Creation of a Nation, Day 2 - Class Recap

The World War I Memorial Stonehenge replica in Goldendale, Washington, overlooking the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood. Photo taken in 2015!

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed hearing about your new countries today in class, as we continued to look at the basics of how the United States government works and specifically, the Constitution. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
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: "Power [Radio Edit]" by Kanye West. Selected for today because "no one man should have all that power" when it comes to government, which the Constitution made sure of!

AGENDA 2/28/17:
News Brief – Faith
Declaration of Independence
Create Nations
Share

Homework: Read the blog. Finish your Creation of a Nation project if you did not in class! Next news brief: Crystal.

News Brief: Faith had the news brief today and talked about the article: NYTimes.com - 2 Weeks After Trump Blocked It, Democrats’ Rebuttal of G.O.P. Memo Is Released. We discussed this story for a bit and also checked in about what we were up to over the weekend, before moving on. I apologized again for not being here last class! As such, I wanted to make sure students knew not to stress out too much about the Creation of a Nation assignment.

Crystal was selected for the next news brief.

Declaration of Independence/Articles of Confederation: Next up, we had a brief lecture in class about the early foundations of the United States government and some of the forms of government in the world. To begin, we looked at the Declaration of Independence and at some of the reasons the United States "broke up" with Great Britain. After this, I had students write their own break up letter, using some of the same reasons outlined in the text of the Declaration of Independence.

Next, we moved on to learning about the first government of the United States. The Articles of Confederation was the first way that the country was organized, and we looked at how it was not good enough to really keep the states together in any coherent way. Here's the reading notes that I showed in class:

Google Drive: Forms of Government and Articles of Confederation

Please know the basics here for future use!

Share Nations: Again, this was creating your own nation, which is a break away of some of the western states from the United States. In groups of 2, this was the assignment: 

Google Drive - Creation of a Nation Assignment

Next class, we will listen to these presentations and hear about your proposed ideas for what a new country should look like! Thank you for your effort on this. We will continue learning about the foundations of the United States government next class!

Declaration of Independence/Creation of a Nation - Class Recap

Crater Lake, which is Oregon's only National Park. Maybe a symbol of your new nation? Photo taken in August 2014.

Hi wonderful students,

Great to see you all again today! It was a quiz and work day in class. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.

Soundtrack: "If I Ruled the World" by Nas and Lauryn Hill. Selected for today because you were creating your own countries today in class!

AGENDA 2/24/16:
News Brief – Calvin
Review European Influences
Philosophy Quiz
Declaration of Independence/Articles of Confederation
Creation of a Nation

Homework: Read the blog. Be ready to finish the Creation of a Nation activity next class. Next news brief: Nina.

News Brief: Calvin had the news brief today, but was not in class, so I filled in and selected this article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Tom Brady calls Trump's comments 'divisive,' backs protests. We discussed this story for a while at the start of class, as it was certainly an interesting weekend for sports and politics.

Nina was selected to do the next news brief.

Review European Influences: In order to progress up to the Declaration of Independence, we first had to look at some of the key ideas that influenced the foundation of our country. This was a four page reading and some associated questions, which was homework after last class. We reviewed it together at the start of class, before the quiz:

Google Drive - European Influences on the United States Government Reading

Google Drive - European Influences Reading Questions

Philosophy Quiz: Because I'm a nice guy, I gave the class a few minutes to study for this (even though it was homework to do so). I haven't read the responses yet, but basically, if you knew the four philosophers from the first reading, and knew the basics of the European influences reading, you should have been fine. If you need to take this, please come find me before or after school.  I will grade these and get them back to you as soon as I can.

Declaration of Independence/Articles of Confederation: Next up, we had a brief lecture in class about the early foundations of the United States government and some of the forms of government in the world. To begin, we looked at the Declaration of Independence and at some of the reasons the United States "broke up" with Great Britain. After this, I had students write their own break up letter, using some of the same reasons outlined in the text of the Declaration of Independence.

Next, we moved on to learning about the first government of the United States. The Articles of Confederation was the first way that the country was organized, and we looked at how it was not good enough to really keep the states together in any coherent way. Here's the reading notes that I showed in class:

Google Drive: Forms of Government and Articles of Confederation

Please know the basics here for future use!

Creation of a Nation: The last activity we did today in class was to start thinking about creating your own nation, which is a break away of some of the western states from the United States. In groups of 2 or 3, this is the assignment, which we will finish working on next class and present. Again, I want every group to make a flag for their new country, because flags are awesome. Please see the document for specifics as to what each group member should do.

Google Drive - Creation of a Nation Assignment

Next class, we will continue with this and then move on to studying the Constitution. Thanks! See you next class!

