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: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Selected for today because of the teen spirit evident in a few of the cases we have been talking about in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/30/16:
News Brief – Jurnee
Finish Landmark Cases
Mock Trial Prep
Work Time

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

News Brief: Jurnee had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Trump Calls for Revoking Flag Burners’ Citizenship. Court Rulings Forbid It.. We had a good in class discussion about this story and what will happen next with the election. I enjoyed all the student comments and questions here - thanks everyone!

Matthew was assigned to do the next news brief.

Landmark Case Reading: We finished going through these today:

Google Drive: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Handout

The assignment that went along with the reading is here:

Google Drive: Landmark SCOTUS Cases Assignment Sheet

Please make sure you have your completed notes for these very important cases! It was interesting to get to talk about stuff like Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II!

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 at the start of next class, 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 11/22/16:
News Brief – Alessandra
Review Executive Test
Cases Teens Should Know
Landmark Cases

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

News Brief: Alessandra had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: LATimes.com - Stockton mother faces jail time for selling homemade ceviche through Facebook. As Alessandra stated in class, this article has to do with food safety, which is regulated at the federal level by the Department of Agriculture, which we just learned about!

We also checked in about the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and what was going on outside of class.

Jurnee 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: Before we moved on, we watched this video, explaining a bit more about how the Judicial Branch works:

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. 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 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. :-)

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 effort on the test and with the in class work today! 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: "Princess of China" by Coldplay. Selected for today because a princess is a monarch, which is a form of government. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/18/16:
News Brief – Katelyn
Executive Branch Test
Judicial Branch Overview
Cases Every Teen Should Know

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any missing work ASAP! Next news brief: Alessandra.

News Brief: Katelyn had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - Officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castile killing. We discussed this story and the ongoing uproar over police brutality in the United States, before moving on to talk about the upcoming weekend.

Alessandra was selected 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 later today. Thirty questions, multiple choice. Not too bad, I hope! Thanks, as always for your effort on this! It seemed like most students felt okay about how it went.

Judicial Branch: To start, 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 later on in the unit (probably after Thanksgiving):

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Overview

10 Supreme Court Cases: After going over the introduction to the unit, I passed out this reading (which was copied incorrectly, so we were only able to do a few of the cases - I will pass out the full reading next class):

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.

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! :-)