S+Lind,+Kevin

**Office:** **Office Phone:** **Office Hours:** ** E-mail: **
 * Teacher:**

=Summary of Unit=

The standards I plan on covering is the second standard of the Politics and Government section of the Maine Learning Results for grades 9-diploma. This requires students to learn about and understand constitutional rights, civic duties and responsibilities, and citizenship. My unit will begin by focusing on the individual rights of each American citizen, and then it will transition into a section defining “citizen.” At the end of the unit, students will have to evaluate their own civic duties and responsibilities. In each section of the unit, students will have to participate in quick writes and classroom discussions to gauge their understanding. At the end of each lesson, students will have to complete a project. These projects include blogs, videos, audio recordings, and comics. Classroom discussion will mainly be focused on aiding students whose learning styles are musical, naturalist, or interpersonal, because these learning styles are more difficult to cover in other forums. Quick writes will mostly be used to make sure students are completing their assigned work. They will mainly cover concepts that students will read about or a bit of information we have gone over in class. This is needed as a way of checking in with my students to make sure they are not falling behind. The projects that take play at the end of each lesson will be primarily graded on content in order to make sure students understand major concepts. It is also necessary to have assessments that will look at whether students can work well in groups or not. =Establish Goals=

Content Area: Social Studies Standard Label: B2: Rights, Duties, Responsibilities, and Citizen Participation in Government Grade Level: 9-Diploma Students will inderstand the constitutional and legal rights, the civic duties and responsibilities, and roles of citizens in a constitutional democracy and the role of citizens living under other forms of government in the world. =Students will understand that=

•they have civic duties and responsibilities •they are citizens of their country and their world || =Essential Questions=
 * **//Students will understand that://** **(U)** ||
 * •they have constitutional rights

•Why are constitutional rights necessary? •Why do you have civic duties and responsibilities? •How should citizens act toward their country and their world? = = =Students will know=

•Vocabulary: constitution, democracy, Bill of Rights, government, citizens, Supreme Court, district courts, civic duties •Key Factual Information:various amendments to the constitution, Supreme Court cases, events leading to amendments •important events and people: Thomas Jefferson, anti-federalists, Civil War, Civil Rights Movement, WWII, Prohibition = = =Students will be able to=

•describe constitutional rights •make meaning of being a citizen •exhibit civic duties and responsibilities •analyze constitutional rights •role-play as citizens in a constitutional democracy •be aware of civic duties and responsibilities

**Performance Task Overview** You are a lawyer  who is looking for a position with a prestigious lawfirm . Davis Polk and Wardwell is offering a contest  where the winner  will be their new partner. They are requiring all contestants to submit entries explaining how the constitution can be used in court . They also want all entries to have interesting elements to grab their attention. You must now make the best possible presentation explaining the legal rights of U.S. citizens. =Expectations=
 * absences/late policy-** If a student has a legitimate reason for an absence (considered legitimate by me) or a not from a parent or guardian, then I will give the student any notes missed in the class period. If there is no note or legitimate reason, it will be the student's responsibility to get notes from a peer. If a student turns in work late without any reasoning or note, then the grade will lose 10 points for each day it is late. If a student is late with a note or a hall pass, then there will be no punishment. If a student is late without either a note or a hall pass, then they will be required to stay after class to make up for anything they missed in class.
 * assignment expectation-** The expectation for all assignments is that they will be completed by the date they are due. If assignments are late, then I will use the policy given above. Assignments should also fit into whatever guidelines are given and should present the best possible work for each student. If assignments do not fit these expectations, then they will be handed back to the students and the students will have to do assignments over until they match the expectations.
 * class expectations-** It is important for every class to have every student arrive on time. Also, my expectation is that all my students will have the proper materials for class. If a student is unprepared for class, then they will not be allowed to go back to get their materials. Unprepared students will have to look on with another student. Students are expected to be respectful of myself, other teachers, and their peers. The first time a student is clealry disrespectful, I will speak to them. If the problem continues, then I will be forced to use discipline.
 * plagiarism policy-** Plagiarism is something that I definitely will not tolerate. If I catch a student plagiarizing their work, then I will speak to the student and the principal. If the problem continues, I will take whatever action is seems fitting according to the school's policy.

=Benchmarks= Comiclife (25): The first benchmark students will reach requires them to creat a comic. The comic will be used to assess students' understanding of their individual rights. Students will explain in depth each of their rights that are outlined in the Bill of Rights. The goal for this assessment is to show that students understand applications of the information they have learned. These will be presented, but the grade will be primarily based on the product.

Podcast (25): The second benchmark students reach requires them to create a podcast. Students will be expected to creat audiofiles in groups of three or four in which students will discuss their individual rights. This podcast will be played on a pre-determined day. After the recording, students in each group will explain what they learned from this lesson about their rights. Part of the assignment will be for students to turn in a script for the recording.

Garageband (25): Students will be asked to record a file using Garageband in which they will be on a mock talkshow. The purpose of this talkshow is to have students role-playing as citizen in a constitutional democracy to show how citizens should behave. Just like with the podcast, the Garageband files will be presented and written scripts will be required when they are handed in.

imovie (35): Students will be given the opportunity to use imovie to create a public service announcement. The purpose of this public service announcement will be to show students the problems with areas where citizens don't behave as they should. These will all be shown to the class, and the class will be given the opportunity to give feedback. I am mainly looking for students to have a clear understanding of how citizens should behave, but another part of the grade will be how creative the public service announcment is.

Livejournal (35): Students will be expected to keep a Livejournal account. The purpose of this account is to allow students to post their day-to-day activities nd how their activities are related to citizenship. The grade will be mainly based on whether students understand the concept of civic duties or not. These will be submitted online so anyone can view them, but I will not set aside any time to view them in class. These accounts should represent at least on posting a day for a week.

Wikispaces (35): Students will have to maintain a wiki page. The purpose of this wiki page is to create a space where students can communicate about how they view civic duties, and ask questions. The wiki page will mainly be graded on participation. As long as students post something at least once a day for a week that is relelvant, then they will receive credit.

Performance Task (85):

=Grading Scale= **A** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76), **C-** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59). = =