4th Quarter Independent Study I

Rep. Paul Ryan has proposed a budget plan (last week).  Yesterday, President Obama proposed his budget plan.

1.  By Friday, please come up with a list of 10 key points in each plan and share with me at GoogleDocs.
2.  Be prepared on the Monday we return to discuss, in class, the Pros and Cons of each plan.
3.  For Thursday, 28 April, please write a 1-2 page position paper, explaining which you think is the better plan, and why.  You will need support and evidence from multiple sources to back up your position. 
4.  On Friday, 29 April, be prepared to discuss your position in class, and receive the next assignment.

Model Congress V--F Block Docket

The bills which will be considered in the Model Congress are here.

Model Congress V

In class on Thursday, Friday (F), Monday (G), and maybe Tuesday, please do the following with your class's Bill Packet:

____  research the issues in each bill
____  discuss with the bill's author his or her intent behind the bill
____  discuss with your party leadership and other party members your positions on the bill
____  discuss with other committee members any changes to the bill you think might need to be made
____  propose amendments formally by writing them down as follows:
          _____  title the document "An amendment to a bill to .... [fill in with the title of the bill]"
          _____  write out the entire section you want to change
          _____  if you want to delete words, cross them out like this
          _____  if you wish to add words, underline them like this
          _____  SHARE the amendment with me and with the other members of the committee
          _____  push the COmmittee chair to call a vote on the amendment
          _____  When the committee votes on an amendment, and the amendment passes, let me know  so that I can change the bill.

F Block Bill Packet  is found here.

G Block Bill Packet is found here.

____  prepare the speeches you will give in the Model Congress next week for or against each bill.

A congress speech should
____ be about two minutes long
____ contain 2-3 solid facts and sources supporting your arguement
____ should either give new information or respond to the arguments other representatives have made.

I anticipate that over the Model Congress (which ideally will be on Tuesday/Weds/Thurs of next week), everyone will speak at least 5 times.

Model Congress IV

Tuesday, 3/29--Bill Drafting
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Monday--Organization and Committee Meetings
Tuesday-Thursday of next week--Floor Debate on the bills

Bill Drafting.
Divide your bill into sections.  Each section should cover ONE thing.  The bill should include either a penalty for violation of or incentive to comply with the law.

Example:

Section 1.  All principals of schools receiving federal funding shall lead their schools in daily patriotic exercises.

Section 2.  These patriotic exercises may include reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing the National Anthem or other patriotic song, reading the Declaration of Independence or Constitution, or other such America-affirming actions.

Section 3.  Failure to engage in such exercises shall result in the school losing 5% of its federal funding for each school day on which such exercises are not conducted, except in cases of emergency.

Please share your bill at GoogleDocs with the file name  <last name subject BILL>

Model Congress III-G Block

G Block

Each member of the class will take on one of the following roles during our Model Congress.  Part of your evaluation is based on how well you play your role; you will need to get a good sense of what a person with your role would think of various issues.

Democrats

1.      Massachusetts  liberal--Elizabeth
2.      Georgia conservative--Roisin
3.      Arizona moderate--A. Ray

4.      California Liberal--Cam
5.      Florida Liberal--Karyn

 

Republicans

6.  New Jersey Conservative--Paige
7.  California Moderate--Matt
8.  Georgia conservative--Jesse

9.  Texas conservative--Danny

10.  Montana Conservative--Stephanie

11.  Alabama Conservative--Amy

By the end of the weekend you should


____  have Model Congress I and II done
____  have a list of your top four choices (make sure you have at least one in each party) for roles
____  have done some background reading on political culture in your four possible states.


Roles will be assigned over the weekend here at the blog.  Bills will also be posted at GoogleDocs and linked here.


On Monday, the Republicans will elect the Speaker of the House, the Majority Whip, and the Chairs of the two committees.  The Democrats will elect the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip, and the Ranking Members of the two committees.

Model Congress III

F Block

Each member of the class will take on one of the following roles during our Model Congress.  Part of your evaluation is based on how well you play your role; you will need to get a good sense of what a person with your role would think of various issues.

Democrats

1.      Massachusetts  liberal--Hannah

2.      Illinois Moderate--Jason

3.      Colorado Moderate--Ashley

4.      California Liberal--Kaitin McD

5.      Florida Liberal--Haleigh

6.      Pennsylvania Liberal--Eliot

7.      Georgia conservative--Kayla

8.      Arizona moderate--Max

Republicans

9.    New York Moderate--Jess A

10.  Minnesota conservative--Sarah K

11.  Arizona Conservative--Ben

12.  Ohio Conservative--Sean

13.  New Jersey Conservative--Aidan

14.  California Moderate--Eddie W

15.  Georgia conservative--Ed N

16.  Texas conservative-Caitlin

17.  Montana Conservative-Grace

18.  Alabama Conservative--Sarah B.

By the end of Thursday you should


____  have Model Congress I and II done
____  have a list of your top four choices (make sure you have at least one in each party) for roles
____  have done some background reading on political culture in your four possible states.


