Lesson on Monday, October 31, 2016

History Channel's "The Real Story of Halloween" Answer the two questions as you watch the documentary on Halloween.

 1. What is the origin of Halloween? (Celtic people)

2. How has Halloween changed throughout the centuries? Mention the different eras that have celebrated Halloween and the customs that were added to Halloween as time past. How did Halloween come to a crisis in the 20th century? How was Halloween saved?

 

Facts About Congressional Committees

In 1998 average representatives had 17 staffers and senators had 40.

103^rd congress- 10,000 personal staffers

3000 more employed with congressional committees

3000 more employed in congressional research agencies

Largest growing part of bureaucracy

Personal staffer duty:

Answering mail

Handling problems

Mailing newsletters

Meeting with constituents

1/3 of staff is local

Task is to get votes

Most members of congress have one local office

Half have two or more

Incumbent hard to beat because of this

STAFF AGENCIES

Agencies that work for Congress as a whole

Gives Congress specialized knowledge

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (CRS)

• Congressional Research service (CRS)

• Part of the Library of Congress
• Employs over 900 people
• Answers questions for Congress members
• Over ¼ million questions per year
• Politically neutral
• Keeps track of major bill status 
• Gives summaries of all bills- stored electronically 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Congressional Budget office (CBO)

Created in 1974

Advises Congress on the possible economic effects of spending programs

Provides information on the cost of proposed legislation

Prepares analysis of President’s budget and economic projections 

Aids Congress in budget debates

30,000 men and women work for the legislative branch and it costs $4 billion per year to finance its operations

Lesson on Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Aim: How does a bill become a law?

Bell Ringer: Review yesterday’s exit ticket.

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.Bell Ringer (5 min)

2.B.P. video: How a Bill Becomes a Law (10 min)

3.How a Bill Becomes a Law PPT (15 min)

4.Draw your own diagram explaining how a bill becomes a law. (rest of class)

Home Learning: Complete your “How a Bill Becomes a Law” drawing. 

Lesson on Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Aim: What are Congressional Committees?

Bell Ringer: Review yesterday’s exit ticket.

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.Bell Ringer (10 min)

2.Congressional Committees video (10 min)

3.Congressional Committees PPT (rest of class)

4.Exit Ticket: What is the sole purpose of a Congressional Committee?

Home Learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrSiRSb50cI

Write down new information not covered in class on a loose leaf.

Lesson on Monday, October 24, 2016

Aim: How is the leadership of Congress structured?

Bell Ringer: Review handout 2 and grade both. “Powers of Congress” Guided Notes.

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.Bell Ringer (10 min)

2.Congressional Leadership PPT (20 min)

3.Exit Ticket: Why is it important to be the Majority Party? (10 min)

Lesson on Friday, October 21, 2016

Aim: How is the legislative branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Review “Powers of Congress” Guided Notes as a class.

Objectives:

1.                        Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.                        Bell Ringer (15 min)

2.                        Review Journal 20 (5 min)

3.                        Powers of Congress video (15 min)

4.                        Powers of Congress worksheet activity (rest of class)

5.                        Submit both handouts for a grade.

NO HW! 

Lesson on Thursday, October 20, 2016

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Discuss graded Venn Diagrams and All-Write-Round Robin assignments.

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.            Bell Ringer (10 min) 

2.            Video: Inherent Powers of the government (10 min) / Students are to copy information from the video.   

3.            Journal 20 – Research: Describe the expressed, implied, and inherent powers of Congress. (10 min) 

Home Learning: Complete “Powers of Congress” guided notes. 

Lesson on Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Complete Venn Diagram. Title it “House of Representatives & U.S. Senate Venn Diagram”

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.Bell Ringer (10 min)

2.All Write Round Robin

A.       How long is a congressional term? How many sessions are in a term? 

B.        Describe the word bicameral 

C.       Describe the structure of our legislative branch (number and names of houses, number of representatives in each, what representation is based on) 

D.       Describe the qualifications to be a representative 

E.         Describe the qualifications to be a senator 

F.         Describe the term reapportionment 

G.       Describe the term redistricting / gerrymandering. 

(20   in)

3.Video: Inherent Powers of the government (3 min) 

4.Journal 20 – Research: Describe the expressed, implied, and inherent powers of Congress. (10 min) 

5.Submit: Venn Diagram & All-Write-Round-Robin "Legislative Branch" (2 separate grades)

Home Learning: Journals 11-20 and binders will be graded on Thursday. 

Lesson on Monday, October 17, 2016

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Review slides 21-25 (add information to T-Chart, in a section shared by both House of Rep. and Senate.

Objectives:

1.Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:

1.Bell Ringer (10 min)

2.Review Journal 18 (5 min)

3.Slides 26-35 (15-20 min)

4.Journal 19 – How is Congress organized? What are the expressed and implied powers of Congress? (10 min)

5.Create a graphic organizer (Venn Diagram?) comparing and contrasting the terms, qualifications, structure and expressed powers of each house of Congress.

Lesson on Friday, October 14, 2016

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Think-Pair-Share
1. What does the term bicameral mean?
2. What are the prerequisites needed to become a member of Congress?

Objectives:
1. Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:
1. Bell Ringer (10 min)
2. Legislative Branch Powerpoint, slides 8-25 (rest of class)
3. Students are to create a T-chart to annotate characteristics of both the House of Representatives and Senate

Home Learning: Journal 18 – What are the demographics of the 114th Congress?

Below are videos that we watched in class. Watch them to review information that we have covered.






 Information about the Wesburry Case:

 In reaching this landmark decision, the Supreme Court asserted that Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution requires that representatives shall be chosen "by the People of the several States" and shall be "apportioned among the several States...according to their respective Numbers...." These words, the Court held, mean that "as nearly as practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's." Wesberry and the Court's later "one person, one vote" decisions had an extraordinary impact on the makeup of the House, on the content of public policy, and on electoral politics in general. However, these "one person, one vote" rules do not prevent and have not prevented gerrymandering. This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population.

Lesson on Thursday, October 13, 2016

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Journal 16 – What do you know about the Legislative Branch of the United States?

Objectives:
1. Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:
1. Bell Ringer (10 min)
2. Brainpop: Parliamentary System (6 min)
3. Complete "Activity" section (5 min)
4. Legislative Branch Powerpoint, slides 1-11 (rest of class)
5. While students view/listen to the powerpoint, they are to highlight the
information covered on their copy of the United States Constitution, Article I.


Home Learning: Journal 17 – What are the qualification prerequisites to become a member of Congress?

Lesson on Monday, October 10, 2016

Today we gathered in groups, researched our designated questions and prepared for tomorrow's presentations.