Government, Day 6 - Class Recap

 

The Statue of Liberty in New York, which is a symbol of immigration to the United States. 

Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

Thanks for doing your homework and checking in on the blog to see what we are up to. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Kings and Queens" by 30 Seconds to Mars. Selected for today because of the connection to monarchy, and this song gets me fired up because it reminds me of watching ESPN tennis tournaments. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/29/17:
News Brief – Bella
Study Time
Government Test
Lost!

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

News Brief: Bella had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: Independent.co.uk - Tory ministers lobbied Brazil on behalf of Shell and BP, Government accidentally reveals. We found Brazil in the world map (in South America) and talked about the importance of Brazil to the world. We also talked about what students were up to outside of class, before moving on.

Sofia was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Study Time: For this section, I talked about the Forced Choice debate reflection grades and I gave about five minutes before the test for study of notes for the Government quiz, as well.

Government Test: I do not think this was especially difficult, if you have been in class and following along with what has been going on the last few days! I will try to have these entered as soon as I can, so everyone has up to date information as we start our last unit before Winter Break (wow!), next class.

Lost!: At the end of class, we had a little fun with a scenario inspired by "Lord of the Flies" and the TV series "Lost." We started this last class, so it was nice to be able to hear all the group ideas today:

Google Drive - Lost Island Government Group Activity

I had a lot of fun listening to your ideas here! See you next class! Thanks, everyone!

Government, Day 5 - Class Recap

My dad took this photo of me at a "Turkey Bowl" on Thanksgiving, in 2011. I hope you enjoyed your break!

Hello everyone,

Welcome back from your Thanksgiving break! Thanks for doing your homework and checking in on the blog to see what we are up to. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Thank You" by Dido. Selected for today because last week was Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to get to be your teacher, and for all of you! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/27/17:
News Brief – Josiah
Who Rules?
Lost!
Study for Quiz

Homework: Read the blog. Study for your Forms of Government Quiz, next class! Complete any missing work and have it ready to turn in. Next news brief: Bella.

News Brief: Josiah had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: TheGuardian.com - Russian man sent to penal colony for insulting officials online. We found Russia in the world map and we talked about what is happening in Russia for a bit.

Bella was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we checked in about the break and what everyone was up to. It is good to be back working with everyone!

Who Rules?: The next part of class was devoted to going through this packet, designed to be a review before the forms of government test:

Google Drive - Who Rules? Reading and Questions

The first page has a good overview of the types and classifications of governments that we are studying. The following pages are practice, to help compare and contrast the systems of government. A question from the test, for checking the blog, is: What form of government  ...is ruled by a small group of people, usually the wealthy elite?
a.  oligarchy, b.  theocracy, c.  communism, d.  anarchy. Guess in the comments and I will tell you if you are correct!

Lost!: At the end of class, we had a little fun with a scenario inspired by "Lord of the Flies" and the TV series "Lost." I asked everyone to get into small groups and then passed out one of these papers to each group, which contain the scenario and questions for the group to answer:

Google Drive - Lost Island Government Group Activity

We will continue with this next class and talk about the different group proposals, before moving on to our next unit. Please be ready for the quiz! See you next class!

Government, Day 4 - Class Recap

The White House, in Washington, D.C., which is typically seen as a symbol of the leadership of the United States government, because the President lives there. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

I enjoyed seeing the skits today about the various forms of government around the world that we are studying! Hopefully, combined with the reading and notes, you now have a good idea about how each system works. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Princess of China" by Coldplay and Rihanna. Selected for today because a princess is part of a monarchy, which is a form of government that we are discussing. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/17/17:
Wildcat News Brief – Emina
Rehearse
Perform Skits
Shibboleth

Homework: Read the blog. Study for forms of government test after Thanksgiving break (Wednesday for your class). Next news brief: Josiah.

News Brief: Emina had the news brief today, but was not in class, so I filled in and selected this article to talk about with the class: HuffingtonPost.com - Polish Woman Says She Was Dragged Out Of Church After Unfurling Anti-Racism Banner. We found Poland in the world map packet and noted that we did a news article on the country as we discussed what happened here, before moving on to talk about the upcoming weekend.

