Bill of Rights Review - Class Recap

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. FDR was named as one of the Presidents in Final Jeopardy today!

Dear class,

I had a lot of fun reviewing the Bill of Rights with you today! Please be studying the content for the quiz next class, along with the structure of the U.S. government. Here's the recap for the day:

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: “American Pie" by Don McLean. Selected for today because we were talking more about American government, and this song famously contains lots of references to American culture. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/12/16:
News Brief - Tyler
Jeopardy Review
Crash Course Rights
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for the quiz next class (be able to write down what each Amendment in the Bill of Rights is, and an example, as well as checks/balances/powers of the federal government). Next news brief: Lili.

News Brief: Tyler had the news brief today and needs to send me his article/video, which was about a YouTuber saying he was going to vote for Clinton. I also talked about the latest presidential election forecast from FiveThirtyEight.com again. Interesting times, for sure! Lili was selected for the next news brief.

Jeopardy Review: I always really enjoy this, and today was no exception. I split the class into three groups, and then we played this version of PowerPoint Jeopardy to review the material we have learned so far in class:

Google Drive - Constitution/Bill of Rights Jeopardy Review

This probably will be difficult to replicate on Google Drive, but you can at least see the questions to study from. Our big winners today were Group 1. We will do this later in the year, too!

Crash Course Rights: To finish up with reviewing in class for the Bill of Rights test, I showed this Crash Course video (with captions on - I know that the narrator talks very quickly):

Some good information here (and familiar Supreme Court cases)!

Study Time: The rest of class was used for studying and/or retakes of tests or quizzes. I think this was used productively in class, so we may continue to do this. I also put this link to see where you stand in regards to major issues that Clinton and Trump have taken a stand on:

TheEconomist.com - US Political Majority Builder

Thanks for your focus today!  One question from the quiz, for checking the blog, is: What is one power of the judicial branch listed in the Constitution? 

Have a great weekend and be ready for the quiz next class, please!

Rights of the Accused and the Rest of the Bill of Rights - Class Recap

Rays of the sun streaming through the flag of the United States, over the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Picture taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your weekend! Lots of grading and work for me to do, but I am still looking forward to it, of course. Here's the recap for the day:

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: “99 Problems (Clean)" by Jay Z. Selected for today because it discusses the various protections that the Bill of Rights offers. Lyrics (which are decidedly NOT clean, but Rap Genius does offer some interesting interpretations of what they mean) here.

AGENDA 10/10/16:
News Brief - Victoria
Fourth Amendment
Pleading the Fifth
Bill of Rights Review

Homework: Read the blog! Keep reviewing the Bill of Rights for upcoming quiz (next week). Take the Political Spectrum test if you want. Next news brief: Tyler.

News Brief: Victoria had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: NYTimes.com - Presidential Debate: Here’s What You Missed. I think Victoria did a great job of summarizing what went on over the weekend, along with adding her personal commentary, as well. Thanks, Victoria!

Tyler was assigned to do the next news brief.

We also talked about the weekend, including what happened with the second presidential debate last night. Wow, was there a lot to try and go over with this weekend. I showed this debate recap in class:

CNN.com - The scorched-earth debate in two minutes

What a time to teach and learn about government! :-)

Fourth Amendment: Because I want to get done with the Bill of Rights, today we looked through the details of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. We continued going through a packet of individual U.S. Supreme Court cases that helped set the scope of the Fourth Amendment. That packet is here:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Handout

We finished the case on the last page today, which basically said that police can have time to get a search warrant while a suspect is waiting.

Pleading The Fifth: I showed this clip to introduce the Fifth Amendment:

This led to another handout, going through the rights of the accused in the United States. I know it was a heavy day of handouts and readings, so I appreciate your focus and effort in looking at these together!

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused Handout

We went over the case studies and had some more good discussion about various student questions.

Bill of Rights Review: At the end of class, I gave some time for students to review the Bill of Rights and put them in their own words on the Understanding the Constitution worksheet in Google Classroom. See you next class! We will have some fun with Jeopardy!

The Second Amendment - Class Recap

Inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Thanks for checking in on the blog! We continued looking at the Bill of Rights together today, and diving into what the main ones mean.

Here's what happened:

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: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. Selected for today for the philosophy of government because the song talks about a king. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/6/16:
News Brief - Kenneth S.
Review Constitution Test
Gun Nation
Rights of the Accused

Homework: Read the blog! Watch the Second Presidential Debate on Sunday at 6! Next news brief: Victoria.
--
News Brief: Kenneth S. had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: ABCNews.go.com - Los Angeles Chief Defends 2 Fatal Weekend Shootings. We discussed this story, as well as the continuing issues with people being killed by police (justifiable or not). I also pointed out that Portland is in the process of approving a new police contract, which is a point of contention in our own community.

I also mentioned that this Sunday is the next presidential debate: CNN.com - Next debate prep: Clinton's light schedule, Trump stays on trail. With this, we talked about how, before the last debate, polls were showing Trump and Clinton as pretty much even, but since then, polls have shifted towards Clinton. Perhaps this second debate will be another important turning point?

We also talked a bit about the upcoming weekend, before moving on.

Victoria volunteered for the next news brief.

Review Constitution Test: This was from last class, and we also had students who missed last class complete this while the documentary was ongoing. I passed back the scantrons, which had the grades marked on the side, and we went through the whole test together. If this test went poorly, never fear, because there will be a retake in a few classes on the Bill of Rights and the branches of government. Please make sure to review the material!

Gun Nation: This was the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights, as well as what students thought should happen now with gun rights in America. I think this episode does a really good job of looking at both sides of the debate, and is pretty powerful. I enjoyed our conversation afterwards. Thanks for your participation with this, everyone!

Rights of the Accused: To end class, we started looking at the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. I then passed out this packet (or students accessed it on Google Classroom), which was about various different cases regarding privacy and rights:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Packet

Before the end of class, we tried to finish the 8 cases, then read over the case on the last page (we didn't get to the questions at the end, or have time to talk about the cases in detail). We ended there for the week, and will pick back up next time there. Thanks, everyone. :-)