Special Note: JHMS Geography Bee to be held this Tuesday, Wednesday during 7th period. Sign up, started on Friday, will continue on Monday.
ALSO: Quarter 2 ends this Friday, January 18th.
Last week concluded with the US Primary/Caucus quiz and an examination of the Preamble of the US Constitution. Each phrase of the Preamble is loaded with meaning and implications. We began on Friday to find synonyms for key terms in the Preamble. Classes that did not finish this need to finish the activity for HW due Monday.
Monday - Tuesday: Students in pairs established on Friday, will navigate the classroom between posters on each wall with Preamble phrases on them. Using their completed HW from the weekend, they will rephrase and identify implications of each of the 5 key Preamble phrases. We will then move forward into a close examination of the first 3 article of the Constitution which detail the form and purpose of the 3 branches of federal government. Students will be asked to read aloud selected passages of the Constitution and then examine a grade-level appropriate interpretation of those sections that includes updates on amendments that have affected them. Students have already identified the 3 branches of government. Many already were familiar with major checks and balances between the branches, however these will be reinforced as January progresses. After Monday and Tuesday, students will be familiar with qualifications and basic roles for representatives, senators, executive and judicial offices.
Wednesday & Thursday -- Students will begin a study of the Bill of Rights by predicting what life might be like WITHOUT the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. We will watch short video segments created by Discovery that dramatize a fictitional family returning from a stay abroad. The Bill of Rights has been repealed, and the family must adjust to life without basic human rights provided in the Bill of Rights. Other activities will include linking rights demonstrated in the video with specific amendments and "adopting" an amendment, in which students pick one, study it in more depth and make a report/skit to the class. Students will eventually be asked to memorize the first 10 amendments of the Constitution. What would life be like without them?
Friday: School Officer Tony Mathews will present Miranda Rights and Habeus Corpus information in a way students can understand!