U.S. Court System Look Book

Hello from the land of the Judicial Branch!  We started our study of the national judicial branch in room 207 a week ago.  After we discussed the court system with the column notes the kids made a look book.  So here is the finished product and then I'll walk you through the "construction" process.

First you will need two sheets of notebook paper.  Turn them portrait style and take one and fold it not quite in half.  You will want to leave about two inches between the two ends.  Then take the other paper and fold it so there are now four places to write your titles on.  I'm sorry if this is confusing- hopefully the pictures work.  Here is a tutorial that may help you.

The top flap should be labeled "U.S. Courts" the picture to the right is the same picture from my column notes.  If you can't read the triangle the bottom layer is "U.S. District Court", the middle is "U.S. Court of Appeals" and then the top (or as I like to say in class- the pinnacle) of the triangle is "U.S. Supreme Court".

The next flap down is the U.S. Supreme Court.  The information inside is is answering Who, What, Where and How.

Who: Justices hear case, no jury
What: limited original, mostly appellate cases from U.S. Court of Appeals (you could get technical and add that cases come from state Supreme Courts but I chose not to do that)
Where: Washington, DC
How: U.S. Constitution sets up Supreme Court 

The next flap down is the U.S. Court of Appeals.  The information inside is answering those same questions.

Who: Judges hear cases, no jury
What: appellate cases from U.S. Circuit Court
Where: 12 Regions, we are 4, closest is in Roanoke (You may need to change this if you are in the eastern part of the state.  I am pretty sure that your court is in Richmond.  You can double check here.)
How: U.S. Constitution sets up U.S. Court of Appeals (Now, I know technically that the Constitution does not set up the lower inferior courts; however, they are set up by Congress, which is outlined in the Constitution.)

The bottom flap is the U.S. District Courts.  They will be answering those same questions.

Who: Judge hears case, sometimes has a jury
What: hears original Federal cases
Where: 94 Districts, Western District of Virginia is located in Roanoke (Again, you may need to double check and see where you locality is located.  You can do that by clicking here.)
How: U.S. Constitution sets up U.S. District Court (Again, same deal with the Appellate courts- Congress has authority to set them up but found in the Constitution).

Today, we read about the different Supreme Court Justices and answered questions.  Such questions included: Who is the oldest justice?  Who is the youngest justice?  How many were nominated by Democratic presidents?  How many were nominated by Republican presidents?  What happens after the judges are nominated?  

Then we started discussing four landmark Supreme Court cases: Marbury v. Madison, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education and Miranda v. Arizona.  I always enjoy the conversations that come from our discussions- especially about Plessy v. Ferguson and Miranda v. Arizona.

Tomorrow the kids are writing a RAFT about Marbury v. Madison.  They have to be sure to discuss the importance of the case (it set up judicial review, which is the check that the Supreme Court has over the other two branches).  They have a choice of writing a dialogue between a reporter and Supreme Court Justice, the case talking about itself (we reminded ourselves what personification is) and then their other choice is a text conversation between two siblings- a college age and a younger one where the older one is explaining the importance of the case.  I look forward to reading them tomorrow.

Happy Teachings!
C

New Life for Old Textbooks

I am so excited!  This is my first blog post that has been contributed by a fellow Civics teacher.  Her name is Beth and she teaches in Caroline County.  We met this past summer at James Madison's Montpelier during the We the People conference.

She has me inspired!

New Life to Old Textbooks

Folder games are great for stations and seat work when students need some extra reinforcement. The problem? They are not made for middle school Civics students. So I made my own.

Materials Needed:

- Old Textbook (I used one district then I use in the classroom to prevent repetition)

- Colored file folders

- glue sticks, scissors, markers, post-it notes

- cut-out shapes- Dollar Tree has a variety of sizes

  

I previewed the textbook to get an idea of how I could organize the information. I prepared all of my supplies and began tearing up the textbook. 

I sorted the pages as I tore into the following piles: political cartoons, review questions, skill builders, debate topics, branches of government, and pictures. It took me several hours as I was reviewing the information to evaluate how I could use it and I decimated the entire book.

I took the sections that were similar to construct the activities in the folders. For example, each chapter had a political cartoon with questions. I combined 4-5 together to provide more focused practice.

Above Left: Cover                        Above Right: Inside of Political Cartoon Folder

The textbook had enough political cartoons to create 5 folders. I have used them for a station when reviewing media. In total, I have 30 separate folders. The folders topics are as varied as their uses , and even I have levels for my Self Contained classes, Inclusion, and what is used in tutoring. The debate topic folders were used in small groups for discussion then rotated to another group. The Supreme Court cases have been used for writing prompts and for discussion. I have found the more I use them, the more uses I have found for them.

Another way I have used this is to isolate specific skills. The textbook uses a lot of charts and graphs, so they can be used with the Students with Disabilities that struggle with these skills and can be presented in a format that is more user friendly.