Philosophy of Government, Day 4 - Class Recap

The Parthenon, which is a part of the Acropolis in Athens. We learned today about Greek democracy influencing the United States government! Photo taken in July, 2014.

Dear class,

Even though it was more of a work day today, it was nice to see everyone and learn a bit more class content! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.

Soundtrack: "GDFR" by Flo Rida. Selected for today because after United States declared independence from the United Kingdom, it was going down for real.

AGENDA 9/22/16:
News Brief – Samantha
Reflection
European Influences
Declaration of Independence
Study for Philosophy Quiz

Homework: Read the blog. Study for philosophy and European influences quiz next class. Next news brief: Jade.

News Brief: Samantha brought in the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Charlotte police chief: Shooting video won't be made public. We talked in class for a bit about this story and the importance of following along with and understanding what happens with the police and the Black Lives Matter movement.

A very interesting and relevant article! Thanks, Samantha. Jade has the next news brief.

Reflection: At the start of class, I gave students some more time to finish the Forced Choice reflection that we started at the end of last class, after the debates. Here is the prompt again: Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government?

European Influences: In order to progress up to the Declaration of Independence, we first had to look at some of the key ideas that influenced the foundation of our country. This was a four page reading and some associated questions, that I gave work time in class for, then we talked about it together. If you missed class, or lost your copy, here they are again to see:

Google Drive - European Influences on the United States Government Reading

Google Drive - European Influences Reading Questions

Use this reading and your answers to study for the upcoming quiz!

Declaration of Independence: This was pretty fun. We looked at the Declaration of Independence (which is what started the United States) and tried to put the first couple of paragraphs of it into our own words, like a break up letter. These were pretty funny - thanks for your effort! Next time, we will look into the document with more detail, check out the Articles of Confederation, then try and create your own new country, using the information that you've learned about so far in class.

Study for Philosophy Quiz: Study for the philosophy quiz next class! You will need to know the ideas of the four philosophers we talked about in class, how their ideas influence the U.S. government, and the three European influences that impacted our government.

Thanks for your work and effort in class, and for doing your homework in reading the blog! :-)

Declaration of Independence - Class Recap

The Parthenon, which is a part of the Acropolis in Athens. We learned today about Greek democracy influencing the United States government! Photo taken in July, 2014.

Dear class,

Even though it was more of a work day today, it was nice to see everyone and learn a bit more class content! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.

Soundtrack: "GDFR" by Flo Rida. Selected for today because it was Going Down For Real when the United States declared independence from Great Britain.

AGENDA 2/12/16:
News Brief – Monet
Finish Forced Choice
European Influences
Declaration of Independence

Homework: Read the blog. Study for philosophy and European influences quiz next class. Next news brief: Kate.

News Brief: Monet brought in the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Supreme Court’s Blow to Emissions Efforts May Imperil Paris Climate Accord. We discussed the recent Paris climate agreement, how the Supreme Court justices ruled (in a preliminary way) 5-4 against some of the ways the Obama administration has tried to cut carbon emissions (some states sued).

A very interesting and relevant article! Thanks, Monet! Kate has the next news brief.

Finish Forced Choice: I wanted to give the class time to finish the debate from last class (even though I usually don't like spending parts of three days on it). The questions were:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.
3. Private businesses should have the right refuse service on religious grounds (like a bakery not making a cake for a same sex wedding).
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Public schools should strictly enforce a standardized dress code.
6. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should be able to make decisions that the majority of the people do not support.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
9. I agree with the death penalty for convicted murderers.
10. People in power are always corrupt in some way.

The prompt after the activity was this: Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government? What did you think of this activity?

The learning target that is being assessed for this one is: Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

If you did not finish this one page reflection in class, please treat it as homework. Thank you!

European Influences: In order to progress up to the Declaration of Independence, we first had to look at some of the key ideas that influenced the foundation of our country. This was a four page reading and some associated questions, that I gave work time in class for, then we talked about it together. If you missed class, or lost your copy, here they are again to see:

Google Drive - European Influences on the United States Government Reading

Google Drive - European Influences Reading Questions

Use this reading and your answers to study for the upcoming quiz!

Declaration of Independence: This was pretty fun. We looked at the Declaration of Independence (which is what started the United States) and tried to put the first couple of paragraphs of it into our own words, like a break up letter. These were pretty funny - thanks for your effort! Next time, we will look into the document with more detail, check out the Articles of Confederation, then try and create your own new country, using the information that you've learned about so far in class.

At the end of class, I provided some time to study for the philosophy quiz next class. You will need to know the ideas of the four philosophers we talked about in class, how their ideas influence the U.S. government, and the three European influences that impacted our government.

Thanks for your work and effort in class, and for doing your homework in reading the blog! :-)