The Judicial Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

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,

We finished looking at the Supreme Court landmark cases today, then I passed out Mock Trial prep materials. 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: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Selected for today because of it being Spirit Week next week at Westview. Lyrics (which I'll bet you have no idea what they are just listening to the song) here.

AGENDA 4/30/15:
News Brief – Saul/Ben
Finish Landmark Cases
Mock Trial Prep
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Look at your grade and improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Kirstin.

News Brief: Saul and Ben had the news brief today and talked about these stories, respectively:

BaltimoreSun.com - After protests, Baltimore curfew meets resistance. A very challenging week in a variety of ways in Baltimore!

OregonLive.com - Portland makes Uber and Lyft legal -- for now. This was obviously a story I had heard a lot about recently, given my mom's opinion on the ride sharing services.

Kirstin was assigned to do the next news brief.

Landmark Case Reading: We finished going through these today:

Google Drive: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Handout

The assignment that went along with the reading is here:

Google Drive: Landmark SCOTUS Cases Assignment Sheet

Please make sure you have your completed notes for these very important cases! It was interesting to get to talk about stuff like Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II!

Mock Trial Prep: The rest of the class was devoted to preparing for mock trials, which we will do next class. This was a very complicated process to explain, but students in class got it, I think! If you missed class, you are going to need to come see me in person to get your case forms and the assignment sheet.

Be prepared to finish these at the start of next class, and then do the four mock trials! Have a great weekend! :-)

The Judicial Branch, Day 2 - Class Recap

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, which was a prison for federal criminals. Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

Today was another deep dive into various different Supreme Court cases, to see how the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government impacts our day to day lives. 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: "Confessions, Pt. 2" by Usher. Selected for today because a confession could be a part of the judicial system. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/28/15:
News Brief – Ben
Finish Teen Cases
SCOTUS Overview
Landmark Case Reading

Homework: Read the blog. Look at your grade and improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Saul.

News Brief: Ben had the news brief today, but was not in class today, so I selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Baltimore riots: Security beefed up, cleanup starts after looting, fires. We talked about the continuing unrest about another black male being killed as a part of a police interaction. We also talked about this story: CNN.com - Supreme Court justices skeptical of redefining marriage. This is a major case because it has the chance to change the whether or not same-sex marriage is legal across the United States.

We also checked in about the weekend.

Sual was assigned to do the next news brief.

Finish Cases Teens Should Know: This was from last class - we finished and then went over the answers:

NYTimes Upfront - 10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know

The assignment was to, on a separate sheet of paper, read and write the answers to the following questions for a minimum of five out of the ten cases.

1) What was the issue?
2) Describe the judge’s decision and explain their reasons why.
3) Do you agree or disagree with the judge’s decision? Explain your reasons why or why not.

SCOTUS Overview: We did not get to this, because of the interesting conversation about the cases, but here's the information! I might go over it next class:

Google Drive: Supreme Court Information

Landmark Case Reading: This was definitely a reading and work heavy day. That's kind of what the Supreme Court is all about, though - lots of legal papers and decisions to look at, in order to understand the law. Here was the reading:

Google Drive: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Handout

The assignment that went along with the reading is here:

Google Drive: Landmark SCOTUS Cases Assignment Sheet

That was it for the day! Thank you so much for your focus and hard work! Next class, we will finish up the Supreme Court landmark cases, then start looking at conducting a mock trial. :-)

The Judicial Branch, Day 1 - Class Recap

The United States Supreme Court building, in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your focus today, before a nice long three day weekend! I have a ton of grading to do - I hope that you are either catching up on work or getting some rest! 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: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of the Executive Branch test, and the possibility you were hoping for some divine intervention in doing well on it. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/23/15:
News Brief – Dean/Bailey/Raul/Yeli
Executive Branch Test
Judicial Branch
10 Cases

Homework: Read the blog. Have a great long weekend - you have earned it! Next news brief: Ben.

News Brief: There were actually a ton of news briefs being turned in today - so many that I am not going to recap them all! Dean and Bailey had a particularly disturbing story from Southern Oregon about a murder.

Ben was selected to do the next news brief.

Executive Branch Test: I hope that you studied and did well on this! I will try to have the grades entered in later today. Forty questions, multiple choice. Not too bad, I hope! Thanks, as always for your effort on this!

Judicial Branch: To start out our look at the judicial branch, I showed this video to the class:

I thought this was a good overview of the structure of the federal court system in the United States. Next, I led students through a fill in the blank overview of the judicial branch. Here it is again, if you want to go over it to study for the test:

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Overview

10 Supreme Court Cases: After going over the introduction to the unit, I passed out this reading:

NYTimes Upfront - 10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know

The rest of class was devoted to reading the cases, and following these directions: On a separate sheet of paper, read and write the answers to the following questions for a minimum of five out of the ten cases.

1) What was the issue?
2) Describe the judge’s decision and explain their reasons why.
3) Do you agree or disagree with the judge’s decision? Explain your reasons why or why not.

Next class, we will finish this, discuss, then move on to some more case studies.

Thanks! See you next time! Have a great weekend! :-)