Day 1 (Sem II) - Beyond the Constitution

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Learning Targets:  Students will be able to....

• Explain how the U.S. Constitution protects individual liberties and rights.
• Describe the rights protected in the Bill of Rights.
• Explain the extent to which the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First and Second Amendments reflects a commitment to individual liberty.

Through the U.S. Constitution, but primarily through the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment, citizens and groups have attempted to limit national and state governments to prevent them from infringing upon individual rights and from denying equal protection under the law. 

However, it has sometimes been argued that these legal protections have been used to slow reforms and restrict freedoms of others in the name of social order.

Opener:  Which of the following scenarios would be a violation of a student's civil liberties?  Which right, or amendment, does this scenario potentially violate?

1.  A student is told that their views regarding evolution are offensive and they must choose a different topic for a science project.
2.  A teacher forbids a student from leading a prayer group during passing period in the hallway.
3.  Student journalists are suspended for publishing personal, sensitive details about other students in the school newspaper.
4. Protesting a new policy requiring student uniforms, a group of students are forcibly removed from a school board meeting.
5. All students who wish to obtain a parking pass must first sign a contract that consents to a search of their vehicles at any time.
6. A new policy allows teachers to suspend students "on the spot" for up to 3 days.
7. School resource officers question a student about "hacking" into the district server.
8. A student is suspended for 10 days for stealing from the cafeteria, while another student is suspended later in the year for 1 day for the same crime.

Activity #1 - N-50 - Civil Liberty

LD - Individual rights and protections that protect citizens from unjust government actions or laws that would limit freedoms.

SD - 

Examples - Speech, privacy, safety, press, assembly

Non-Examples - Protections from other private citizens, government benefits

Related Terms - Bill of Rights, Limited Government, Civil Rights

Activity #2 - Use OSAM to analyze the cartoon below:

Close:  CPE Project

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18NnqsSptwaTuF2MyshwSaqRMj3yx-qhlrFN-CSACmw0/edit?usp=sharing

Day 38 - Semester Review

Learning Targets:

• See all previous learning targets from this year

Opener:  Which 3 terms from your N-50 do you think are the most central to understanding US Government.

Activity #1 - Practice Tests

Personal Progress Check:

1.  Login to My AP Classroom - https://myap.collegeboard.org

2.  Take the Unit 2 PPC

3.  Examine the items that you have missed

Activity #2 - M&M PERP
Use the PERP method of analysis to examine the landmark cases of Marbury v Madison and McCulloch v Maryland

Activity #3 - Final Prep

Below are list of terms, documents, and skills that are required to be successful on the semester I final. Be able to define, provide examples, or relevant quotes from the following.

Exam Format:

Multiple Choice
25 stimulus based
25 knowledge/application based

Written
1 Short Answer
1 Document
1 Cartoon
1 Graph
1 Case

Terms and Documents:

Social Contract
Popular Sovereignty
DoI
Representative Democracy
AoC
Connecticut Compromise
Preamble
Federalism
Federalist/Anti-Federalist
Federalist Paper #10, #51, #70, #78
Brutus
Ratification (⅔ and ¾)
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Delegated/Implied/Concurrent Powers
Commerce Clause
Necessary and Proper Clause
Supremacy Clause
Bicameral
Committees
Executive Authority (EO and EA)
Bureaucracy
Policy Making
Judicial Review
Restraint vs Activism
Iron Triangle

Analytical Skills and Formats:

Documents: ASAP

Data: TIP-C

Cartoons: OSAM

Cases: PERP

Close - District Benchmark:

1.  https://illuminate.online?access_code=P92W4E7

Day 37 - Are You an Activist or Restrained?

"Don't judge judges, unless you know the law and understand why they make the decisions that they do" - Antonin Scalia

Learning Targets:  Students will be able to....

• Explain the principle of judicial review and how it checks the power of other institutions and state governments.
• Explain how the exercise of judicial review in conjunction with life tenure can lead to debate about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s power.
• Explain how other branches in the government can limit the Supreme Court’s power. 

Opener:  How would you do it?

What do you think every Supreme Court justice should do, or know, prior to hearing any case?  Should they be allowed to discuss cases between themselves before they've heard them?

Activity #1:   PERP - Gideon v Wainwright

Use PERP to analyze the case of Gideon v Wainwright

https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-gideon-v-wainwright

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1962/155

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_gideon.html

Activity #2:  Supreme Court - Mock Trial Prep - Role Assignment and Process

Roles:

Attorneys for Gideon x 2
Attorneys for Wainwright x 2
Judges x 9
Court Reporters x ?

