Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, which was a prison for federal criminals. Photo taken in 2011.
Dear class,
Today was a fun pre-Thanksgiving class day, spent reviewing the Executive Branch and watching an episode of the TV show "The West Wing" to get ready for the break. 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.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.
Soundtrack: "Confessions, Pt. 2" by Usher. Selected for today because a confession could be a part of a criminal investigation, which involves the judicial branch. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 11/20/17:
News Brief – Grace
Review Executive Test
Shibboleth
Cases Teens Should Know
Homework: Read the blog. Look at your grade and improve it, if possible! Happy Thanksgiving! Next news brief: James.
News Brief: Grace had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - US threatens to close Palestinian office in Washington. An interesting article, for sure! Thanks, Grace!
We also checked in about the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and what was going on outside of class.
James was assigned to do the next news brief.
Review Executive Test: I think generally, this went well for students. We went through the correct answers in class and talked about the test overall. There will be more opportunities for this learning target in the future, for sure!
Shibboleth: To end class, we watched an episode of the TV series "The West Wing" on Netflix, which had to do with Thanksgiving, illegal immigration, school prayer, direct democracy, and representative democracy. There were no notes or any other requirement - it was just a relaxing way to end the class and go out to Thanksgiving Break. Here's the funniest scene of the episode, in my opinion:
I remain quite thankful for all of you!
Cases Teens Should Know: Before we moved on, we watched this video, explaining a bit more about how the Judicial Branch works:
The reading was from last class - we finished and then went over the answers:
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.
As part of going through these cases, I showed this article about all of the states that currently allow corporal punishment at schools (like hitting students with paddles for misbehaving): BusinessInsider.com - These Are The 19 States That Still Let Public Schools Hit Kids. Eye opening for many students, I think!
We also checked in about the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and what was going on outside of class.
James was assigned to do the next news brief.
Review Executive Test: I think generally, this went well for students. We went through the correct answers in class and talked about the test overall. There will be more opportunities for this learning target in the future, for sure!
Shibboleth: To end class, we watched an episode of the TV series "The West Wing" on Netflix, which had to do with Thanksgiving, illegal immigration, school prayer, direct democracy, and representative democracy. There were no notes or any other requirement - it was just a relaxing way to end the class and go out to Thanksgiving Break. Here's the funniest scene of the episode, in my opinion:
Cases Teens Should Know: Before we moved on, we watched this video, explaining a bit more about how the Judicial Branch works:
The reading was from last class - we finished and then went over the answers:
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.
As part of going through these cases, I showed this article about all of the states that currently allow corporal punishment at schools (like hitting students with paddles for misbehaving): BusinessInsider.com - These Are The 19 States That Still Let Public Schools Hit Kids. Eye opening for many students, I think!
That was it for the day! Thank you so much for your focus and hard work! Next class, we will finish up the cases. Have a great Thanksgiving Break! :-)
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