Citizenship, Day 2 - Class Recap

Inside Ellis Island, where many immigrants came to the United States for the first time. Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

Welcome to your Winter Break! We ended 2017 by finishing up a mini-unit on citizenship. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.

Soundtrack: "Reelin' In The Years" by Steely Dan. Selected for today because the next time I see everyone will be in 2018! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/19/17:
News Brief – Trinity
Citizen USA
Citizenship Paper
Break!

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in your citizenship paper if you did not in class on Google Classroom! Next news brief: Mr. Fritz.

News Brief: Trinity had the news brief today and talked about this recent story: OregonLive.com - Jeff Merkley says someone impersonated him to weigh in against net neutrality. Obviously, students are really interested in this story, which I am glad to see. Thanks for your comments here! I will have the next news brief, as it is quite the wait until the next one.

Citizen USA: This was a short documentary (available streaming on HBO GO - if you do not have it, do not worry, as I will only put a grade in for students that are able to watch it). Here are the questions I had students answer as we watched the documentary:

Google Drive: Citizen USA Questions

This is another opportunity with LT 1 in class. Here is a list of dates for citizenship/naturalization ceremonies in Portland, if you are interested in attending one, after having seen them in the documentary! There is one this Thursday, the day that break starts!

USCourts.gov - Oregon Naturalization Ceremonies

Citizenship Paper: At the end of class, I gave a few more minutes for students to send me their citizenship paper on Google Classroom. Here's the assignment (which is due as homework if you did not finish in class):

Google Drive: Citizenship Paper Assignment

That was it for the day! Have a wonderful Winter Break and see you in 2018! :-)

Citizenship Paper - Class Recap

Last night, I was at the Jay-Z concert here in Portland. Imagine my delight when he performed "99 Problems" with lyrics on the screens? I definitely had to take a picture for my Government class!

Hello again, everyone!

It was really great to see you all today in class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Research LT 5: I can effectively conduct and apply research. 

Soundtrack: "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey. Selected for today because of the aspects of citizenship that bring us together. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/15/17:
News Brief – CJ
Review Class Feedback
Citizenship Paper

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in your citizenship paper if you did not in class on Google Classroom! Next news brief: Trinity.

News Brief: CJ had the news brief today, but was absent from class, so I filled in and talked about this recent story: NYTimes.com - F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules. Thanks for the comments, insight, and questions here! We then had a check in about what we were up to outside of class. I am off to St. Louis this weekend!

Class Feedback: I always enjoy asking my classes about how things are going, both with the class and with my teaching. Here is the PowerPoint with the results of the feedback from last class:

Google Drive - Government Period 6 Class Feedback

Thank you for your input here! It is good to see what is going well and what perhaps could be improved on with about a month of classes left in the semester.

Citizenship Paper: This is meant as a short assignment, just so be able to demonstrate proficiency again with LT 1. Here's the assignment (which is due as homework if you did not finish in class):

Google Drive: Citizenship Paper Assignment

Again, I am just looking to see that you can identify and explain the basics of rights and responsibilities as a United States citizen. See you next week! Thank you!

Judicial Branch, Day 9 - Class Recap

We are about to begin our State and Local Government unit - my mom is a local elected leader in Portland!

Hello everyone!

It was great to see you all today in class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Research LT 5: I can effectively conduct and apply research. 

Soundtrack: "Walk on Water" by 30 Seconds to Mars. Selected for today because of the music video (which I played in class) having a lot to do with American government.

AGENDA 12/13/17:
News Brief – Vinh
Review Judicial Quiz
12 Angry Men
Class Feedback
Citizenship Paper

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

News Brief: Vinh had the news brief today and talked about this recent story: Mashable.com -  What the 2017 net neutrality vote actually means for you. We talked about tomorrow's Net Neutrality vote and what the possible impacts could be. We also talked about what people were up to outside of class. Thanks, everyone!

Review Judicial Quiz: Last class, we took the Judicial Branch quiz, so today, we reviewed it as students who had not taken it were taking it outside of the class. Grades have been updated on StudentVUE!

12 Angry Men: We finished this movie today (there was only about 10 minutes left in class). I hope you enjoyed this classic!

Class Feedback: I always enjoy asking my classes about how things are going, both with the class and with my teaching. I will review the anonymous feedback you gave and go over it with the class soon.

Citizenship Paper: We did not have time today in class (due to the shortened Wednesday schedule) to get to this today, so we will start it next class. Thanks, everyone!