Week of 12 April 2010

We are really rolling now! 3rd Quarter is over, Civics is winding down and Economics is on our doorstep. This week we will be finishing up Unit 4B, Executive and Judicial Branches and beginning Unit 5: Laws and Cases. As we wrap up unit 4B I have assigned a timeline project for each of the President's cabinet offices. This poster size timeline is due on Monday, April 19. We will also be testing on Unit 4B by the end of the week (the plan is Friday for Period 1, Thursday for Periods 2 & 4).

Enjoy the week, the weather is going to be beautiful. But that also reminds us to make sure we are adhering to the dress code. And we should also consider the walk we have out to the trailer. As the temperature heats up outside I will be running the air conditioner inside. Unfortunately the location of the vents were not well planned and blow directly down on top of the students. So please carry with you a light jacket or sweater.

Week of 4 April 2010

Welcome back, I hope everyone had a good and restful break. If you were out on Monday last week, you missed the conclusion of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - no I am not going to show the end of it again, we need to keep moving. Speaking of keep on moving, we are into Unit 4B: Executive and Legislative Branches. This week we will focus our attention primarily on the executive branch, the work of the president both here and abroad. We will also be watching the movie Dave. It is a cute movie starring Kevin Kline who fills in as President and must learn the job on the fly. I am sure you will enjoy it. I am also planning a current event activity - more on that when we get to it.

2010 State of the Union Address

You can watch President Obama's first State of the Union address online. The site also includes summaries of the President's position on the issues he discussed in the speech. A transcript of the speech is also available. You may also access text archives of State of the Union addresses of the most recent presidents.

The State of the Union Address is required of the President by the US Constitution.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;

US Constitution, Article II, section 3.

It is received by a joint session of Congress and is also attended by the members of the President's cabinet, the Supreme Court Justices, and other invited guests. For security and emergency purposes, one member of the President's cabinet does not attend and will watched from an undisclosed location, outside of Washington, D.C. Recently, it has been added that a few members of Congress be withheld from attending, also for security purposes.

Traditionally, the President begins his speech with "... the State of the Union is..." and then he will describe what he perceives to be the current condition. He gives a summary of his accomplishments of the past year and then the President will follow up by describing what he believes can be done to make things better. He gives a general direction in the form of goals and objectives for the upcoming year and uses this platform to help guide Congress in its upcoming term to craft legislation to support his goals.