Trimester+1

Monday Oct 3
Showed a [|Prezi] on Compromises during the Constitutional Convention. Click the highlighted text to view.

Great Compromise - Brought together the best ideas from the Virginia Plan and the New Jersay Plan and solved a major crisis.
 * Three Branches of Government
 * Senate will be based on equal representation (each state gets one vote).
 * House of Representatives will be based on population.

3/5 Compromise - South is allowed to use 3/5ths of their slave populations to increase representation in the House. Example: Virginia total population = 442117. Divide by 30,000 to get the number of reps. Answer - 15 Virginia total number of slaves = 292,627 Multiply this by 3/5 to get the number of slaves to be added. 175576. add it back to the original number 442117 + 175576 = 617693. Once again, divide by 30000. 21

Conclusion: As a result of the 3/5 compromise, Virginia's representatives went from 15 to 21! This is a significant jump.

Tuesday Oct 4
Class Assignment Somebody Talked!! You have found out through a trusted source that delegates have just decided to throw out the Articles of Confederation and make a new government. You are deeply concerned. You fear that if people cannot compromise and work together, the country may lapse into chaos. You have heard of a brilliant young delegate named James Madison that seems to be an emerging leader. You decide to write him a letter to convince him to advocate for the following principles.


 * Popular Sovereignty**
 * Rule of Law**
 * Separation of Powers**
 * Checks and Balances**
 * Federalism**


 * Step 1 -** Use your Textbook, Chapter 3 Section 4 and **briefly** describe the above terms in your own words and complete a vocabulary sketch organizer. //Like we did earlier this year.//

As a model citizen, you are sharing an opinion about why these principles need to be included. You can do this in one paragraph. Use the rubric below to evaluate yourself. I will use this rubric to grade your letter.
 * Step 2 -** Incorporate all five terms in your letter to Madison and convince him as to why they are vital to the new government.

James Madison responds to your letter! You will respond to your first letter as James Madison and describe how you have "nothing to worry about," "the principles that concern you will be written into the constitution." The response letter will give examples of how this will be done and how citizens will see it in action. Use any source necessary to find facts, details, and support.
 * Honors Challenge:**



Wednesday Oct. 5
You can tell a great story through pictures! Demonstrate your knowledge of the Constitution. Apply the concepts learned in class by creating a digital poster. Think of your product and a teaching tool about the Constitution. Your audience is someone new to the country who wants to learn about our government. Your poster is an information center.

__[|**http://historyjason.glogster.com/the-constitution/]__

Set up a [|Glogster] account. You will need to choose a username and a password along with your school email. Write their account information down to remember.

Build your own theme from the following menu of categories. **Choose five**.
 * Checks and Balances || Constitutional Convention || Popular Sovereignty || James Madison & Roger Sherman ||
 * 3/5 Compromise || Bill of Rights || The Preamble || Three Branches of Government ||

For **each** category in your theme you must have:
 * Two elements (pictures, video, etc.) that effectively describe the category. You'll have a total of 10 pictures, video's etc.
 * Each category needs at least one element linked to another web-page that “teaches” the viewer about that topic.
 * Design must be attractive and poster must be rich in content and look full and engaging. It needs to be content appropriate.

Honors Challenge: Each category must include a link to a video. You will present your Glogster to the class.



Jeopardy game/quiz review. http://jeopardylabs.com/play/the-constitution86 First Round [|Jeopardy]
 * Thursday Oct. 6**

Second short [|round 2]

Tuesday Oct.11
Class Notes/Class Activities The Bill of Rights and further Amendments are broken down into two types of freedoms, Civil Liberties and Fair legal treatment. Civil Liberties: Amendments 1,2,3, all deal with freedoms the government must uphold. Amendments, 4,5,6,7,8 all deal with fair legal treatment and protection. Amendments 9 and 10 delegate powers not mentioned in the Constitution belong to the states or the people.

How many freedoms are associated with the Freedom of speech? //Look for Religion, Speech,// //Press, Assembly, Petition// Explain that four out of the first ten amendments deal with fair legal treatment. //Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth.//

What is a Civil Liberty? Break down definition. Civics is (Study of rights and duties of citizens) Liberty is.....(Freedom) //Are there limits to free speech?// //Slander, Libel//

“Apply the Amendment” organizer. Provide a sentence starter and have students fill in the rest. Statement: The officer searched the young woman’s car because he noticed it was unlocked. Answer: The 4th amendment was violated. Search and seizure. Use overhead to project the sentence starter and ask for response. Give 10-15 examples **(10 min).**

Explain the premise of the show “24”. Have groups work together to come up with a scenario whereby someone experiences the Bill of Rights (positively or negatively) during a 24 hour period **(20 min)**.
 * 24 activity:**

Exit Slip - Give an example of an important civil liberty from the Bill of Rights. Why do you think it is important? **(5 min).**


 * Thursday Oct. 12**

Constitution Protections Sheet. Class worked together in groups to complete an organizer by matching a statement with the correct Amendment.