Josiah was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we ended the section by watching Westview Wildcat News. If you missed class or wanted to see it again, here it is:

Rehearse/Perform Skits: As I mentioned above, I really enjoyed the skits about representing different forms of government, even if they were very brief. The groups did a good job of thinking of how to present each of the main ideas! Here was the packet that this was based on (a few of the types were not on the PowerPoint, like Oligarchy and Anarchy, so make sure to review them and what some of the benefits and drawbacks of each system are):

Google Drive - Types of Government Readings

Just look at the readings from A-G, because you do not need to know the economic structures that are later in the packet. In class, we went over the form of government, along with possible benefits and drawbacks.

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! Have a wonderful break - see you next week, when we will wrap up studying the forms of Government (Monday) and take the quiz (Wednesday).

Government, Day 3 - Class Recap

The Parliament of Barbados, in the Caribbean. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

We went into more detail as to what government is and looks like in various systems around the world. Lots of content to check out! Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Paris, Tokyo" by Lupe Fiasco. Selected for today because it is just an excellent song about traveling around the world. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/16/17:
News Brief – Vicky
Debrief Forced Choice
Forms of Government
Group Work

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

News Brief: Vicky had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: VICE.com - Canadian and British Backpackers Mysteriously Die in Cambodia. We found Cambodia in the world map (in Asia!) and discussed the article for a bit. It is important that we continue learning about what is going on in the world and where events take place! Thanks, Vicky!

Emina was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about what people were up to outside of class, before moving on.

Debrief Forced Choice: This was when we talked about how the activity went and the answers to these questions (a one page written reflection was due to be completed in class today): What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government?

I really like the debate format in forced choice (obviously, or I wouldn't spend the majority of two days on it), so thank you for your participation and reflection!

Forms of Government: This was a PowerPoint presentation that went over various basic forms of government. Students took Cornell Notes (if they wanted that form - otherwise, it was on a regular sheet of paper) on the lecture. Here's the file for review (there will be an upcoming quiz on forms of government):

Google Drive - Forms of Government PowerPoint

As with most presentations I create, the pictures are almost entirely mine! :-)

Group Activity: The last part of class was devoted to getting into small groups (which I assigned randomly) to investigate a specific form of government and go through some benefits and drawbacks of it. Next class, the small groups will be performing brief skits to demonstrate the form of government they have been given! Here is a link to the handout from today (each group was assigned one):

Google Drive - Forms of Government Group Activity

We finished with this today (it is NOT homework to complete). Next class, I will give time to finish creating the skits, we will perform them, then have some Thanksgiving themed activities. See you next class!

Government, Day 2 - Class Recap

Winter time is coming! Photo taken outside my house in 2008.

Dear class,

It was so nice to see you all again today! Our only full week before Thanksgiving during November! Again, I really enjoyed the discussion today. Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley. Selected for today because students were standing up for what they believed in, in terms of the Forced Choice questions. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/14/17:
News Brief – Ryan
DBQ Grades
Forced Choice
Reflection

Homework: Read the blog. Catch up on any late/incomplete/missing work. Next news brief: Vicky.

News Brief: Ryan had the news brief today, but was not in class, so I filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Iran-Iraq border earthquake is deadliest of 2017. This was a huge story that just happened over the weekend, with hundreds of people killed. We found Iraq in our world maps and noted that a news brief was done on the story.

Vicky was selected to do the next news brief.

I also asked about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

DBQ Grades: If you submitted your Culture DBQ online on Google Classroom, you would have seen that I posted the grades and my comments over the weekend. If you wrote out your DBQ on paper, I passed them back today in class. I highlighted your thesis statement (if I could find one), documents referenced, and your scores on the grading rubric. Your grades have been posted in StudentVUE! Thank you for your hard work!

I also passed back work from the Culture Unit, which could have been used as notes for the DBQ. I gave these assignments a collective Behavior Target grade for managing responsibilities as a student. In the grade book, this means:

CI: Consistently and Independently - the student turned in everything from the unit, completed and on time.
G: Generally - the student turned in most of the work from the unit, completed and on time
R: Rarely - the student did not turn in much (if anything) from the unit.