Roles will be assigned over the weekend here at the blog.  Bills will also be posted at GoogleDocs and linked here.


On Monday, the Republicans will elect the Speaker of the House, the Majority Whip, and the Chairs of the two committees.  The Democrats will elect the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip, and the Ranking Members of the two committees.

Model Congress II

Once you have submitted your draft bill, please write a 1 page (double-spaced) argument explaining why the bill should be passed (think of this as the Speech you will give in the Congress for the bill).  The argument/speech should have some specific facts/statistics/quotations supporting your argument.

The bill and argument should be emailed by the end of class on Thursday (F) or Friday (G).

Model Congress I

The last project of the year will be to engage in a model Congress.  Each of you will be assigned roles (as Senators), and will have to argue for or against proposed bills based on your role.  Role examples include:  southern conservative republican, California liberal, etc.  The roles will be assigned over the course of the next few days.  There will be committee meetings as well as a floor debate on some of the bills that you all write.

In class on 22-23 March, please research potential bills to be considered by the Model Congress.  You should come up with a proposed law which meets all of the following:

____  fits the business of the Federal government
____  addresses some current issue
____  solves some aspect of the current issue
____  sets a penalty for violating the law or an incentive for following the law
____  fits the format noted below.

The format should be as follows:

Paragraph 1:  The problem this bill will solve is .... [2-3 sentences]
Paragraph 2:  This bill will solve the problem by doing the following [2 or 3 things]
Paragraph 3:  The penalty for violating/incentive for following the bill is [list 2 or 3 things]

Create a document which (a) includes the bill as noted above, and (b) contains URLs for three articles which either show there's a problem or provide arguments FOR passing the bill.

Share the bill/URL list (in ONE document) at GoogleDocs using coachdeb8@gmail.com

Presidency Essay III

Here is the timeline for the essay:

Thursday, 3 March--
Find at least 2 more sources for your essay; share with me at GoogleDocs using using coachdeb8@gmail.com with filename lastname thursday 2 sources.  20 points

Friday, 4 March--
Find three more sources; share at GoogleDocs with filename:  lastname friday 3 sources.  30 points

Wednesday, 9 March--
Find two more sources (for a total of 11) and prepare a Works Cited page reflecting those sources; share at GoogleDocs with filename:  lastname works cited.  20 points

Friday, 11 March--
Thesis Paragraph due:  Email me your thesis paragraph with the thesis underlined.
Annotated Works Cited:  Write a short paragraph (2-4 sentences) explaining why each source is USEFUL to you in proving your thesis

These two should be shared in ONE document at GoogleDocs with the filename:  lastname thesis.

30 points

Week of 14 March
Rough Draft due by Thursday, 17 March at 11 pm.  Share this document with me at GoogleDocs with filename:  lastname rough draft.  50 points

Week of 21 March
Final Draft due 168 hours after rough draft receives comments from me.  This should be a REVISION of your rough draft shared file--when you are ready to submit it, change the filename to:  lastname final draft.  200 points

Essay Parameters

• Honors:  1500 - 2000 words not counting Works Cited
• CP:  1000 - 1500 words not counting Works Cited
• Submitted properly at GoogleDocs
• Thesis statement is underlined
• Each paragraph links to thesis statement.
• Good writing; proofread--points off for grammatical errors, etc.

Presidency Essay II

For Friday, 4 February, please

___  find two sources which you think will be useful for your essay
___  send an email with the links to the sources
___  in the email explain in about a paragraph each, why the source is going to be useful

Presidency Assignment I

ESSAY ON THE PRESIDENCY

The major assignment for the 3^rd quarter is an essay on an aspect of the Presidency.  The essay follows the guidelines set forth below, and is based on one of the topics listed.  We will spend a few days in both the library and the computer labs for guided research.  The essay should answer the following question(s) about the topic?

Your topic is an aspect of the Presidency which has grown and developed over the past 200+ years.  How the power is exercised now is far different than it was in the early years of the Republic.  What are the key aspect/events/changes in the growth and development of your subject over the years?  What is the best way to describe the current state of the topic (the way Presidents Bush and Obama have exercised this power)?  What, in your view is the single most important factor which has led to the growth and change of your aspect of the Presidency?  Why?

Topics

1.     The growth in power and influence of the Vice President

2.     The development of the President’s War Powers

3.     The development and growth President’s role in diplomacy and foreign affairs

4.     The development President’s role in the US economy

5.     The development and use of ‘executive privilege’

6.     The President’s use of the ‘bully pulpit’—the power of persuasion

7.     Another topic of similar scope created by you

            

For Friday, please

____  select the aspect of the presidency you will research

____  find two on line sources to begin research

____  have those sources be approved by me

____  send me an email with links to those sources