The+Supreme+Court

Our final project media type="custom" key="6585931"

The Supreme Court

Day 1- July 12, 2010



How do conservative and liberal roles play out in the Supreme Court? **
 * Day 2- July 13, 2010



Review Questions for end of Day 2

Tokbox?: I like tokbox. I had trouble getting on for awhile, but I eventually got the hang of it. We can use this as a way of connecting with kids in other classrooms in school. We can share what we know and they can shared what they know. It could be a useful pair share technique. we could also use it when doing a group project. It would be an easy way to stay connected with the group without having to go over each other's houses. I think that would be useful. In my personal life, this could be a valuable resource to use to stay connected with friends. I think this could come in handy when you want to talk while surfing the web. It does have its faults though, because it can be laggy at times. Technical difficulties are always a problem.

What we learned from our peers: I learned that there are no specific requirements to be a justice in the Supreme Court. The president can nominate a justice, but that does not mean that the person will become a justice. They still have to be voted in.

Day 3- July 14, 2010 Guided Questions: Objectives: After completing the lesson, students will be able to:
 * What types of cases is the Warren Court famous for hearing?
 * How did the decision made by the Warren Court affect US citizens?
 * What effects of the Warren Court still affect us today?
 * identify important Constitutional Amendments
 * analyze the parameters of Constitutional Amendments
 * apply amendments to everyday life situations
 * summarize researched and shared information on the Supreme Court by creating a Glog
 * research current trneds/decisions of the US Supreme Court
 * analyze and annotate court documents (majority/minority opinions) and expert analysis reports

Rewriting one of the Constitutional Amendments AMENDMENT XV //Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.// **Section 1.** The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude-- **Section 2.** The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

MY rewriting: Section 1: It is illegal someone to deny someone the right to vote based on the race or color. Section 2: States can't deny the right to vote to freed slaves.

Activity 3
Students reflect individually and summarize in their virtual notebook, which case they think was most influential in their lives today and why. If time permits, students should search the internet for further detail on one of the cases discussed. Reading the majority or minority opinion would be excellent if time allows. Students should post their thoughts to the discussion page and comment on //at least// one other students' post.

I think Mapp v. Ohio is the most influential one. People deserve the right to feel safe in their own homes and with this case, Mapp couldn't. Today, people want to feel like they don't have to worry about someone barging in on them. If you are in your own home, you should feell safe and secure. The cops need a warrant to be able to enter my house, and thanks to this case, people should feel more comfortable in their own houses. The cops are the cops but they still have to follow the laws too. Just because they are in charge, it doesn't mean that they can do what they want. This case helps nail that point home. The Warren Court is famous for hearing civil rights cases. The decisions affected Americans in a huge way. The decisions let the citizens know what they could and could not do. The laws we have today are greatly impacted by the decisions back then. Mapp v. Ohio & Brown v. Board of Education are two major cases that impact us today. Brown v. Board of Education led to the integration of schools and was a major rallying cry of the civil rights movement. Who knows where we would be without that court case?





Closing summary of Day 3 Day 3 was pretty interesting. We played a game with the amendments, which was pretty fun. It got us thinking. We also used glogster, which was something new for me. I didn't have a chance to finish my glog, but glogster seems like it could be really useful. I'll probably end up using it next year for a project. Who knows???

Day 4- July 15, 2010 Guided Questions:
 * What are the key components to a politcal debate?
 * How do bipartisan politics get involved in Supreme Court Case decisions and the Justice Nomination Process?

Objectives: After the lesson, students will be able to:
 * research current trends/decisions of the US Supreme Court
 * analyze and annotate court documents (majority/minority opinions) and expert reports
 * discuss the details and ramifications of recent court cases and justice nominations
 * create a podcast that incorporates students' knowledge and various viewpoints about the situation

Activity 2 My article was a conservative article about McDonald v. Chicago. The author of the article was happy about the decision in the case. He believed that the rights of the people are outlined in the Constitution and denying them the right to protect themselves is in violation of the Constitution. The author also sees the case in a bigger picture. He sees it as a fight between the states and the federal government. He believes that the states can't just do what they want. They have to obey the rules determined by the federal government. He uses deep knowledge of American History to defend his viewpoint. We got our article from the Canada Free Press.



Closing Day 4 1.) What case did you study? We studied McDonald v. Chicago. It was a recent court case, where Otis McDonald sued Chicago for placing a ban on handguns. He felt that he was unsafe in his own home without a handgun. He believed that it was the right of the people to be able to protect themselves using handguns. The court ruled in favor of McDonald.

2.) I agree with the decision in the case. People should be able to protect themselves in their own homes. If McDonald lost, other cities would've probably started passing similar laws. 3.) Process? Like? Dislike? How to improve? I liked being able to choose the case and whether we wanted to do a podcast or a video. It was a fun project. Our podcast came out great, but unfortunately we ended up not being able to open the file so we have to do it again.