The Bill of Rights today

To help us both understand the Bill of Rights and see how it continues to be relevant and actively debated today, we will spend the period looking at current events articles.

First, go to this website and spend a few minutes playing this game exploring what life would be like without the Bill of Rights.

Then, go to this website, also from the Bill of Rights Institute.  Here, you will find a constantly updated collection of current events that somehow link to the Bill of Rights. 

Look at the stories at the center of the page under the "Daily Headlines" heading, or click on one of the topics in the left-hand column.  Browse around until you find a story you'd like to work with today.

Read it carefully and determine which part(s) of the Bill of Rights connects with the story.  Note that sometimes it is stated explicitly in the story while other times it requires more interpretation, understanding, and analysis from you.

Here's what you'll then need to type up and e-mail to us:

1. A headline / topic about your story
2. A summary of the story and the issues it includes
3. A statement about which part of the Bill of Rights you will connect with it.
4. A paragraph explaining the connection, including explicit analysis of how the Amendment applies to your selected story.

Your Presentations - Revolutionary era documents and contemporary images

Click on the number below to view the presentation

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Documents of the Revolutionary Era and Contemporary Images

As a way to expand our thinking about the concepts, beliefs, and challenges of the Revolutionary Era, you will:
1- Excerpt quotations from the documents we've read
2- Find images from current events that somehow express the ideas those quotations contain
3- Assemble these into a Google Presentation (like a PowerPoint presentation) to share

Which documents?

• Patrick Henry
• Thomas Paine
• Letters between John and Abigail Adams
• The Declaration of Independence

How many quotations?

• At least ten.  They can all come from one of the documents or any combination of them

Where do I find images?  Try some of these sites

• CNN
• Time
• Reuters
• AP
• Yahoo

How do we put a Google Presentation together?

• We will give a quick demonstration of this in class
• Go to Google and sign in
• Go to "Drive" or "Documents"
• Click on "Create" and use the pull-down menu to select "Presentation"
• In this window you can cut and paste the quotations and pictures you selected above into slides
• Each side should have one quotation and one (or more) pictures)
• It will automotically save, but you should give it a name.  When you are finished you'll click on "Share" in the upper right corner.  Change the privacy setting to the middle one: "anyone who has the link."  Copy the link it provides.
• Send an e-mail to Mr. Rigler and / or Mr. Kramer with your link and the names of the people who created the presentation.

Presidential Candidates Speeches and Their Visions (contd.)

Last week, we had an opportunity to examine Mitt Romney's speech accepting the Republican nomination for president.  Last night, Barack Obama gave his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president.  Your task for today is to analyze President Obama's speech and answer the same question about it that you did for Governor Romney's speech.

You can find excerpts from President Obama's speech here.

How did President Obama answer the question, "what does it mean to be an American"?

Select a quotation from the speech and use it in your response as you continue to add to your Google document from last week (go to your google docs to continue to edit it).  Explain what his quotation means, and how the President is defining what it means to be an American.  Be sure to read what the other members of your group are saying as well.  Allow that to guide, change, or enhance your own response.  Look at your responses on the common document as a continuation of the conversation that you had last week only this time it is about Mr. Obama's  speech.

After you've had the opportunity to examine last night's speech, continue your work by comparing and contrasting your responses from last week to this week.  Do another response where you explore your own views and these two visions.  Which candidate do you think answers the question in a way that more closely aligns with your own views and why?

Group 1 Speeches Reflections
Group 2 Speeches Reflections
Group 3 Speeches Reflections
Group 4 Speeches Reflections
Group 5 Speeches Reflections
Group 6 Speeches Reflections
Group 7 Speeches Reflections
Group 8 Speeches Reflections
Group 9 Speeches Reflections