• Each attorney pair will have 10 minutes to present their case to the justices.  
• This includes the time used by the judges to ask questions and make comments to each side.
• Judges will then leave the courtroom to discuss and vote.
• After they have reached a decision, judges will then each provide a paragraph (as either the majority or dissent) that explains the reason for their decision.
• Reporters will provide a brief 1-2 paragraph article that summarizes the arguments, the judges decision, and at least one quotable phrase from the attorneys and/or the judges.

Activity #3:  Role Prep and Product

Close:  N-50 - Judicial Activism

LD - The practice of the Supreme Court and other federal judges seeking certain types of cases in order to (re)interpret the texts of the Constitution and the laws in a way that serves the judges' own visions regarding the needs of contemporary society.  This is the opposite of "Judicial Restraint", where judges hear cases and issues judgements only within the intentions and limitations of the US Constitution.

SD-

Examples - Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education

Non-Examples - Gibbons v. Ogden, Plessy v. Ferguson

Related Terms - Judicial Review, Checks and Balances, Limited Government

Day 35 - US SUPREMES!

Learning Targets:  Students will be able to....

• Explain the principle of judicial review and how it checks the power of other institutions and state governments.
• Explain how the exercise of judicial review in conjunction with life tenure can lead to debate about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s power.
• Explain how other branches in the government can limit the Supreme Court’s power. 

Opener:  Who are these people?  

Activity #1:  Supreme Court Introduction - Mini-lecture
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1p4pTZVd4ftvV32RHw-Yi0w8PEKT_vUnfk0yaC5XAip0/edit?usp=sharing

Activity #2:   Document Analysis - ASAP & Questions

1.  ASAP

Passages from Federalist #78, Written by Alexander Hamilton, 1788

"the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution . . . [it] may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments." 

"For there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the executive and legislative powers."

2.  TIP-C

3.  OSAM

Close:  Answer this question in your notebook:  

Choose 3 words that you would use to describe the US court system.

Day 34 - The Executive and the Bureaucracy - Corrections

Learning Targets:

• Explain how the bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government.
• Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses delegated discretionary authority for rule making and implementation.
• Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.
• Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

Opener:  Reflection - Record in your notebook

On a scale of 1-10, how well did you prepare for today's assessment?  
What helped you feel prepared?
What could have helped you feel prepared?

Activity #1: Test Corrections

See "Test Corrections Handouts"

All test corrections forms must be turned in on the table prior to leaving in order to receive credit.

Close:  Notebook and Corrections Turn-in

Day 33 - The Executive and the Bureaucracy - Assessment

Learning Targets:

• Explain how the bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government.
• Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses delegated discretionary authority for rule making and implementation.
• Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.
• Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

Opener:  You will have 5 minutes to ask questions and ensure that you are ready for the assessment.

Activity #1: Executive Assessment

40 M.C.
3 Document Analysis
1 Free Response Question

Activity #2:  Notebook Turn-in

Close:  Reflection

On a scale of 1-10, how well did you prepare for today's assessment?  
What helped you feel prepared?
What could have helped you feel prepared?

Day 32 - The Executive and the Bureaucracy - Recap

Learning Targets:

• Explain how the bureaucracy carries out the responsibilities of the federal government.
• Explain how the federal bureaucracy uses delegated discretionary authority for rule making and implementation.
• Explain how presidents have interpreted and justified their use of formal and informal powers.
• Explain how the president can implement a policy agenda.

Opener:  From your collective analysis from the last several weeks, describe the powers of the executive branch, or specifically the president, cabinet, and the bureaucracy in 2-3 sentences that anyone could easily understand?

*Remember to consider the formal powers and roles of the president, the expansion of presidential authority, and the daily operations of the bureaucracy.

Activity #1: Kahoot

Executive Branch Review Kahoot

Bureaucracy Review Kahoot

Activity #2:  Executive and Bureaucratic 1 pagers

Close:  For review:

Executive

• Roles of the president
• Order of Succession
• Executive Orders
• Executive Agreements
• Executive Privilege
• Veto
• War Powers Act
• Amendments 20, 22, 25
• Pardon
• Lame Duck

Bureaucracy

• Merit System
• Civil Service Exam
• Patronage
• Discretion
• Rule-Making
• Iron Triangle
• Congressional Oversight