These were based on the following assignment:

1) Surface culture worksheet (National Geographic photos PowerPoint)
2) Cornell Notes on Culture definitions/iceberg PowerPoint
3) Nacirema writing (neatly written or typed, 200 words minimum)
4) Time for School Notes/Answers

Please turn in your work if you have not yet!

Forced Choice: This is one of my favorite activities of the year. I had the class answer the following questions and choose YES or NO to each of them. Then, we split up the class so that two sides were facing each other. With each question, students moved to the side they felt best represented their opinion on the matter. These are difficult ethical questions and I am glad that we have the type of classroom culture that students feel able to talk about them! The questions were:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. People in the United States should be able to have firearms if they want.
3. Government officials should have to approve/sign off on marriages that they are against on religious grounds.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Public schools should strictly enforce a standardized dress code.
6. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should be able to make decisions that the majority of the people do not support.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
9. I agree with the death penalty option for convicted murderers.
10. Confederate monuments should be taken down/removed from display.

Today, we did questions 4, 5, and 9 (the class was a really talkative and engaged group today!). Lots of interesting questions and critical thinking! Thank you for your responses and participation. It was not possible to get to every hand that was up in every discussion, for which I apologize. I am glad that students were engaged!

Here is the article on Oregon and death penalty costs that I shared in class:

OregonLive.com - Can Oregon Afford the Death Penalty?

If you had any other articles or links to share to back up what you shared in class, please post them in the comments!

Reflection: With about 10 minutes left in class, we stopped the debate, so I could give the assignment, which is important, because we spent most of two days on this activity.

Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you (if no question was difficult, what were you most passionate about)? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government?

We will do a short debrief on the activity next class, then move on to learning about the basics of government around the world.

Thanks! See you next class!

Government, Day 1 - Class Recap

On the roof of the Bundestag building in Berlin, Germany. This is where the government of Germany meets. Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

Another shortened week, with Veterans Day on Friday! I really enjoyed the discussion today in class. I'm sure it was a nice change from all of the writing students have had to do in the last few days for the class! Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1:  I can use language and  style that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: "The War Was in Color" by Carbon Leaf. The reason I chose this song for today is because it is all about a veteran describing war to his grandson. We have Friday off of school because of Veteran's Day (observed - it is always November 11th, which is Saturday this year). Lyrics (which I read part of in class) here.

AGENDA 11/9/17:
News Brief – Jessica
DBQ Debrief
Group Activity
Forced Choice

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any late/missing/incomplete culture work (especially DBQs). Next news brief: Ryan.

News Brief: Jessica had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: BBCNews.com - Colombia seizes largest stash of cocaine ever. We found the Colombia in our world maps and noted that we did a news brief on the country, before moving on.

Ryan was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the latest one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

DBQ Debrief: I was interested in student thoughts about how the first DBQ (Documents Based Question) went. I understand that it was a challenging assignment, and that many students were perhaps not used to having a firm time deadline for a piece of writing. The reason we are did this was to get used to this structure, as you will frequently see it the rest of high school and college with timed writing exams. It's important to continue to get better!

Group Activity: Since students had been begging to retry the Sporcle World Geography quiz, we had attempt #2 on the year, as a class, with no notes or phones or maps allowed. Your class was able to name 155 out of 197 today, which is getting better! Here is the link to be able to play again if you want:

Sporcle.com - Countries of the World Game

We will come back to this later in the year! :-)

Forced Choice: This is one of my favorite activities of the year. I had the class answer the following questions and choose YES or NO to each of them. Then, we split up the class so that two sides were facing each other. With each question, students moved to the side they felt best represented their opinion on the matter. These are difficult ethical questions and I am glad that we have the type of classroom culture that students feel able to talk about them! The questions were:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. People in the United States should be able to have firearms if they want.
3. Government officials should have to approve/sign off on marriages that they are against on religious grounds.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Public schools should strictly enforce a standardized dress code.
6. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should be able to make decisions that the majority of the people do not support.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
9. I agree with the death penalty option for convicted murderers.
10. Confederate monuments should be taken down/removed from display.

We only made it to question 2 today, so I will pick and choose next class as to which questions we will discuss and debate, before writing a reflective piece about the experience. I love these discussions and I think we did a great job of following the Ground Rules that we established at the beginning of the year.