 * Monday Oct. 17**

Civil Rights vs Civil Liberties. Civil Rights refer to actions taken by the government to check discrimination. The government intervenes on behalf of disenfranchised people so they can gain full access to civil liberties laid out in the Constitution. For example, the government had to legalize voting rights for Blacks, declare poll taxes unconstitutional and remove other discriminatory measures aimed at Blacks.

Civil Liberties are the large, non-negotiable freedoms explained in the Constitution. Civil Rights are the individuals right to equal treatment and equal access to basic civil liberties.

Vocabulary terms covered in class:
 * Slander:** Spoken communication designed to cause injury to another person.
 * Libel:** Written Communication designed to cause injury to another person.


 * Search Warrant:** Permission given to authorities to legally search your property. 4th Amendment


 * Eminent Domain:** The governments right to take your property only after paying you fair market price for it. 5th Amendment.
 * Double Jeopardy:** You cannot be tried for the same crime in which you were found guilty of twice. 5th amendment.

Class read pages 120-124 in Civics today and took notes over the main ideas.

Comic Life Assignment
 * Tuesday Oct. 18**

Your team will make a story about The Duties and Responsibilities of Citizenship using Comic Life.

Your job is to create an interesting story using material covered in class. You have read pages 120-124 in the civics today book which outlines examples of Legal duties and Civic responsibilities.

Story ideas can include: 1. You are trying to teach someone about citizenship and want to explain the principles of Duties and Responsibilities. That person is very negative and uninterested. After effective teaching, that person begins to come around and see the light! You inspire that person to become a better citizen.

2. Interview a famous founding father. You go back in time and have a conversation with a founding father. You want to bring a message back to the modern world because you are concerned about the decay of modern society. The founding father will give you details about the importance of civic responsibility and volunteerism.

3. Use thematic approaches such as an action movie, a witty comedy, a crime/mystery. Maybe archeologists from the future trying to determine how a major civilization failed. No evidence of following (duties, responsibilities, volunteerism).

Be creative and use your imagination. The above are only suggestions. Have fun and be creative, funny, informative and clever.

You will need to collect a file of images of yourselves to use for the project. This may require you to work during guided study or meet after school to go "on location" for specific shots. Collect way more pictures than you need so you have plenty of raw material to choose from.

Your finished product should include at least 10 slides long but may be much longer in order to finish your story.

You will be evaluated using a rubric.

Essential Questions you will be asked to understand. What does each branch of Congress do? How are the two branches alike/different
 * Monday, Oct. 24.**
 * Congress:**

Directions: You will need to read each of the following links to answer the questions. Do the following individually.

[|Powers of Congress] - Describe the powers of Congress explained in the link. Why does Congress hold //hearings?// Which Article explains the power of Congress and the Legislative Branch?

[|House of Representatives] - How many representatives serve in the House? What specific powers do the House of Representatives have? What are the requirements for becoming a member of the House? What does the number of districts a state has have to do with number of representatives?

[|The Senate] - How many Senators serve in Congress? What specific powers does the Senate have? What are the requirements for becoming a senator?

Tuesday/Wednesday Oct. 25,26
Essential Questions:
 * What does Congress do?
 * Who are the leaders of Congress?
 * What are Committees?
 * What do committees do?
 * What kinds of committees are there?

Following the class lecture/notes we will do the following: With a partner, choose two committees from each branch of Congress below by following the link. Explain the following: What does it do? Why is it important? What is it's "jurisdiction"? Who serves on the committee?

[|House Committees]

[|Senate Committees]

Be ready to share out your findings with the class.

Diversity of Congressional Members.
Essential Questions: How diverse is our Congress? Are there certain requirements in becoming a congress person? (Besides age and citizenship).

Choose one Representatives and one senator from the links below and find the following:
 * State they serve
 * Political party
 * Committees they serve
 * Important issues they advocate
 * Education & Background

[|Representatives] Click to go to the House of Representatives directory

[|Senators] Click to go to the Senate directory Work in pairs and prepare a set of notes to share out in class.

