Thursday, May 8, 2014

More on the paper:
The paper needs to be a minimum of 2 pages.  The paper will be double spaced, in Times New Roman and size 12 font.  The paper will be written as a Google Doc and turned-in via turnitin.com.  Students cannot have more than 20% plagiarism.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Students will be writing a paper on an event that led to The American Civil War. The paper will be due next week Friday, May 16th. The expectations for what should be included in the paper are below.
Who is involved in this event?
What is this event-information about this event.
When did this event take place?
Where did this event take place?
Why is this event important to American History?
How does this event cause The US Civil War or did it change the U.S.?
What led up to this event?
What is the event?
What is the aftermath of this event?

Friday, May 2, 2014

Amendment Descriptions

# Amendments
1st Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to petition, and to assemble
2nd The right to keep and bear arms
3rd No quartering of soldiers in private houses during times of peace or war
4th Interdiction of unreasonable Searches and seizures; warrants
5th Indictments; Due process; Self-incrimination; Double jeopardy, and rules for Eminent Domain.
6th Right to a fair and speedy public trial, Notice of accusations, Confronting one's accuser, Subpoenas, Right to counsel
7th Right to trial by jury in civil cases
8th No excessive bail & fines or cruel & unusual punishment
9th Unenumerated rights
10th Limits the power of the Federal government
11th Immunity of states from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders. Lays the foundation for sovereign immunity.
12th Revision of presidential election procedures-Person with the most votes becomes President and picks their Vice President before election. Prior to that first was President and second place was Vice President.
13th Abolition of slavery, except as punishment for a crime.
14th Citizenship, state due process, applies Bill of Rights to the states, revision to apportionment of Representatives, Denies public office to anyone who has rebelled against the United States
15th Suffrage (Voting) no longer restricted by race
16th Allows federal income tax
17th Direct election to the United States Senate-What happens when a senetor leaves office-who decides- Gov of that state) 
18th Prohibition of alcohol (Repealed by 21st amendment)
19th Women's suffrage (Voting rights)
20th Term Commencement for congress (January 3) and president (January 20.) (This amendment is also known as the "lame duck amendment".)
21st Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment; state and local prohibition no longer required by law.
22nd Limits the president to two terms
23rd Representation of Washington, D.C. in the Electoral College
24th Prohibition of the restriction of voting rights due to the non-payment of poll taxes (No more Poll Taxes)
25th Presidential Succession( Who takes over for when the President dies/resigns etc.)
26th Voting age nationally established as age 18 (see suffrage)
27th Variance of congressional compensation (Congress cannot get a raise until the next election) 

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

On Monday, students will be taking The US Constitution Essay Test.  From the list below, students will have 3 on the board for their hour (They will not know which ones).  They will need to complete 2 of them by the end of the hour.  There is no time limit though, they can finish the test by going into the next hour or at lunch.

1.  Every amendment is important in their own way, each defining something that is important to America.  Looking at the Constitution, name the most important Amendment to you and give three reasons why.
2. The Constitution is called a living document because it can be changed at anytime.  Should the Constitution be able to be changed and give 3 reasons why or why not?
3.  The amendments have helped shape America.  If you were to propose the 28th Amendment, what would it be and give 3 reasons why it is necessary.
4.  Our Founding Fathers were some of the smartest men on Earth, but they were not perfect.  Instead of giving the state's the ability to decide rights, should they have decided them all themselves?  I.E. should we have a national driving age and national drinking age?  Give 3 reasons why or why not.   
5. The US Constitution was first written and passed in 1791.  Since the world has changed since then, would the Founding Fathers have changed any of the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) or Articles seeing how the world is today? Give 3 reasons why or why not.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Today, students will learn about The US Constitution's Articles and Amendments.  Each student will present their Constitutional Amendment to the class starting today in numerical order.  This will culminate with an essay test on Thursday.

Monday, April 14, 2014

This week, the students will be working on a project on The US Constitution.  Each student has chosen an amendment and they must present it to the class in a meaningful way using technology.  This project will be due after Easter Break, but students will only get this week to work on it in class.  Below are the essential questions that must be answered, followed by the rubric.
WHAT-What is the amendment (This should be a lot of information and pictures)?
WHEN-When was it created?
WHY-Why was it created?
WHERE-This is answered only if it originated in a state.
HOW- How does this affect me?


Finally, there should be a 1 sentence note in student friendly terms for the class.  


Constitution Rubric
NAME: ___________________________________ Amendment # ______  HR _____
Category
4
3
2
1
Individual Score:
Content

Double this Score!!
The facts included in the paper are all accurate and well developed. The project explains with concrete reason what the amendment is.
The facts included in the paper are mostly accurate (1 or 2 mistakes) and well developed. The project kind of explains but has left the audience to figure out the meaning on their own.
The facts included in the paper are not accurate (3-4 mistakes) and well developed. The Project does not really explain the amendment.
The facts included in the paper are not accurate (5-6 mistakes) and well developed.  The audience has to infer their own meaning as about this amendment.
Individual Score:
Resources
The sources for both pictures and information were sited.

The sources for either pictures or information were sited.
No citations were done.
Individual Score: Presentation Style

Double this score!!
Student consistently used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience.
Student usually used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience.
Student sometimes used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the audience.
Student had a presentation style that did not keep the attention of the audience. 
Individual Score:
Conventions
0-1 Small Errors
2-5 Small Errors
6-8 Errors.  A couple big errors.
8or more errors and several big errors.
Individual Score:
Work Days
Student used all their time well on every work day.
Students used their time well most of the class hour.
Students used their time wisely half of the time.
Students did not use their work time at all.
Individual Score: Respect for other people
All statements, body language, and responses were respectful and were appropriate in language.
Statements and responses were respectful and used appropriate language, but body language was sometimes wasn’t respectful. 
Most statements and responses were respectful and appropriate in language, but there were a few sarcastic remarks.
Statements, responses and/or body language were consistently not respectful. 
Individual Score:
Time


Speech is within 3 seconds of the 1 Minute Limit or more time requirement.

Speech is within 5 seconds of the 1 Minute Limit or more time requirement.

Speech is within 10 seconds of the 1 Minute Limit or more time requirement.

Speech is over 10 seconds of the 1 Minute Limit or more time requirement.



                        TOTAL: _______/ ­­­___36____           Letter Grade: _____

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Declaration of Independence Assignment-Due Monday, April 7

Preamble        
            Students will explain in a short paragraph why they should be independent from ________.  The focus should be on student ability to make choices, maturity, and understanding.

Declaration of Natural Rights
            List of rights that teenagers should have (explain if needed)  Should be a minimum of 15.

List of Grievances
            Students will write 2-3 sentences to describe the thing that is their biggest grievance.  After the students described their grievance, they will list all the reasons that they have an issue with this (minimum 10).

Resolution
            1-2 sentences on how the students will resolve this issue.