looked through the details of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. Specifically, I started by looking at the cleaned up lyrics to "99 Problems" by Jay Z, then going through a packet of individual U.S. Supreme Court cases that helped set the scope of the Fourth Amendment. That packet is here:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Handout

We went over some case studies and had some more good discussion about various student questions:

Then, I showed this clip to introduce the Fifth Amendment:

This led to another handout, going through the rights of the accused in the United States. We finished the first page of in class (get ahead of the game by reviewing it all as homework):

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused Handout

Next class, on Tuesday, we will finish up with this and really start preparing for the next test, on the Bill of Rights, which will possibly be on Thursday. Have a great weekend!

The Political Spectrum - Class Recap

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The soldiers are carrying guns, which relates to the Second Amendment! Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We had another good conversation in class today about the first two amendments to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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: "Where is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas. Selected for today because I think most people could have done a bit better with knowing the material for the last test. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/25/15:
News Brief - Ella
Review Constitution Test/Grades
Tinker v. Des Moines
Second Amendment
Political Spectrum

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Simone (Aldo/Chris).
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News Brief: After I talked about President Obama's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline bill (which happened yesterday, and is the third veto of his presidency), Ella came in and talked about her news brief today which was about this story: OregonLive.com - Portland approves $15-an-hour minimum wage for full-time city workers, contractors. Since my mom was involved with this vote, it is especially interesting to me! Thanks for selecting the article, Ella.

Simone was selected next for the news brief.

Review Constitution Test/Grades: The overall scores were not too bad, but I know most people could do better, which is why we reviewed the answers together as a class. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government and the second 10 questions were about the Constitution. Your grades for the class are now posted on the wall near the door, by student ID number.

Tinker v. Des Moines: This is a famous U.S. Supreme Court case about freedom of speech at school - especially in regards to what students are allowed to wear, which is a conversation we have been having at Westview about the dress code. The class was split into groups to talk about the case and do the review questions, then we talked about it as a whole. Ultimately, the justices decided 7-2 that the students protesting the Vietnam War by wearing armbands were within their rights to do so. A summary of the case can be found here.

As part of this section, we also talked about the flag burning case of Texas v. Johnson. A recap of that, which found that burning the flag was a protected form of speech, can be found here.

Second Amendment: This was just an overview of the debate surrounding Second Amendment rights, which mostly have to do with gun laws. I asked for some thoughts on specific issues that the Second Amendment raises, like if we should have the right to own any gun or ammunition. Just remember that this amendment has to do with the ability to own and use guns.

Political Spectrum: At the end of class, we started looking at the political spectrum, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum! Next class, we will finish this and then talk about the rest of the Bill of Rights, including an analysis of the Jay Z song "99 Problems." See you then!

The First Amendment - Class Recap

I happened to be in Washington D.C. in 2010 when President Obama's healthcare bill was advancing through Congress. There were a lot of angry protesters outside the Capitol, using their First Amendment rights!

Hi everyone,

We had some good discussions today, looking at the first amendment to the United States Constitution. We also began class with a quiz on the Constitution and philosophers. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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: “Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Selected because today we talked about the First Amendment, which gives the freedom of speech as a right. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/23/15:
News Brief - Katlyn
Constitution Test
First Amendment
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Get your forecasting done! Next news brief: Aldo (Ella/Chris).
--
News Brief: Katlyn brought in the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: ABCNews.com - Mall of America Heightens Security After al-Shabab Threat. This article addresses the Mall of America in Minnesota, which has a large population of Somali immigrants. This connection (along with the video posted online) has led to heightened security at malls around America. Aldo was selected next for the news brief.

Constitution Test: As promised! I hope that this went well for everyone. I will try to have them graded and entered later today. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government and the second 10 questions were about the Constitution.

First Amendment:  To start this section, I handed out a worksheet that had a few questions about what students thought about different aspects of the First Amendment. For instance, should burning the US flag be allowed? We debated our answers as a class, which took most of the rest of the period, then did another worksheet (I know, there are a lot of them to begin the semester) about the aspects of the First Amendment. At one point, I was reminded of the issues surrounding the press reporting on my mom, which made me think to show this Congressional record, about my dad!

We ended by looking at Tinker v. Des Moines (we will go into detail with this next class). This is a famous U.S. Supreme Court case about freedom of speech at school. Ultimately, the justices decided 7-2 that the students protesting the Vietnam War by wearing armbands were within their rights to do so. A summary of the case can be found here.

That was it for the day! Lots to do next class! See you then!