Vocabulary Quiz Tomorrow (4.29)

For your quiz tomorrow, study the following words.  

3.1 Political Parties and the Two-Party System

• independent candidates, party platform, party realignment, political parties, single issue parties, third parties

3.3 The Primaries and Party Conventions

• blanket primary, caucus, closed primary, delegates, general election, national convention, open primary, primary, super-delegates

3.4 Analyzing Campaign Commercials

• media, medium, broadcast media

3.7 Campaign Finance, PACs, and 527s

• 527 groups, Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002), Buckley v. Valeo (1976), Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, Political Action Committees, Super PACs

3.8 Interest Groups

• interest group, lobbying, lobbyist

3.9 Mass Media

• blog, horse-race journalism, mass media, print media, public agenda, sound bite

I know you have worked very hard these past few weeks, but it will all be over soon!

3.8 Interest Groups

You will be assigned one particular interest group to research. You will spend 1/2 hour in class finding important information about your group, using the organizer below. We will then share and discuss our findings and examine the impact, positive and negative, these groups might have on the political process.

Here are your list of groups:

1. American Association of Retired People (AARP) Aleena
2. American Bar Association (ABA) Leslie
3. American Farm Bureau Jordan
4. Christian Coalition
5. Environmental Defense Fund Jonah
6. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Cora
7. Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) DaShun
8. National Rifle Association (NRA) 
9. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Brandon

Use the worksheet I have given you to guide your research and presentation.  A link to the worksheet is found HERE!

Now, read THIS article to shed some light on why the government struggles to keep spending under wraps.

Tonight, read over the chapter in your book on Special Interest Groups and read (or listen to the podcast on lobbying costs) HERE.

If you want even more information on lobbying and roles being played in the government, check out the Open Secrets website.

A great video that will cover this information can be found on this Annenberg Learner website.

Progress Reports

Well, we were SUPPOSED to have progress reports today! But then this happened! You will get your progress reports and your graded work TOMORROW.  Promise!!


In the meantime, check this out...

www.colbertsuperpac.com

Homework for 4.25.16

In January 2010 in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court handed down a controversial decision concerning the 2003 campaign finance reform law. Read the links from Wikipedia (first 3 paragraphs only), the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times for background on the decision and the arguments both for and against. Then watch President Obama do something that's rarely if ever been done before - call out the Supreme Court during a state of the union address in front of a joint session of Congress.

Where do you fall with the Citizens United decision? Was it, as the Wall Street Journal called it, a "free speech landmark" or did it simply give more power to moneyed interests to dominate and control American elections? 

Discuss your thoughts, particularly in terms of money equating speech, in comments below, using information from the readings and the video, to support your ideas.  Respond to at least one other person's post.

(See "In Republican Race" article for a connection to the 2012 Republican primary season.)

Friday, April 22

Obviously, I am out today...but that doesn't mean we are not still going to be moving forward.  I am leaving different instructions for different groups of you.  Follow the steps, and skip over the things you may have already done.

First off....Click HERE for more instructions!....Don't judge! :)

1.  To those who are returning from the Skills trip...I hope you had a wonderful time and were successful! Welcome back!!  I want you to begin with completing the Benchmark and Vocabulary Quiz that you missed while gone. You can find these in the brown folder on my desk.  Take your time in completing these.  Many of the Benchmark questions are from a released AP Exam...so I hope you find those helpful.  Turn these into the box when complete.

2.  If you have not already turned in assignments and completed the reading for this week, work on that as well.  Refer to previous blog posts (see below) and open the Prezi (that I am affectionately calling Pirate Island).  Follow along and complete the work assigned throughout.  This will cover political parties, campaigns and elections, and today's lesson.  Share these items with me when completed.  THIS ALSO INCLUDES A CURRENT EVENT ARTICLE! 

3.  *You will need earbuds!* Today's lesson will be on analyzing campaign advertisements! I truly hate I am missing this lesson, but have enjoyed putting it together for you.  You will be viewing campaign advertisements from previous presidential campaigns and ranking them for effectiveness based on a given rubric.  You may access the rubric HERE! At the end of this section on the Prezi will be an article to read.  

We will continue with this unit and the others on Monday.  Have a wonderful weekend and make good choices!

Thursday, April 21

Today, the class took the Spring Benchmark.  Many of these questions should look familiar, but many are from the released exam from 1999.  I included these to expose you to the format of the questions and show you the levels and types you can expect in a few weeks.

Please access the Prezi for Unit III (Pirate Island) and review the material for 3.3 The Primaries and Party Conventions. This has several videos that will hopefully help the material make more sense.  

