Benchmark I Retake (Thursday November 3) Retake Questions

The following are the questions for your retake Thursday.  Each should be answered in a full essay in order to get full credit.

1. Define and explain (i.e. give specific and realistic examples that relate to specific parts of our government) of each of the following: separation of powers, checks and balances and federalism.
2. What rights are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?  Explain the main points of each of the first ten amendments.

Test Next Week and Notebook Check

Folks:
Good day.  Our test will be next Monday and Tuesday.  The test will cover the material on Political Culture, Public Opinion, Political Ideology, Political Socialization and Political Participation from the notes.
Test format:
Multiple Choice, Matching, True/False, One Toulmin

I will also be checking your notebooks for the first time ever.  Below is the description of how it should be set up:


Notebook:  All students are required to maintain a course notebook.  The notebook must stay current and organized.  There will be periodic, unannounced, notebook checks and the notebook will be turned in at the end of both semesters.  This is designed to keep the students organized and can serve as a needed grade boost for the student.  The notebook MUST be organized as follows:  The first section includes your daily EQ log, to be updated on a daily basis.  The second section contains all vocabulary related work for each unit.  The third section contains all notes taken throughout the year, separated by unit. The fourth section lists all of the Supreme Court cases we have covered in class.  There could be a quiz on these cases at any point during the school year.  The fifth section should include any visual materials you are given or you produce (charts, graphs, brochures etc).  The sixth section should include all quizzes and tests.  The seventh section will include written responses to class discussions, debates and Socratic seminars.  The eighth section is the unit essay section.  In that section the student will store all unit essay practices, information, and responses.

Polling Assignment-DUE Nov 15 and 16

Polling Assignment (100 pts) (Project Grade)

Create your own poll about your own topic (must relate to something we might discuss in class and must be approved by me), conduct the poll, and submit a report based on your results.

Components

1.       Poll (3 questions with 4 possible answers each) that focuses on a specific topic (health care, President, abortion, Constitution, immigration)

Examples:

How would you rate Barack Obama’s accomplishments as President so far?

A.      Very successful

B.      Moderately successful

C.      Not very successful

D.      Failure

How do you feel about nationalized health insurance?

A.      The government should provide health insurance to all legal and illegal residents of our country

B.      The government should provide health insurance to citizens of our country

C.      The government should provide health insurance to a very limited selection of our population

D.      The government should not provide health insurance to anyone

2.       Poll Report (Summary and analysis of your poll results)

In this section, you will provide written as well as graphic illustrations of your poll results.  You should summarize your poll results in paragraph form, as well as through graphs created on Graph Creator, and provide an analysis of your poll results (i.e. attempt to explain why your classmates might have felt the way they did based on their social, economic, religious and political influences).  One to two pages of text and three pages of graphs (one for each question) should suffice.  Make sure to also include a copy of your three questions.  (Order: (1) title page, (2) questions page, (3) results summary, (4) graph 1, (5) graph 2, (6) graph 3)

Specifications:

·         Must poll at least 30 students (can only poll Seniors and they must be randomly selected.  We will discuss how to do this in class.) 

S

·         Must turn in by

·         Must be typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt font, with 1 inch margins

Sample Topics:

·         Abortion

·         Defense Spending

·         Entitlement Programs (Social Security, Welfare etc.)

HW

Take the following online quiz and be prepared to share your results (i.e. what ideology it said you have) in class Monday and/or Wednesday and Tuesday and/or Thursday.
Quiz location:
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz

For Monday the 17th and Tuesday the 18th

Read the following article and complete a TIPPSummary and a QPR on it.
Article One: The status of the unborn: A person already?
Think about (and be prepared to discuss) the following questions:

• Why is Mississippi attempting to define legally when life begins?
• What potential impact could this have on the right to have an abortion?
• What other questions might this raise?

Welcome...week's events

Welcome students and parents.  Please use this blog to keep up with past and upcoming events in the class.

As far as this (and next week) goes:
This week...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Finish mock trials
Friday: Guest speaker!

Next week...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Constitution and Bill of Rights Test
Thursday, Friday: Begin Political Culture and Public Opinion