Judicial Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

The flag of the United States, before the Holiday Bowl football game in 2008. Next class, we will have an interesting mock trial on saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class.

Hi everyone,

Since it was a shorter day today (being Wednesday), we mostly treated it as a work day to prepare for the Mock Trials next class. 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 levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "My Generation" by The Who. Selected for today because the mock trial cases had to do with your generation. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/29/17:
News Brief – Lucas
Mock Trial Prep
Mock Trials
Debrief

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

News Brief: Lucas had the news brief today and talked about this story: OregonLive.com - Former Bank of Oswego CEO, CFO convicted of conspiracy. We talked for a bit about this in class (an interesting local story!) before moving on to discuss what is happening with us and in the government (especially as it relates to North Korea and what to do with the latest missile test there.

Jun was assigned to do the next news brief.

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! See you then!

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 11/27/17:
News Brief – James
Cases Teens Should Know
Landmark Cases
Mock Trial Prep

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

News Brief: James had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Congress Returns to Intense Pressure to End Secrecy Over Sex Harassment. I talked briefly in class about all of the items on the agenda list to do for Congress, before moving on.

Lucas was assigned to do the next news brief.

Cases Teens Should Know: This was a continuation from last week, where we looked at some interesting cases from the Supreme Court:

Google Drive - 10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know

The directions were: 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.

We finished going through these cases and talked about each one. A particularly interesting link I shared with students was this one:

KATU.com - After School Satan Club holds first open house in Portland

Thanks for your effort here! Keep this overview for the future!

Landmark Case Reading: We also went through these today, as I assigned one case to each student, then we went through them together in 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

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: We barely had the chance to start this today, so we will continue with it next class! Thanks, everyone!

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 a fun pre-Thanksgiving class day, spent reviewing the Executive Branch and watching an episode of the TV show "The West Wing" to get ready for the break. 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 11/20/17:
News Brief – Grace
Review Executive Test
Shibboleth
Cases Teens Should Know

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

News Brief: Grace had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - US threatens to close Palestinian office in Washington. An interesting article, for sure! Thanks, Grace!

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

James 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!

Shibboleth: To end class, we watched an episode of the TV series "The West Wing" on Netflix, which had to do with Thanksgiving, illegal immigration, school prayer, direct democracy, and representative democracy. There were no notes or any other requirement - it was just a relaxing way to end the class and go out to Thanksgiving Break. Here's the funniest scene of the episode, in my opinion:

I remain quite thankful for all of you!

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!

That was it for the day! Thank you so much for your focus and hard work! Next class, we will finish up the cases. Have a great Thanksgiving Break! :-)