Review Day

Reviewed for MC and worked on brainstorming for written portion.
Reminder to use target sheet and notice section on Illinois Const. and section on knowing your government officials.

Bill of Rights and Review

Today we reviewed the Bill of Rights and went over the requirements of the written test.   The last 15 minutes were devoted to work time. Here is the brainstorming sheet for the written test which is due at the end of class on Monday,

The Bill of Rights

Today we'll review the scenarios about the Bill of Rights that you began in class last Friday. We'll use those to guide our discussion of Amendments 1-10 and the corresponding worksheet.
Also to be assigned today is the WRITTEN PORTION of the Constitution Test.
I'll also handout the TARGETS (review guide) to know for the Multiple Choice Portion.

Articles 4-7 and the Bill of Rights

Today we'll discuss Articles 4-7 using our annotated Constitutions and worksheets.
When finished, before going over the details of the Bill of Rights, we'll try to apply them to real scenarios by using this worksheet: You Be the Judge. In groups, students will talk through the scenarios and keep track of their responses in their notebooks.

Constitution Day

This week in U.S. History class we'll be reviewing the tenets of the United States Constitution. On Wednesday we reviewed Article One, today we'll look at Articles Two and Three, tomorrow we'll look at Articles 4-7 and on Monday we'll examine the Bill of Rights. We'll use our annotated Constitutions as well the worksheets to guide our discussions.

Today is CONSTITUTION DAY (or Citizenship Day) in recognition of the day when the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 signed the document they created and sent it to the states for ratification.

9/11

Today is the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  While all Americans have been affected by these events, students today have never known a United States without that experience.  

After viewing this film together, please respond in your blog to the prompt below: (Remember that this is public, so please do your best to pay attention to spelling and grammar.  If it is easier for you, write the post in a google doc, and then copy it to your blog.) 

We have been talking about what it means to be an American since the first day of class.  Whether you have considered this before or not, your understanding of that question has been indelibly marked by the events of 9/11 and their aftermath.   How do you believe your country and your understanding of what it means to be an American has been impacted by these events?

After you have written your post, please read this commentary (if the link doesn't work, click HERE) Now go back to your post and add a comment.  What issues are raised for you in this piece?  How is your experience similar to or different from that of the author?
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After sharing our thoughts from our blog posts, we'll return to our discussion of the Constitution, focusing on our notes about Article One. 
Your homework for Wednesday is to finish the questions from the Article One worksheet and annotate Articles 2 and 3. 

Ratification

Today we watched the end of the film, Liberty and discussed the ratification debate, identifying details about the Federalists and Anti-Federalists that we learned from the Foner textbook as well as the film. We finished class by working on some interpretations of what we learned using this format:
When Foner/the Film is arguing ___________ about the Federalists or Anti Federalists, does that mean__________? If so, then I wonder _____________(what's the implication).

There has also been a change to the homework that is reflected in the assignment sheet. For HW, students received a printed copy of the Constitution and are directed to read Article I for tomorrow. As they read they need to define each of the seven phrases of the Preamble and then make an annotation for each Clause found in Article I that defines or identifies the meaning of that clause.  If you missed class, you can print out the Constitution from home at this LINK.

Founding a Nation

Today we'll begin to explore the creation of the Constitution of the United States. We'll supplement our homework for today with a look at the film, Liberty that will help us to answer the following key questions:
1) What were the primary weaknesses and strengths of the Articles of Confederation?
2) How would the new Constitution balance competing claims of local self-government, sectional interests, and national authority?
3) Who would be considered full fledged members of the American people, entitled to the blessings of liberty?
4) What were the arguments for and ratification put forth by the Federalists and Anti-Federalists?
As you watch the film today, please use this GUIDE to take notes as you watch.  If you need to review the film, you can see it below.


Liberty! The American Revolution_ 6_6 by waja100

Declaring Independence Contd.

Today we finished reading and discussing the Declaration of Independence (see prior post) and then divided the Foner section on the Revolutionary War (158-165) into six parts. The class was divided into groups with each assigned one of the six sections. Each group was then directed to turn their section into an episode of an HBO miniseries titled "The Revolution". Each episode needed to have: a title; a list of main characters; a plot synopsis; an image; and a brief review. All of the information is on a poster displayed in the classroom.

Declaring Independence

After sharing our work on the Liberty documents, we summarized Foner by making a list of British actions and American responses leading to independence . To illustrate the violence of some American responses we watched this scene from the John Adams miniseries.
We then talked about the decision to declare independence, watching John Adams' argument to the Continental Congress in favor of it (you can also read the text of his speech here).
We finished class by taking a close look at the Declaration of Independence which you can find on page 38 of AR or here, using these questions.

Notions of Liberty Contd.

Today we'll discuss the definitions of liberty identified in the Foner reading for today. We'll then expand our definitions by reading John Adams' Liberty and Knowledge in the American Reader.
Then, after filling out Adams' column in the chart, each student will be assigned to read either Andrew Hamilton's Defense of the Freedom of the Press or James Otis' Argument Against the Writs of Assistance. With a partner, students will discuss the readings and fill out the remainder of Part I of the chart.

Materials used today include:

• Your hw notes
• The American Reader
• Liberty Chart
• Andrew Hamilton's Defense of the Freedom of the Press
• James Otis' Argument Against the Writs of Assistance