Judicial Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

Looking down the National Mall, from the top of the Washington Monument. The United States Supreme Court building is behind and to the left of the Capitol Building. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

We finished looking at the Supreme Court landmark cases today, then I passed out Mock Trial prep materials. 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 Fourth yesterday.

AGENDA 4/5/17:
News Brief – Ziggy/Tsering
Finish Landmark Cases
Mock Trial Prep
Work Time

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

News Brief: Ziggy and Tsering had the news brief today. Ziggy selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Police Account Changes in Killing of Texas 15-Year-Old. Later in the day, it came out that the police officer was charged with murder.

Tsering chose an article about this story to talk about: NYTimes.com - The Trumpcare Disaster. I tried to give my analysis of what happened with the House of Representatives voting to approve the new healthcare bill, and my understanding of what is in it. Very interesting stuff! We will continue to monitor the progress of the bill as it next goes to the Senate.

James was assigned to do the next news brief.

Finish Landmark Cases: I skipped over this in the interest of time because I had to get to coaching tennis (my deep apologies for this). We will come back to it next class.

Mock Trial Prep: The rest of the class was devoted to preparing for mock trials, which we will do next class. This was a very complicated process to explain, but students in class got it, I think! If you missed class, you are going to need to come see me in person to get your case forms and the assignment sheet.

Be prepared to finish these (though we are likely to go hear Ethan's grandfather speak during Period 8), and then do the four mock trials! Have a great weekend! :-)

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 5/3/17:
News Brief – Ziggy (Mr. Fritz)
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: Tsering.

News Brief: Ziggy had the news brief today, but was not in class, so I filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: NYTimes.com - Legal Fight Could Make Kentucky Only State With No Abortion Clinic. This was an interesting story that directly related to what we were investigating later in class with major Supreme Court rulings, such as Roe v. Wade. Lots to talk about, for sure!

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

Tsering 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:

NYTimes Upfront - 10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know

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, but we did get to go outside and enjoy the weather for the last part of class! 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):

Google Drive: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Handout

The assignment that went along with the reading is here:

Google Drive: Landmark SCOTUS Cases Assignment Sheet

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! :-)

Judicial Branch, Day 1 - Class Recap

The United States Supreme Court building, in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your focus today, as we took the Executive Branch test and then moved on to learning a bit about the Judicial Branch! 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 branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of the Executive Branch test, and the possibility you were hoping for some divine intervention in doing well on it. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/1/17:
News Brief – Arafat
Executive Branch Test
Judicial Branch Overview
10 Cases

Homework: Read the blog. Work on improving your grade, if possible! Next news brief: Ziggy.

News Brief: Arafat had the news brief today and selected this story to bring in: TIME.com - Trump Says U.S. 'Can't Allow' North Korea's Missiles to Improve. We talked about this story and about the ongoing situation with North Korea and what the United States is trying to do. Thanks for the discussion!

Ziggy was assigned to do the next news brief.

Executive Branch Test: I hope that you studied and did well on this! I will try to have the grades entered in soon. Thirty questions, multiple choice, then the political spectrum. Not too bad, I hope! Thanks, as always for your effort on this!

Judicial Branch: To start out our look at the judicial branch, I showed this video to the class:

I thought this was a good overview of the structure of the federal court system in the United States. Next, I led students through a fill in the blank overview of the judicial branch. Here it is again, if you want to go over it to study for the test:

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Overview

10 Supreme Court Cases: After going over the introduction to the unit, I passed out this reading:

NYTimes Upfront - 10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know

The rest of class was devoted to reading the cases, and following these directions: 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 (I had one half of the room do the first five, and the other half do the second five).

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.

Next class, we will finish this, discuss, then move on to some more case studies.

Thanks! See you next time!  :-)