28 & 29 January

Today's starter was: Can two people read the same thing or see the same thing and get two different meanings, or see things in two different ways?  Give an example.

We handed in the starters today - there were 7 maximum - I counted it out of six.

The green packets are due the next time we meet.

 We looked at Washington D.C. a little more - then we began looking at the Bill of Rights.

24 & 25 January

What is the difference between a right and a responsibility?  Name one right you have in America.  Name one responsibility you have.

We read an Encyclopedia Brown.

I gave the class 15 minutes to finish the Federal Government/Constitution Packet.  This will be due next time!

22 & 23 January

Our starter today was meant to serve as a review of "checks and balances."  It was:  What is one check that -

• the Executive Branch has on the Legislative Branch?
• the Legislative Branch has on the Executive Branch?

After discussing the starter, we finished watching A More Perfect Union.

The Revolutionary War Theme Park tests are now graded.  Any that have not been turned in by this point are quite late.  This DOES NOT mean that I will dock points or not accept them, it simply means that you will have a "0" until they are turned in.  Since this is your only grade so far this semester, it will affect your grade quite a bit.

Get them turned in as soon as you can!

You can also fix a low grade, if your wish.

We worked on the Constitution and Federal Government packets and then looked a little bit more of our tour of Washington D.C.

By the way, here is an interesting picture from the inauguration.  The New York Times has identified a number of the people seen in a large picture from President Obama's second inauguration. 

17 & 18 January

Today's starter -  Name two of the goals of the Constitution as outlined in the preamble.

Today we discussed the starter and then read an Encyclopedia Brown mystery.  We watched a little of the video and completed the notes on Checks and Balances.  We then began a picture tour of Washington D.C.

15 & 16 January

Today's starter was:  Tell me two things that influenced James Madison and the others when they wrote the Constitution.

After discussing the starter, we peer edited our American Revolution Theme Park tests.  We then handed them in.  I am in the process of grading them now.  If you didn't get yours turned in, get it in soon.  Remember, I do not dock points for late assignments.

We continued taking notes on, and learning about the structure of our government.  We also watched more of A More Perfect Union.

11 & 14 January

Today's starter was: Have you ever had a really good idea - I mean a really good idea - and when you shared this idea with other people they either didn't like it or they may have even put your idea down.  Tell me about it -

Today we watched a little bit more of A More Perfect Union.  As we watched it we also paused to take notes on the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, as well as the Great Compromise.  We then looked at the early influences of the Constitution.

9 & 10 January

Today's starter was: Was the Federal Government under the Articles of Confederation weak or strong?  Why did they make it that way?

After discussing the starter we reviewed the important points from our last class session:

• Constitutions limit the powers of governments and list the rights of the citizens
• The first government of the United States was the Articles of Confederation
• This government was intentionally weak - the states had most of the power
• The states feared the return of a king or a government that would take away their rights

Today we looked at the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, as well as its strengths.

We began watching A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation.  This movie was made by Brigham Young University and it does a good job of outlining the events leading to the Constitutional Convention, as well as showing the creation of the Constitution.

7 & 8 January

Our starter for today was:  What is the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?  

We collected the starters today - these will be the last set of starters that will be counted on term 2.

Please take a look at your grades on Skyward - there will not be any new assignments added to this term so your grade can not go down.  If you would like to have a higher grade for Term 2, please turn in any missing assignments or complete any re-dos by Monday at 2:00 at the very latest.  I would prefer all late work/re-dos turned in Monday morning.

I gave each class 20 minutes to work on the Revolutionary War Theme Park (test).  This will be due next Tuesday (for A days) or Wednesday (for B days).  It will be the first grade on Term 3.

Today we began our study of the U.S. Constitution.  We began with a very brief overview of different political systems that are used throughout the world.  We briefly discussed what a constitution is and how it is different from simply being a collection of laws.  We then looked at the Articles of Confederation and some of their weaknesses.  We will go into more depth on the Articles next time.

3 & 4 January 2013

Welcome back to school and welcome to 2013!

Today's starter was meant to get your brain back in thinking shape - What did you like learning about most when we studied the Revolutionary War?

We read an Encyclopedia Brown mystery and then spent the rest of the time working on our Revolutionary War Theme Parks.  Remember, these will be graded on Third Term.