Executive Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

Then Senator Barack Obama when he visited Portland near the start of his Presidential campaign in 2007.

Dear class,

Today, we started the Cabinet Project! The Presidential Cabinet is a very important part of how the Executive Branch functions. 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.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning LT 3: I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Beach Chair" by Jay Z. Selected for today because of the nice weather outside, and because we were learning that the presidential cabinet is not a piece of furniture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/24/17:
News Brief - Cameron
The Presidency
Cabinet Project
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Study the cabinet descriptions reading. You might want to download the pdf and then rotate the page (because it is in landscape format). Or, just turn your head, I guess)! Continue working on Cabinet project. Next news brief: Brianna.

News Brief: Cameron had the news brief today, but was out of class, so I filled in and selected this article to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Trump on embattled VA nominee: 'It's totally his decision'. We talked briefly about this article, as it totally relates to what we are doing in class today! The Veteran's Administration cabinet position is responsible for a huge amount of money, and is obviously very important. We will see what happens next!

Brianna was assigned to do the next news brief.

The Presidency: We finished going through The Presidency reading and questions:

Google Drive - The Presidency Reading

These are the questions that go along with the reading:

Google Drive - The Presidency Questions

Cabinet Departments: For this section, we went over what the various different presidential cabinet departments are responsible for. We also watched this video, so everyone could see what it looks like in real life:

We will be doing a similar sort of activity in class, with me playing the role of the President and the class taking on the various department heads!

Cabinet Project: Here's a link to the cabinet project (advising the President) that we worked on in class today:

Google Drive - Presidential Cabinet Project Assignment

As a heads up, obamawhitehouse.gov might be better than whitehouse.gov currently for this assignment, since President Obama's had 8 years of content and development, while President Trump only has had one year (if you can find stuff, please go ahead and use the current president's website)!

Here are the sign ups for each of the cabinet positions:

State: Alice and Sofia
Agriculture: Oviya and Parsa
Commerce: Patrick and Jackson K.
Defense: Syd and Ataliah
Education: Francesca and Faith
Energy: Carlos and Lucas
Health and Human Services: Abby K. and Crystal
Housing and Urban Development: Brooke and Emily W.
Interior: Brooklyn and Nick
Justice: Dom and Brady
Labor: Terra and Brianna
Transportation: David and Cameron
Treasury: Logan and Julian // Mauricio (just choose one part to do)
Veteran’s Affairs: James and Jackson J.
Homeland Security: Abby V. and Noah

Environmental Protection Agency: Emily and Abdu
US Mission to the United Nations: Jose and Joshua

If you missed class, please see where you are on the list and who your partner is!

Work Time: We spent the second half of class working on Chromebooks on this assignment. We will also spend much of next class doing this, and the cabinet project assignment will be due next Monday.

See you next class!