[|Congress Pay]

[|Congress Members]

Thursday Oct. 27


Argumentative Essay - Use the article you read in class to summarize the main ideas and discuss whether or not reparations should be paid to victims.
 * Writing Prompt.**

Part One: Outline the facts.
After the article is read to class, answer the following questions. Include the sentence where you found the fact.
 * Who is involved in the riot?
 * Where does it take place?
 * How did the riot start?
 * What happened in the article?
 * When did the story take place?

Part Two: Compare Notes with a partner.
With a partner, read each other's notes and check for understanding of the facts

Part Three: Write a paragraph.
Write detailed paragraph that summarizes the article. Include a good intro, development and conclusion.



Monday Oct. 31
EXAM STUDY GUIDE: Complete on a separate piece of paper in its entirety before the Exam for a 100% quiz grade!!

Tulsa Riot Argument Essay Part two

Now that you've completed a summary essay about the riot, you are ready to share your thoughts. Write another paragraph that includes the following

1. If you were president, what would you do about *//reparations// to the surviving victims of the riot?
 * Should the victims get reparations? What would you do if anything? Hold a national day of recognition? or would you do something else? Give reasons for your decision.
 * Think about a source of action that would pay homage, heal the nation, and speak to how far we have come in terms of race relations

2. Could something like the Tulsa Race riots happen in modern-day America? Why or why not? Think about how information and technology has changed over the years.


 * //Reparations are payments made to victims of a horrible wrong-doing//

Study for Exam:
At the end of the class, all teams must demonstrate completion of all three stations.

Station One
Venn Diagram - Make a Venn Diagram that compares and contrasts the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.

Station Two
Naturalization Chart - Draw a sequence of events for the naturalization process. For each step, draw an accompanying picture that represents it.

Station Three
Functions of government - Write a funny poem or rap about the three functions of government. Remember, the functions of government are Provide Security, Guide the Community and Provide Service. Include examples in your work.

Station Four
Reflect - Which concepts from todays activity do you need to review the most? What do you still need to know? How will you prepare for the first part of the exam tomorrow?

Thursday Nov. 3
Written portion of Exam

Friday Nov. 4
[|Jeopardy] edit

[|Play the Game]

Wednesday Nov. 9
Congress Lesson: Essential Questions
 * What are the requirements to serve in Congress?
 * How diverse is Congress Today?
 * What are the benefits of being a congressman?
 * What does a member of congress do?

End of Class Formative Exit Slip: Describe the special privileges of a member of Congress. Do you think they have too many privileges? Not enough? Why do you think so?

Thursday Nov. 10
Essential Question:
 * How does a bill become a law?**
 * Materials needed:**
 * Civics today book
 * Computer to access link [|**How a Bill Becomes A Law**]
 * Sequence organizer

Students will fill in an organizer after the chapter read-aloud introducing the topic.

Step Two: TBA
Next week, groups will complete a comprehensive poster about how a bill becomes a law.
 * Notebook to record steps of a bill becoming a law
 * Poster paper and markers

Each member of the group will be responsible for 2 to three steps in how a bill becomes a law.


 * Each class will do the poster activity.
 * Team teachers will judge on the best designed poster.
 * The winning group for each class will receive five bonus points on the next quiz. (next week).
 * The best posters will be displayed on the back wall

Monday Nov. 14
Agenda: Hand back Exams, Essays Assign groups and continue "How a Bill Becomes a Law" lesson.
 * 1) Give each group slips of paper each with a step in the process of a bill becoming a law.
 * 2) Tell them they will try to figure out the right order without looking at their notes.
 * 3) I will walk around the room and show them which ones are wrong.
 * 4) The first group to get them all right will earn 5 bonus points. 2nd place will get 3 bonus points. They can have them applied to their Exam grade of the next quiz.

Give a quick lecture on the steps on how a bill becomes a law. The list will be used for the posters.

The remainder of the class will be setting up the poster project. Each team will be given a team contract. The contract will have required items each member of the group will have to choose.

The following day will have all groups immediately continuing on the projects.

Tuesday Nov. 15
Poster group project: All groups will finish during class time. Judging will be Friday 18th. Winners will get bonus points on the project. Group contracts handed in.

Thursday Nov. 17
Show slide show about the health care bill. Talk about key terms through pictures. Review Chapter 6 packet material.

On a piece of paper, do the following.

Write a short story using the key terms from the packet: Bicameral, Constituent, Seniority, Impeach, Pork-barrel, Lobbyist, Expressed Powers, Implied Powers. Work in pairs.

Use "The Main Jobs of Congress" and write your own scenario. Use the following: Law-making, troubleshooting, Helping district/state, watch dogging.