Judicial Branch, Day 6 - Class Recap

The exterior of the Colosseum in Rome. At the end of gladiator fights, the loser would famously be judged by the emperor. Photo taken summer 2014.

Dear class,

It is always great to see you in the morning before the weekend! It helps brighten my day immensely. 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: "Oye Como Va" by Carlos Santana. Selected for today because of it being Cinco de Mayo (remembering a famous Mexican victory over the French) and because Carlos Santana is an amazing Mexican-American guitarist. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/6/16:
News Brief – Jasmine
Juries
Study Guide
12 Angry Men

Homework: Read the blog. Study for the Judicial Branch test next class! Turn in any late/incomplete work - know your grade and how to improve it. Next news brief: Jordan R.

News Brief: Jasmine had the news brief today and talked about this story: OregonLive.com - Oregon Supreme Court: Injured people can't sue state for more than $3 million, controversial law stands. This is a pretty important ruling, because some damages cost much more than $3 million lifetime to cover (like the case mentioned in the article). A really interesting ruling by our own state Supreme Court. We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to.

Jordan R. was assigned to do the next news brief.

Juries/Study Guide: Most of class was spent going over many questions about the judicial branch. I also passed out this study guide (the juries reading was on the back side) for preparation:

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Test Study Guide

Google Drive: Reading on Juries for Judicial Branch Test

One of the questions on the test will be (thanks for checking the blog!): In this case the U.S. Supreme Court declared that no one accused of a crime has to stand trial in any court in the land without benefit of counsel unless he or she specifically refuses it.
A. Dred Scott v Sanford C. Gideon v Wainwright
B. Plessy v Ferguson D. Brown v Board of Education

If you aren't sure, guess in the comments and I will tell you what the answer is!

12 Angry Men: To finish class, we started watching one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever: 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a great way to wrap up the judicial branch unit, as we learn more about the jury process through watching this film. I know it is old and black and white, and I was glad to see that students were paying close attention. Here is the film note-taking assignment, if you missed class or lost your copy:

Google Drive: 12 Angry Men Film Questions

We will finish watching this next class, then take the Judicial Branch test! See you then.

Judicial Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

The flag of the United States, before the Holiday Bowl football game in 2008, which the Oregon Ducks won over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Today, we had an interesting mock trial on saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class.

Hi everyone,

I really enjoyed the discussions and debates the the mock trials brought up today, and I had the sense that most students did, too. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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

Soundtrack: "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars. Selected for today because it was May the 4th! Star Wars Day!

AGENDA 5/4/16:
News Brief – Daniel/Konner/Jonny
Mock Trials
The National Judiciary
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Get any late work in ASAP to improve your grade. Next news brief (no write up needed, just talk about it): Jasmine.

News Brief: Jonny had the news brief today and talked about John Kasich dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for president. We had an extended check in at the start of class about Ted Cruz dropping out of the race for the nomination, as well. This means that Donald Trump will almost certainly be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, so we had a long question and answer session about that, where I talked about how both Clinton (to a lesser extent) and Trump are quite unpopular overall. What a strange and interesting time in analyzing what is going on with our government! Thanks for the discussion!

Jasmine was assigned to do the next news brief.

Mock Trials: We had a really excellent discussion on the issues: school segregation, drug searches at school, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class. Please complete the rest of your mock trial packet, if you did not in class! Here are the actual results of the cases, with audio of the arguments, if you are interested:

Case #1: Oyez.org - Morse v. Frederick

Case #2: Oyez.org - Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

Case #3: Oyez.org - Safford Unified School District v. Redding

Case #4: Oyez.org - Elk Grove United School District v. Newdow

We finished all the cases within the class! Thank you for participating in this - I thought it was a pretty cool activity and I was glad to see students engaged in trying to answer these important legal questions.

The National Judiciary/Work Time: I passed out this handout, so students could read and review them to prepare for the upcoming test. I will see how it goes next class with going through these, but the test will be on this reading, as well as the Supreme Court cases that we have been studying.

Google Drive: The National Judiciary Readings and Questions

Please keep working on this! Sound good? Let me know if you have any questions I can answer! Thanks again for an enjoyable class this morning! :-)

Judicial Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

Today in class, I showed students my ballot (not filled out) for the upcoming May primary! Here's my mom, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, at a parade in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your weekend! I enjoyed starting the mock trials today in class. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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

Soundtrack: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Selected for today because of the teen spirit involved in Morse v. Frederick, the recent PRIDE assembly, and because we have made it to May together! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/2/16:
Ballot/News Brief – Dasha
Mock Trial Prep
Present Cases
The National Judiciary

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

News Brief: Dasha had the news brief today and talked about this story: CNN.com - Bernie Sanders: Not 'impossible' to topple Clinton in Democratic race. This was an interesting look at how Bernie Sanders is continuing his campaign for president, despite being pretty far behind in both the pledged delegate and "super" delegate counts for the Democratic Party nomination. We also talked for a bit about Indiana's Republican primary tomorrow.

I also opened my ballot in front of the class and talked about the process for voting in Oregon. So cool to be able to vote for my own mom!

If you are 17 and not already registered to vote, here's the online enrollment form:

Oregon Secretary of State: Voter Registration

Yay for participating in our democracy! :-)

Mock Trial Prep: I gave the class about 20-25 minutes to finish preparing to present the four cases in the mock trial. Again, I know this was somewhat complicated, but I think we got the hang of it eventually!

Present Cases: During class, we were only able to get through the first case. The first was Morse v. Frederick, involving the humorous (but serious Constitutional issue) of a student holding a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" sign outside of a school in Alaska as an Olympic torch relay went by. In class, the judges found 4-1 for Frederick (the student) in being able to do this as protected free speech. In the actual case, the judges ruled for Morse. Here is the overview:

Oyez.org - Morse v. Frederick

That was it for the day! Next class, we will do the last three trials and then move on with the rest of the judicial branch unit. Remember to hang on to all of your mock trial materials and notes - you will be turning them in! See you Wednesday!