Legislative Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

Today's town hall had various students running for office. Here's a very real candidate: my mom, running for Portland City Council in 2012!

Dear class,

Another interesting day, especially with the town hall meeting, which I really enjoyed! Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. Selected for today because we are studying US government, and also, because Chik-Fil-A is opening down the street, which is prompting some chaotic scenes. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/31/16:
News Brief – Paola
Filibusters
Town Hall
Review for Test

Homework: Read the blog. Review for Legislative test, which is next class. Here are some resources to help you with this:

The second page of this handout, charting how a bill becomes a law, will be on the test. You will need to fill in the blanks with what happens on each side of Congress, then what happens when it gets to the President.

You will need to know: the political spectrum (from left to right: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, reactionary). the number of representatives in each branch of Congress, and the eligibility requirements for them. The leaders in both the Senate (Vice President) and the House (Speaker of the House). That's probably enough of a bonus for reading the blog!

Next news brief: Joseph

News Brief: Paola had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Trump abortion row: Republican front-runner changes stance. We had a good discussion in class about the implications of this, in terms of the abortion controversy and why what Trump said had so much push back.

Thanks for the interest in this! Joseph was randomly selected to do the next news brief.

Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class:

Google Drive - New York Times Upfront: Washington's Gridlock

Here is the assignment that went with the reading:

Google Drive - Washington's Gridlock Assignment

As part of the article, I talked about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America. Also, I showed part of this hilarious video of Patton Oswalt on Parks and Recreation, using the filibuster as a tactic to stop the local city council from voting on an issue:

Furthermore, I showed this real life example of Senator Paul Ryan (KY) using the filibuster tactic in the Senate:

Town Hall: I really liked this! We had three candidates (Jordan R, Hannah, and Brandt) in front of the class, representing their own views. Everyone else in the class was responsible for writing questions for the candidates in class, representing different non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups for some important issues in the country - education, jobs and the economy, immigration, the environment, healthcare. This hits LT3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

The three candidates talked about their own views on the issues, and then tried to think on their feet to answer questions from the various groups around the class.

Here was the assessment I used for LT3, after the Town Hall:

Google Drive - Town Hall Review Questions

If you missed class today, please do your best to try and complete these questions using your own opinions and thoughts - you could even watch a real town hall on YouTube and answer the questions based on that. Some students were not able to finish in class, so please get this in to me as soon as possible.

Review for Test: Please study for the legislative branch test (some multiple choice, some fill in the blank, some short answer) and let me know if you have any questions I can answer about it. Look above in the homework section for links that will help. Thanks! See you next class!

Legislative Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

As part of the Legislative simulation today in class, I played the role of the President of the United States. Here I am in front of the White House, where the President lives in Washington, D.C. in 2010 (when I had a beard!).

Dear class,

I enjoyed the bill simulation today! As usual, there was also a lot of work in going through information about the Legislative Branch. Thank you for your focus and effort! Here's the recap for today:

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: "Edge of the Ocean" by Ivy. Selected for today because I imagine that at least a few students visited a beach over Spring Break! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/29/16:
News Brief – Alimar
Review Congress Work
Legislative Simulation
Washington's Gridlock

Homework: Read the blog. Finish the Washington's Gridlock article and related questions. Next news brief: Paola.

News Brief: Alimar had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about (since he had already done a news brief, he didn't have to write another current event): CNN.com - Trump campaign manager charged with simple battery. We talked about this story from this morning and anything interesting that happened over Spring Break.

Paola was randomly selected for the next news brief.

Review Congress Work: The past two classes, we have been working on these handouts. First, Oregon reps in Congress:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Assignment

We also looked at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:

Google Drive - 114th Congress Profile Assignment

Here is a link to the website/pdf document that has the answers:

FAS.org - Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

We went through most of the answers as a class, then I told students to keep them to prepare for the upcoming Legislative Branch test.

Legislative Simulation: Again, I really liked this. I split up the class into the House of Representatives and Senate (which had less students in it, because that's how it really works), then again into different committees. I then passed out all the ideas for bills that students gave me at the end of last class, to debate. The committees debated the ideas for bills, then chose what they thought was the best one to propose to their chamber of Congress, by answering these questions:

What are you proposing?
Who will it impact?
When will it begin or end?
Where (which states) will be impacted?
Why should this bill pass?
How much will it cost?

After the full House and full Senate debated the two bills that were put forward by the committees, they chose one bill each to vote on and send over to the other part of Congress.

Both sections of Congress debated the bills, changed them, then voted on them, sending them back to the other side (this would now be the conference committee). Eventually, two bills passed Congress.

Acting as President of the simulation, I signed the bills into law, with the pen that Governor Kate Brown used to sign the highway safety legislation that was enacted after my dad was killed last year.

Here are the bills that passed!

Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class:

Google Drive - New York Times Upfront: Washington's Gridlock 

Here are the questions that go along with the article:

Google Drive - Washington's Gridlock Questions

As part of the article, we will talk about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America.

Please finish answering the questions for next class. Thank you very much!

Legislative Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

The office of Speaker of the House, which is currently controlled by Republicans, and Representative Paul Ryan. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

Our last day together before Spring Break was basically another work/prep day for our legislative branch unit. Here's the recap for today:

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: "Represent" by Weezer. Selected for today because we were continuing to look at Oregon's Representatives in Congress. Get it? Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/17/16:
News Brief – Ivan
Review Oregon Reps
Create Bills
114th Congress

Homework: Read the blog. Create a bill idea if you did not in class. Finish the Oregon representatives handout and the 114th Congress profile. Have a great, safe Spring Break. Next news brief: Alimar.

News Brief: Ivan had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: HuffingtonPost.com - Violence and Arrests At Trump Rallies Are Way More Common Than You May Think. We discussed the issues surrounding Trump speeches and rallies, as well as the amount of violence in them. Thanks, Ivan!

Finally, we discussed the presidential nomination process results from Tuedsay: NYTimes.com - March 15 Primary Results and took at look at Donald Trump's progress towards the Republican nomination: NYTimes.com - Rubio’s Exit Leaves Trump With an Open Path to 1,237 Delegates.

Alimar was selected for the next news brief.

Review Oregon Reps: Last class, we went to the Computer Lab and worked on this assignment, which is about knowing who represents Oregon at the federal level in Congress. We went through the assignment together, noting who your congressional representative is and where they are on the political spectrum.

Create a Bill: This was in preparation for next class, when we will be doing a simulation of Congress and the legislative process. Here were the questions I wanted you to answer in your bill proposals:

1. What are you proposing?
2. Who will it impact?
3. When will it begin or end?
4. Where (which states) will be impacted?
5. Why should this bill pass?
6. How much will it cost?

Bring these in next class if you did not turn them in today, please!

114th Congress: The last new piece from today was this handout, looking at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:

Google Drive - 114th Congress Profile Assignment

Here is a link to the website/pdf document that has the answers:

FAS.org - Membership of the 114th Congress: A Profile

I hope this helps!

For the rest of the class, we were in the computer lab, working on the Oregon representatives handout, as well as the 114th Congress paper and creating bills. Here is the handout that I passed out last class:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Handout

The main point here is to know who our representatives are and what they believe. It is important that we know who represents us in Congress, and what their ideas are!

Thanks for your work on this! See you next class, when we will be creating legislation of our own! Enjoy Spring Break!

Legislative Branch, Day 2 - Class Recap

This image of the US Capitol Building is actually the background for this blog! Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Today, we talked more about the continuing Presidential Nomination process and the weekend. We also started up with looking at the Oregon congressional delegation. Here's the recap for today:

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: "Marry The Night" by Lady Gaga. Selected for today because it was so dark out this morning, due to the loss of an hour over the weekend, for Daylight Savings Time. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/15/16:
News Brief – Jay
Nomination Update
Oregon Reps in Congress
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Finish the Oregon representatives handout. Next news brief: Ivan.

News Brief: Jay had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: OregonLive.com - Oregon City man firing dozens of gunshots sends neighbors ducking for cover inside home. We talked about the mental health aspects of this story, along with the enforcement of laws here.

Thanks, Jay!

Ivan was randomly selected for the next news brief.

Nomination Update: We continued to talk about who the Republicans and Democrats will nominate to be president. Today, Florida (the home state of Republican Senator Marco Rubio), Ohio (the home state of Republican Governor John Kasich), Illinois, North Carolina, and Missouri vote to nominate candidates. I showed this website and talked about the state of the race to get the delegates needed: NYTimes.com - 2016 Primary Results and Calendar.

Oregon Representatives: Next, it was time to learn more about who serves Oregon as representatives in Congress at the federal level. Here is the handout that I passed out in class:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives in Congress Handout

Note that opencongress.org doesn't exist any more (use the one that replaced it), and you don't have to find the "partisanship" score on the far right. The main point here is to know who our representatives are and what they believe. It is important that we know who represents us in Congress, and what their ideas are!

Computer Lab N210: For the rest of the class, we were in the computer lab, working on the Oregon representatives handout.

Thanks for your work on this! See you next class, when we will be creating legislation of our own!

Bill of Rights Test and Legislative Branch Overview - Class Recap

The United States Capitol Building, which is where Congress (the Legislative Branch of the US) meets. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Another quiz today! I hope it went well for everyone. Thanks again for your hard work! We also got started with a unit on the legislative branch. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
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.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "At the Beginning" from Anastasia. Selected for today because we are the start of a new unit: the Legislative Branch. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/10/16:
News Brief - Nicole
Bill of Rights Quiz
Legislative Branch Overview
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Study how a bill becomes a law handout - be prepared to write your own bill next class! Next news brief: Jay.

