C-Block Collaborative Powerpoint Executive Departments

Link to Powerpoint

D Block Collaborative Powerpoint

Link to project description

Link to D Block Powerpoint

History of Lynching in the United States

Lynching Memorial EJI

What is Confederate history all about? Do statues of Confederate generals capture the brutality of racial violence? Check out this simulation of the new Lynching Museum being built by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.

Confederate Monument Project

How Southern Socialites Rewrote Civil War History

Confederate Monument Timeline 

Our project on the Legislative Branch will pull together both the skill of problem solving through drafting legislation and the issues surrounding the role of race and historical memory in the United States. Through a complicated look at the issues surrounding the removal of Confederate Monuments we will investigate multiple perspectives on the role of memorialization. To start off the research, above are two short videos that sheds light on the historical pattern of Confederate memorialization.

Many Rivers to Cross

Link to Film

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (Episode 3 - Into the Fire)

Write ten facts you think are important. Make sure to take note of the role of racial violence in upholding the system of racial segregation in the south.

The Declaration of Independence

PBS Liberty - Blows Must Decide

Please watch the above episode from the PBS Film Series, Liberty. In this episode, Blows Must Decide, colonists undergo a transformation from Englishmen to Americans. A series of events push the colonists closer to severing ties with Great Britain. Create a timeline of the important events that push the colonists to sever ties with Great Britain and lead up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

MLA Citation for "Documented"

 Dir. Jose Antonio Vargas. Documented. N.p., 2013. Web.

Facing Controversial Issues

These Black Lives Matter activists were invited on stage at a pro-Trump rally – and every American needs to hear what they said pic.twitter.com/m69yvgiQtw

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 19, 2017

Immigration is a controversial issue in American society. As a class we hold both conservative and liberal opinions on this topic. Some of you may feel passionately that undocumented young people who came to the US through no fault of their own deserve a road to legal status. Others of you may feel just as passionately that US immigration laws must be enforced and any exception only encourages a greater flow of illegal immigration. Before you dig deeper into this issue and investigate both sides of this topic through the resources linked to the blog, I would like you to watch this brief video of a Trump rally. Black Lives Matter protesters showed up and what happened next may surprise you. After you watch the video, I would like you to leave a comment on the blog. (Click on the highlighted blue comment link at the end of this post, below the video, to leave your response).

Answer the question: What impressed you the most about this video? 

Please sign your name to your comment, and of course, use appropriate language. I hope we can enter our debate with the same willingness to show tolerance of each others views. 

AFTER POSTING YOUR COMMENT - GO TO THE DACA Resource Materials PAGE ON THE RIGHT OF THE BLOG TO FIND YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

WELCOME

Welcome to American Government! Our first unit focuses on Civic Participation. Below is our syllabus for the unit. 

American Government

CIVIC PARTICIPATION

The purpose of this unit is to develop an understanding of both the rights afforded to citizens in a democracy and the duties and responsibilities that accompany these rights. Citizenship will be investigated as a legal status and a way of life with special attention paid to the necessity of civic participation.

Enduring Understandings:

American citizenship is a legal status that includes duties such as obeying the law, serving in the armed forces, and jury duty, as well as responsibilities such as voting and public service.  Democracy is dependent upon the participation of its citizens in government and society.

  1.   Defining citizenship:               Activity: What is good government?

Forms of Citizenship

Civics in Action [pp6-20]  

Special Focus: James Foley

 2. Citizenship as a legal status

        History of immigration in US – Choices background brief

        Travel documents in North America – Webquest        

        Selected Readings: What Does Immigration Actually Cost Us? The New York Times

                                       

        FILM:  Documented  by Jose Antonio Vargas

                                                Civics in Practice [pp. 11-16]   

Position paper: Ending the DACA program and deporting undocumented students is a legal, moral and necessary step towards securing our borders.

3.      Participatory Democracy: “Cast your vote not with a mere strip of paper, but with your whole life.”

Henry David Thoreau

 Demographics: Class Census Project

 Participating in communities: family, school, town, state, nation

                       Reading and Focus Questions: Adolescent Lives in Transition by Donna San Antonio   

                       Webquest:  Get to know your community. Problems, Solutions and Service

                                              FILM:  Freedom Riders PBS

                                              Civics in Practice [pp. 17-21]

4.  Civic Participation Project: Class will design, implement and reflect upon an authentic service   

     project.

Hurricane Harvey: How can we make a difference?

Adopt a Classroom research, action plan and goals.

Audio and Visual Material about President Trump's Executive Order on Immgiration

Nicholas Kristof:  Mr. Trump, Meet My Family

Tomi Lahren: America First

Which Image Should Represent the Future of U.S. Immigration Policy?

Foreign Policy - The ER - David Rothkopf on Membership in a Global Community (Listen to 17:15-17:55)

Saving Syria at the 11th Hour

The Weeds Podcast - Don't Call it a Muslim Ban (Final 2:00 minutes superb)

Political Cartoons