The Government and You!

PowerPoint Presentations

While these presentations will technically function in Google Slides, they won't work well. Download the file as a PowerPoint and run it from your Desktop for best results!

Bill of Rights - The Constitution is all about "We the people" of course, but the Bill of Rights is the part of the Constitution that is REALLY about the people.

Activities, Lab and Lessons

You Be the Judge - given a scenario, decide if the government violated someone's rights. Full Class Edition (with key)

Bill of Rights Breakdown - a closer analysis of each of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. 

BoRacketology - just my Bracketology activity from CYOA. I just wanted you to see my extremely clever title.

The "Other" Amendments - The first 10 amendments get most of the attention, but the other amendments are important too. Let's look at a few today with a focus on your voting rights.

Let's Get Political! (PearDeck) - An introduction to major political issues and the major party responses to them in the US.

How to Vote: Candidates and Interest Groups - An adapted TCI lesson where students learn about candidates political positions to find one to support then find an interest group to support them.

Political Ads - Remixed lesson using resources from TCI, Retro Report, The Great Hack and more. See how political advertising has changed over time and social media's impact on it today.

The Media Part 1: What is Truth? - We live in weird times. So weird that it is been called the "post truth era." I reject that. There is truth. Before we can work on finding it though, we have to determine what it is. In this lesson, we look at the role of the media in presenting the truth.

The Media Part 2: Making the News - A look at how modern news agencies make the news. How do they determine which stories to share?

The Media Part 3: New Media - Social media and technology are changing everything about the news and the media. Let's examine how they are determining what "truth" you see.

The Media Part 4: Barriers to the Truth - Why is it is so difficult to get the truth? Let's look at the role bias and other barriers play in the news.

The Media Part 5: Fact or Fiction - Put all your newly learned media literacy skills to the test as you try to detect mis and disinformation!

HA: The Initiative Process - A look at California state politics, particularly our unique (and regularly abused) system of direct democracy.

I've Got Issues - A culminating project where students provide a solution for a local problem and detail who to contact to do something about it.

Media

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Constitution USA (E2) It's a Free Country Run Time: 53 mins - Documentary that explores some of the Bill of Rights by interviewing people all across America.

The West Wing (S6, E15) Freedonia Run Time: 42 mins - The debate over whether to use a negative ad comes up in the Santos campaign. Great episode showing why negative ads are used.