High School Government Session 1 - The Constitution and Its Political Processes

In this eight week flex course, students will begin the journey to a thorough understanding of the United States government.  The class will explore the inspirations for our way of governing and the journey to the Constitution.  Students will learn the purpose of a constitution and the manner in which it organized our government and defined political processes of our nation.  We will examine the addition of the Bill of the Rights to the Constitution and explore two Supreme Court cases related to First Amendment freedoms in America.

Lecture videos utilizing power point slides will be posted weekly for students to view.  Some lectures will have worksheet study guides to fill in, and some will require learners to practice note taking skills.  Students will receive outside homework and quizzes via the class discussion stream to help reinforce class lessons and solidify the information they are learning.  An end of session evaluation will be provided to parents for your student's portfolio/records.
Students will be asked to contribute to thought discussions posted in the classroom twice a week.  This dialogue will allow students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills as they work on articulating views and listening to the ideas and opinions of others. 
Students will engage in a collaborative 'Constitutional Convention' to create a Constitution and Bill of Rights that will be presented in the final session of the class.  Students will present various ideas, that will be voted on to create our Constitution and Bill of Rights.


Session 1 - Inspirations for our form of government and the Articles of Confederation
Session 2 - The Organization, Processes, and Principles of the Constitution
Session 3 - Constitutional Process - Lawmaking
Session 4 - Constitutional Process - Electing the President
Session 5 - Constitutional Process - Amending the Constitution
Session 5 - The Bill of Rights
Session 6 - The Bill of Rights and Additional Amendments
Session 7 - First Amendment Freedoms - Wallace v. Jaffree
Session 8 - First Amendment Freedoms - Tinker v. Des Moines

Students should have the ability to do basic writing in order to take notes and do the in class worksheets.  The age range for this class is 14-18 year olds and is best geared towards high school age students.

Students are highly encouraged to continue on to my other flex classes in high school government.