April 16th 2020

By | Published Thursday, April 16, 2020

Activity #1: Non-Legislative (non law-making) Powers of Congress

Watch the following video over Legislative Oversight and answer the questions in your notebooks...


  1. What are Congressional Committees and what do they do (This not in the video)?
  2. What is Legislative Oversight?
  3. How does Congress exercise oversight on the Executive Branch? In other words, what can Congress actually do to the Executive Branch after investigating the President and the Bureaucracy's actions?

Activity #2: Claim and Reasoning...

Make a claim that answers the following prompt and provide evidence, examples, or reasoning to support you claim...

Prompt:
Explain why Congress is the branch with the most responsibility for controlling our government from becoming too powerful... 

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April 14th 2020

By | Published Monday, April 13, 2020

Activity One: Congress Review: A Bicameral Congress...

Review the following video and complete the assignment that follows...


Create a T-Chart in your notebook for activity #1 that compares the House and the Senate...  I am not worried about formatting.  I know that it can be tough to format this in your google notebook.  In your T-Chart, make sure to compare the House and the Senate in this way...

                                House of Representatives                   X                    Senate

  1. Size
  2. Terms
  3. Qualifications       
  4. Unique Responsibilities

Activity #2: Law-Making Process:

Order the following events in the process of how a bill becomes a law...

The bill is signed or vetoed by the President
The bill is referred to a committee
The bill is debated by the committee
The bill is written by anyone
The bill is debated on the floor of the house or senate
The bill is sent to a conference committee to eliminate differences
The bill is sent to the President
The bill is passed by the committee (or it fails)
The bill is sent to the other house to repeat the process
The whole House or Senate votes on the bill
The bill is introduced to the House or Senate by a member of Congress

If you need some help, you can read this document...




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April 9th 2020

By | Published Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Hey guys!  Welcome back!  I hope you are doing well. Today, we are going to take a check back and review Federalism.  Yay!!! Federalism!  This is our last lesson for the week.  Again, I will be on zoom from 9-10 and 2-3 each day if you have any questions.

Activity #1: What is Federalism?  

First watch the following video to review the concept of Federalism and answer the following questions in your notebook...



  1. What is Federalism?
  2. What is the difference between Dual and Cooperative Federalism, which one better describes the United States today?
  3. How does money (grants and unfunded mandates) impact the balance of power between states and the federal government?

Activity #2 - Federalism in crisis, or is this the idea?

In the last couple of weeks, states have proposed a variety of solutions to the current crisis. Some have reached out for federal aid, while others have taken matters into their own hands. Some states have locked down businesses and citizens' movements, while others have waited to take such strong actions.

Check out at least two of the articles below and then respond to the following questions. Be sure to include specific examples where possible.

1. What advantages do larger states (by population) have during crises, particularly when it comes to funding?

2. To what extent can a state's governor exercise "wartime powers"? Are these reserved only to the federal government?

3. How might party politics play into how states choose to cooperate during crisis?

https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2020/03/31/what-you-should-know-about-florida-s-new-checkpoints

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/01/coronavirus-state-governors-best-worst-covid-19-159945

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April 7th 2020

By | Published Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Welcome back to week 3! 

Here is the lesson for today.  It is about amending the constitution.

Activity #1: The Amendment Process Background

Watch the following two videos and answer the corresponding questions in your online notebooks.

The purpose of the first video is to talk to you about the process of amending the Constitution...




  1. Diagram or explain the process for how an amendment can be added to the Constitution...
  2. What is the constitution not clear about when it comes to the gap between proposal and ratification of amendments?
  3. What does Hip Hughes think the 28th amendment should be, do you agree or do you have a better idea?

The purpose of the second video is to discuss why it is so hard to amend the constitution in the United States, and how other branches of government have "changed" the Constitution without amendments...



  1. Why is the Constitution Hard to Amend video
  2. Explain why amending the constitution is hard?
  3. If we can't change by adding an amendments how does our Constitution change still?

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April 6th 2020

By | Published Sunday, April 5, 2020

Today is the new district "Catch Up" Day and Professional Development for teachers.  This means that we will not have a lesson on Mondays.  Lessons will always be on Tuesday and Thursday from this point forward!  See you Tuesday!

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April 3rd 2020

By | Published Friday, April 3, 2020

Catch Up Friday!!! Use today to catch up on your notebook for this week!  I will put them in over the weekend.  Have a chilly day!  See you soon.

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April 2nd 2020

By | Published Wednesday, April 1, 2020

All responses should be typed in your new interactive notebook (Google doc).

Debrief E.1

Answer the following question in your notebooks...

If states had been left "sovereign"or independent, as they were in the Articles of Confederation, how might national crises be handled differently than they are today?  Would this be good or bad?

Activity #1 -ASAP


Below are a collection of excerpts from our original government system (Articles of Confederation). Conduct a detailed ASAP of the excerpts below. Here the "Setting" and "Purpose" are the important components.  For the Author, Setting, and Audience, Article 1 2 and three will be the same.  But for the Purpose, create three separate Purposes, one for each article.

Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of America”. 
Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. 
Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever. . . . 

Activity #2 - Scenario Creation

If the US had continued under the Articles of Confederation (without an executive, national court system, and each state behaving as an independent nation), which our states today would have...

- Prospered and been powerful nations?
- Invaded and overtaken other states?
- Rejoined with England?
- Formed alliances with other states?

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