Thursday, 9/15

Today's Goal: 

• Review the Bill of Rights and get a glimpse of just how hard it was (and is) to prioritize these rights
• Develop a more in-depth understanding of the Checks and Balances system by applying it to a case study on the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Starter 8:  Bill of Rights (10 min)
Read through the Bill of Rights (either as written in the Constitution or as summarized in plain English)

1. Which of these do you think is the most important?  Why?  
2. Which do you think is least important?  Why?  
3. What’s one thing you would like to see added or removed?  Why?
4. When you’re done, put your name on your power diagram of the Checks and Balances and tack/tape it on the wall. Spend 2-3 minutes scoping out other students’ diagrams and try to clarify any confusions you may have had by seeing other examples.

Agenda

1. Starter discussion (20): In small groups, share your starter responses.  Try to come consensus on the most important Bill and the least important bill.  Then, try to come to consensus on your top revision to the Bill of Rights.  Write your group’s revision on the whiteboard.
2. Clarify any confusions about last night’s homework
3. Transition to history of Judicial Review: Marbury v. Madison (40)

Before we dive into understanding Voting Rights and the ways in which the 3 branches of the government have functioned throughout the history of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as well as modern disputes about voting discrimination we’re going to learn about how the Supreme Court  (Judicial branch) came to play the precise role we know it to play today by studying a Supreme Court case called Marbury v. Madison, 1803.

1. Key term:  JUDICIAL REVIEW!
2. Read this one-page summary of the case and summarize it to your partner.
3. Listen to this NPR More Perfect podcast and take notes!  (Play starting at 8 minutes in and until 27 minutes- the first 8 minutes is all about how the Supreme Court used to have very little power until this Supreme Court case and a brief intro of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court...we're skipping that.)
   
   

• Podcast Title and description: "Kittens Kick The Giggly Blue Robot All Summer”; We tend to think of the Supreme Court justices as all-powerful guardians of the constitution, issuing momentous rulings from on high. They seem at once powerful, and unknowable; all lacy collars and black robes. But they haven't always been so, you know, supreme. On this episode of More Perfect, we go all the way back to the case that, in a lot of ways, is the beginning of the court we know today.
• Response questions:
  1. How did Marshall (aka Obi-wan Kenobi) “save” the Supreme Court from Jefferson’s Darth Vader ways??
  2. What ultimately became the core question that this case sought to answer?
  3. Who was Marbury? Who was Madison?
  4. What did Jefferson do upon learning of all the newly appointed Supreme Court judges?
  5. What was the main issue that spurred this case?

Remainder of class: Time to work on your Writing Reflection DP Update that is due tomorrow! 

HOMEWORK: Email me the link to your DP with completed writing reflection (see Tuesday's blog post for a reminder on requirements)