Classroom Objectives
The unit objectives will be repeated six times over the course of the year. The topics will be covered through in class discussion and activities as well as by homework assignment, especially where specific readings are concerned. My classes are block scheduled (90 minutes) and none of the parts of this unit or activities related to the unit will take an entire class period (lesson plans will make this clear later in the explanation of the unit). In each case we will complete essentially the same objectives with slightly different activities and strategies for each. The general directions for each assignment will read as follows:
- Students will receive a reading assignment with guided questions as an introduction to the historical context. In some cases this will be from All the Laws but One by William Rehnquist, but in others it will be readings from our textbook Out of Many, supplied to us by the school system.
- Next, students will be given a court case, or some corresponding primary document, and be asked to do three things: 1) identify the historical occasion or briefly give an idea of the historical context of the reading selected 2) identify and briefly explain the central argument and constitutional question being addressed 3) describe the way in which the Constitution is being interpreted and explain why you believe the writers and or the primary characters involved have crafted this argument, i.e., what is to be gained via this line of reasoning.
- Having completed steps one and two, there will likely be an activity to complete each of the objectives within the topic area, "war and civil liberties." Those will include but are not limited to: a sample AP prompt on a similar subject; to write either a dissenting or concurring decision of their own arguing the case from their perspective; a piece of poetry (in conjunction with the AP 11 English class) reflecting some aspect of the time period and the question of civil liberties involved; or take part in a classroom debate.
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