Friday, May 4, 2018

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 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: "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 5/4/18:
News Brief – Ataliah (Syd)
Review Executive Test
Cases Teens Should Know
Landmark Cases

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

News Brief: Ataliah and Syd had the news brief today and selected an article about these stories to talk about:



We talked about these stories for a bit - there so much happening with our government, every day!

We also checked in about what was going on outside of class.

Nick 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!

Cases Teens Should Know: 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!

Also, here is a recent article related to after school clubs featuring a certain religion: KATU.com - After School Satan Club holds first open house in Portland.

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 (I gave each student one case to analyze, and we will go through the rest of them next class):


The assignment that went along with the reading is here:

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 and prepare for some mock trials! :-)

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