News Brief: Nicole had the news brief today and selected this article: FOXNews.com - Judge allows California high-speed rail project to proceed. Looking into the story a bit more, it appears that some landowners and representatives of a county in California sued to stop the train line from going in (probably because they think it will negatively impact them). The judge ruled that it was okay to go ahead - another good example of how the judicial branch can impact government!

Thanks, Nicole! Jay has the next news brief.

We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Bill of Rights Quiz: We prepared for this the past few classes, as well as a bit during class today, before the quiz. Thank you for giving your best effort on this! We will go over the results together next class.

Legislative Branch Overview/Work Time: This was a handout that went through some of through some of the specifics of the legislative process, like what the legislative branch does and who makes it up. Please review the flow chart on page two, specifically. You will eventually be tested on that and we are going to work through that process together in a simulation later this week:

Google Drive - How a Bill Becomes a Law Handout

Before we did some review, I showed this old Schoolhouse Rock classic:

I also showed a Washington, D.C. license plate and talked about "taxation without representation."

We finished going over the handout, including trustee and delegate styles of legislators. Please make sure to review this handout! Thank you! Have a great long weekend!

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 3/8/16:
News Brief - Amsilley
Crash Course Rights
Jeopardy Review
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: Nicole.

News Brief: Amsilley selected this article to talk about for his news brief today: CNN.com - Political Prediction Market: Donald Trump's nomination odds sink as Ted Cruz surges. We talked in class about the "Super Saturday" voting held over the weekend, and what the race for the Republican nomination for president looks like. More states are voting today, so be sure to follow! The odds site that I showed in class is PredictWise.com.

We talked about this past weekend, as well.

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

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)!

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. We will do this later in the year, too!

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? 

Be ready for the quiz next class, please! See you then!

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:
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: “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 3/4/16:
News Brief - Elijah and Renee
Fourth Amendment
Pleading the Fifth
Bill of Rights Review

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for upcoming quiz (next week). Take the Political Spectrum test if you want. Next news brief: Amsilley.

News Brief: Elijah had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: OregonLive.com - It's official: Kate Brown signs minimum wage bill for $14.75 in Portland. This was a continuation of a story we had previously talked about, with the Oregon legislature passing the new minimum wage bill. It has now become law with Governor Kate Brown signing it! So, the minimum wage in Oregon will start to be raised, beginning in July. We talked about some of the reasons for why this happened and what impact it could have.

Renee also brought in a news brief about this article: NYTimes.com - Supreme Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Efforts to Regulate Coal Emissions. This was another relevant topic, as one other action the Oregon legislature recently took was to try and stop using coal for energy in Oregon in the upcoming future.

Amsilley volunteered to do the next news brief.

Fourth Amendment: 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. We continued 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 finished the case on the last page today (Illinois v. McArthur), which basically said that police can have time to get a search warrant while a suspect is waiting.

Pleading The Fifth: 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. I know it was a heavy day of handouts and readings, so I appreciate your focus and effort in looking at these together!

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused Handout

We went over the case studies and had some more good discussion about various student questions about what is and is not legal in terms of searches.

The cases we discussed were: Gideon v. Wainwright and Mapp v. Ohio.

Bill of Rights Review: We ran out of time at the end of class, and will continue to go review the Bill of Rights next class. Have a great weekend!

Rights of the Accused - Class Recap

Inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Today, we continued looking at the Bill of Rights together, and diving into what the main ones mean, though some specific cases.

Here's what happened:

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: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. Selected because I related it to the philosophy of government because the song talks about a king. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/2/16:
News Brief - Chase
Finish Gun Nation
Freedom of Speech
Rights of the Accused

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Elijah.
--
News Brief: Chase had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: TIME.com - Cruz’s Texas Supporters Worry He Can’t Beat Trump. Chase did a good job of recapping what happened with the big primaries yesterday, and what that means for the presidential nomination process. To go with that, I showed this delegate tracker, so we could see where statistical analysis has the candidates as far as being on track to win the nomination: FiveThirtyEight.com - Who’s On Track For The Nomination?

Very interesting to keep following, for sure!

Elijah was assigned the next news brief.

I also went over the Political Compass test again and asked for student results. Take it if you want!

Finish Gun Nation: This was the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. I think this episode does a really good job of looking at both sides of the debate, and is pretty powerful. I enjoyed our conversation afterwards. Thanks for your participation with this, everyone!

Freedom of Speech: This was a return to the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case we learned about a couple of classes ago, with Mr. Schmidt teaching. The idea was to inform students about how their First Amendment rights are impacted by being at school. The presentation that goes along with this lesson is here:

Google Drive - First Amendment Case Study

Rights of the Accused: To end class, I passed out this packet, which was about various different cases regarding privacy and rights:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Packet

Next class, we will read over the cases and talk more about the Bill of Rights. Thanks, everyone!