For the nightly reading, read Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns.  Make a copy of 3.3: Chapter 10 Questions from the blog and use these to guide your reading.  

If you have any questions on today's lesson or material we have covered this week, please send me an email!!

Test Tomorrow! (April 20)

Be sure to study your notes from Sections 13.1-13.5 to prepare for you test tomorrow.  You may use an index card on your test, so be sure to fill this with information you find useful.  Your test will be online and available to you tomorrow for class.  Take your time and actually review the material before class.  You will not have time to write anything on your card before the test starts.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

What are we doing today??

Unit II: Vocabulary and Concept Quiz

• Based upon your words covering this unit. Please take your time and do your best.\
• Turn in your set of index cards.

2.6 Using and Interpreting Polling Data (Bird Prezi)

• With a partner (or alone) You will be interpreting data from three different polls.  
• 2.6 Using and Interpreting Polls and associated links are available under "Links to Docs"

If you complete this, we will begin Unit III: Political Parties, Interest Groups and Mass Media (Pirate Island Prezi)

• Vocabulary words are available under "Links to Docs" to complete your index cards on.  You should begin working on this set of index cards.
• Follow the directions and links in the Prezi for this unit.

Early Release Schedule for Wednesday

8:00-8:40 First Block

8:45-9:30 Second Block

9:35-10:15 Third Block

10:20-11:00 Fourth Block

11:00-11:45 Lunch

11:45 GO HOME!

This Week: April 18-22

Just a quick overview of this week, and remember things may change!

Current Event: We will continue with our current events this week.  Using the rubric found under "Links to Docs", find an article that relates to something we have covered since returning from Spring Break...This leaves it WIDE OPEN!  For example, we will be covering public opinions and polling today (Monday).  You can research the latest polls concerning the presidential election, the bathroom ordeal or anything else political.

• Remember to write an objective summary of the article free of opinions.  THEN give your opinion of the article and what you learned from it.  THEN link your article to the document you turn in.  DUE WEDNESDAY!!

Vocabulary will be cumulative from last week and be introduced as we learn each lesson. You will have a quiz on the words from Unit II on TUESDAY.  This will be a fill in the blank type quiz using the words you have learned.

Monday:  Public Opinion and Polling with a look at demographics.  We will also be presenting what you have learned about political ideologies.  

Tuesday:  Vocabulary Quiz.  We will begin Unit III: Political Parties and Interest Groups.

Wednesday:  Current Events due.  This is an EARLY RELEASE day.  I will be at a training workshop all day, and you will be registering for the AP exam.  

Thursday:  Benchmarks/Midterm.  All test corrections are due at the beginning of class.  You will have the entire time to work.  There will be new material from your midterm on this test.

Friday:  Continue with Unit III.  

Whew...I'm tired just thinking about this week! :)  Remember, if you will be gone on the field trip, you will need to check the blog each day to see what we have done.  I will update with what we got to during second block.  Have fun!!

What is your ideology?

Yesterday, you read about the political culture not only of America, but of other areas around the world and what external factors shaped them.  It is easy to read about a generalization of places around the world and our country, but applying it to yourself and your life can be a tad bit more difficult sometimes.  It is often harder to think about how we think!  To begin, you are going to take a political ideology "quiz" to see where you fall on the spectrum.  Click HERE to access this.

After you have finished this, you will choose one ideology to create a project/presentation to teach the rest of us about what you have learned.  We will even debate certain issues and topics that are big in our country based solely on how your ideology would feel.  

Be prepared to present on Friday!

Think this election is crazy? Read about these!

This year's election may go down in the history books, for what...we aren't quite sure yet! But check out THESE to see just how crazy presidential elections have been in the past!!

Half the semester is gone!

This week we will be recovering what has been discussed through the entire semester.  Midterms are next week, and I want to make sure we have the material down that will possibly comprise 50% of your final exam (Constitutional Underpinnings:  5-15%; Institutions of National Government: 35-45%)  We will be moving at a very fast pace for the rest of the month leading up to your exam, and therefore will not recover this information again before your exam.  Each day will consist of guided notes that coorespond to a Prezi and assessment questions based on this.  I will also include one FRQ each day that aligns with what we have discussed.  After this week, we will continue on with the remaining course material and review the week before the exam.

The Prezi is found under the "Prezi" tab, and a link to the guided notes is under the "Links to Docs" tab.  I will be giving you paper handouts this week, in order for easier access to study before the exam.

Half the semester is gone!

This week we will be recovering what has been discussed through the