Thank you for your participation, everyone! Be ready to keep talking next time.

Culture, Day 11 - Class Recap

Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo taken in 2016 during the Rio 2016 Olympics. Lots of culture on display, for sure!

Hello everyone,

Our last class dealing with culture, as students had a timed write in class with finishing the DBQ essay. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Sirius" by Alan Parsons Project. Selected for today as another pump up song for writing the DBQ. No lyrics, but listen here.

AGENDA 11/7/17:
News Brief - Kylie
Grade Updates
Write DBQ Essay
SSR/Quiet Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. All Culture unit work was due in class today - if you did not turn it in, do so ASAP! As a reminder, this is:

1) Surface culture worksheet (National Geographic photos PowerPoint)
2) Cornell Notes on Culture definitions/iceberg PowerPoint
3) Nacirema writing (neatly written or typed, 200 words minimum)
4) Time for School Notes/Answers

Next news brief: Jessica.

News Brief: Kylie had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about with the class: BBC.com - Saudi prince killed in helicopter crash near Yemen border. We found Saudi Arabia in the Middle East map and talked for a bit in class about this story and what is currently happening in Saudi Arabia. We also checked in about what people were up to outside of class this weekend.

Jessica was selected to do the next news brief.

If you wanted to watch the one minute BBC World News update, here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day:

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Grade Updates: After the news, I talked about what I saw while updating grades for the Progress Report. In general, I loved the Culture Projects the class did! I enjoyed the students that wrote they had never really thought about their own culture before, and I know that everyone enjoyed the presentations in class about cultures around the world, as well. Thank you for your hard work with these! The next grades in the grade book with be for the Culture DBQ, which are the same learning targets as the Culture Project, so your grade may change when I grade them (hopefully later this week).

Write DBQ Essay: The rest of class was devoted to writing the DBQ essay (this is linked to in Google Classroom), based off of the documents that you analyzed last class. Before we did this, we went through the handout going through the steps to writing a DBQ (as well as recalled our notes on the Justin Bieber example):

Google Drive - How to Write a Document Based Question 

As students finished the five paragraph essay, they turned it in on Google Classroom or handed it in to me in person, along with the rest of their Culture Unit work.

SSR/Quiet Work Time: After students finished the essay, it was quiet work time in class as everyone had until the end of class to complete the assignment. Next class, we will begin our next unit, on Governments and structures of power around the world! See you then!

Culture, Day 10 - Class Recap

One of the ways culture both reflects and shapes society is through religion. This is a church in Budapest, Hungary, in 2013. I just loved the lighting here! No special effects!

Dear class,

We are almost done with the Culture unit! One more day of DBQ writing to go. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Knowledge LT 15: I can explain how culture both reflects and shapes society.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited. Intended as a pump up song to begin writing the DBQ essay today in class! Here's a link to the version I played in class, from ESPN's "Jock Jams" CD.

AGENDA 11/2/17:
News Brief - Varsha
DBQ Scaffolding
Questions?
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Bring all Culture unit work next class to turn in after writing the essay section of the DBQ! As a reminder, this is:

1) Surface culture worksheet (National Geographic photos PowerPoint)
2) Cornell Notes on Culture definitions/iceberg PowerPoint
3) Nacirema writing (neatly written or typed, 200 words minimum)
4) Time for School Notes/Answers

Next news brief: Kylie.

News Brief: Varsha had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about with the class: JapanTimes.co.jp - Trump likely to meet families of abductees to North Korea on November visit to Japan. We found North Korea in the Asia map and talked for a bit in class about this story and President Trump's upcoming 12 day visit to Asia. We also checked in about what people were up to outside of class this weekend.

Kylie was selected to do the next news brief.

If you wanted to watch the one minute BBC World News update, here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day:

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

DBQ Scaffolding: Today was almost entirely devoted to answering the scaffolding questions portion of the culture DBQ (which is on Google Classroom or was handed out as a paper copy in class if students did not have their Chromebooks).

We began this process as a class, with this handout going through the steps to writing a DBQ:

Google Drive - How to Write a Document Based Question 

We had about 60 minutes in class to be completing the document analysis. Next class, we will write the essay response in class, so please come prepared with all of your notes!

Have a great long weekend!