INNOVATION

Green Screen--The Principles of American Government

Standard CE.2 A states that students should be familiar with the fundamental principles of US government.  Because these principles are abstract and very complicated, students worked hard to demonstrate their understanding.  One method utilized was through Green Screen technology.  Student projects were to include a creative background, explanatory text, and of course, pictures of themselves!

Field Trip to Montpelier

Standards CE.2 A, B, C and D require students to develop knowledge and understanding of the US Constitution.  In an effort to ensure memorable learning, I led 250 students and 20 teachers on an all-day field trip to Montpelier, home of James Madison in commemoration of Constitution Day.

Roleplay--The Federal Lawmaking Process

Standard CE.6 C states that students will know the steps in the lawmaking process for our bicameral Congress.  In this lesson, students analyzed several teacher-created scenarios, identified key problems, and prescribed solutions.  We undertook the entire lawmaking process including introducing a bill, working a bill in committee, debating prospective bills, and voting on them.  Dr. Oliver-Eggert signed OR vetoed the bills we wrote!

Standard CE.9 states that students will understand the ways in which interest groups, PACs and Super PACs influence the political process.  Students were given a great deal of choice in this "Media Playlist" I created.  Notice that the playlists were also tiered to provide for additional differentiation.

Chatterpix--The Roles of the President

Standard CE.6 D states that students should be familiar with the many roles played by the US President.  For this project, students picked a US President, one role, and then researched the president's administration to find a concrete, historical example of the president acting in the selected role.  Next students wrote scripts describing the event and recorded themselves using Chatterpix!  Watch the talking Abraham Lincoln!

Standard CE.4 states that students will familiarize themselves with community service opportunities as part of citizenship. In my class, students researched community service opportunities in the Greene/Charlottesville area and created these flyers to promote the organizations.  I posted the flyers in the hall way and students conducted a gallery walk placing sticky notes on the community service organizations that were of interest to them.

According to Standard CE.2, students are not only supposed to learn about the Founding Documents, but they are also supposed to REMEMBER the founding documents over the course of 9 months! We have used choice boards this year for students to review.  Each category is a different type of activity and students compete to earn the most points by completing different activities on the board.  The goal is to connect four!