I had all folders laminated for durability. All folders are numbered and have a generic answer sheet. They can be adapted for group work, extension activities, or however to fit your needs. The students are kinesthetic and visual learners like this format more than the traditional textbook.

Rubric for State Government Lapbook

I use rubistar for my rubrics.  The website is http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ and the rubric id is 2277281.  If for some reason this doesn't work here is the rubric.  

Virginia Government Lapbook Teacher Name: Mrs. Fairchild Student Name:     ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Required Elements	The lapbook includes all required elements.	The lapbook is missing one foldable.	The lapbook is missing two foldables.	The lapbook is missing three or more foldables.
Use of Class Time	Used time well during each class period. Focused on getting the project done. Never distracted others.	Used time well during each class period. Teacher had to speak to me once or twice.	Used some of the time well during each class period. There was some focus on getting the project done but occasionally distracted others.	Did not use class time to focus on the project OR often distracted others. Teacher spoke to me multiple times.
Legislative Foldables	Included all three legislative foldable and all information.	Included all three legislative foldable but missing some information.	Missing one of the legislative foldables.	Missing two of the legislative foldables.
Executive Foldables	Included both executive foldables and all information.	Included both executive foldables but missing some information.	Missing one of the executive foldables.	Has no executive foldables.
Judicial Foldable	Included the judicial foldable and all information.	Included the judicial foldable but missing some information.		Missing the judicial foldable.
Attractiveness	The lapbook is exceptionally attractive in terms of layout and neatness.	The lapbook is attractive in terms of layout and neatness.	The lapbook is acceptably attractive though it may be a bit messy.	The lapbook is distractingly messy. It is not attractive.

Date Created: Jan 20, 2013 08:11 pm (CST)

All together

Now is the time to put the lapbook together!  Woot-woot!

You need to have a manilla folder for each student.  Have each student make a window pane foldable with their folder.

This is how I glued in the foldables.

On the far left side I glued the governor and lieutenant governor window pane.  Then at the bottom was the pocket for the roles of the governor.  Remember to not glue the top- just the sides and the bottom.  Once the glue is dry then the students can put the slips in.

In the middle on the left I have the steps look book and then right beneath that is the window pane Legislative Branch.  Directly beside that is the Primary Legislative Issues in Virginia.

On the far left side is the window pane court system.

Happy Teaching!
Cori

Judicial Foldable

This our final foldable!  This foldable is for SOL CE.7a.  This is going to be another window pane but it will have a cut in the middle to make four flaps.

To make this foldable you will need to cut six college ruled lines below the middle hole punch.  I think this is about an inch and a quarter.  Turn the paper so the hole punch side is down and make your window pane fold (you will bring the outside edges to the middle and make two folds).  Then have students make on cut in the middle on each side.

This is the finished product:

The foldable will read left to right, top to bottom.  The first (top left) has a big 1 (first).  Then write level of Virginia Courts.  Then the next one will have a big 2 on it and will read Second level of Virginia Courts.  Do the same for the 3rd and 4th.

The information I put inside I got from notes I took at a Civics summit at the Capitol Building that I attended this past fall.

The first level of Virginia Courts is General District Courts.  The outside flap should read "Virginia District Courts, incudes small claims and juvenile and domestic relations court."  The inside flap should read "Custody disputes, minor traffic, caes up to $2500, no jury"

Second flap, outside should read "Virginia Circuit Court".  The inside part should read "Appeals from General District, original for felonies, has a jury".

The next flap should be "Virginia Court of Appeals".  The inside should read "Appeals from circuit court, no jury".

The last flap's outside flap should read "Virginia Supreme Court". The inside flap should read "appeals from court of appeals, no jury".

Please feel free to add or change as you feel your students need to know.

Remember, have your students write their name on the back!

Happy teaching!
Cori

Roles of the Governor

The second foldable for the Executive Branch is the Roles of the Governor.  Students should be familiar with these roles as some of them are similar to the President's.

This foldable is a pock with slips of paper.  To make the slips of paper have students cut the margin off with the holes.  Then fold the paper in half vertical or height wise.  (We call this a hot dog fold because it resembles a hot dog bun.)  Then fold that in half vertical.  (We call this a hamburger fold because it resembles a hamburger bun.) And then one more hamburger fold.  Have the students shave their fold- see lawmaking process foldable to for shaving the fold.

For the pocket have students fold a piece of paper like you would fold a paper to put in an envelope.  Then do a hamburger fold (resembles a hamburger).  Have the kids shave the fold.  There will be six of these papers so students can share.

On the pocket part have students write "Governor Bob McDonnell".  When students glue into their lapbook remind them that they are to only put glue on the sides and bottom.  If they glue the top the slips of paper will not go in.  :-)  You may want to have some extra's handy because a few will glue it wrong.

For each slip of paper, students will be copying the titles from the Essential Knowledge.  The explanations are mine.  Again, if you like them keep them.  If not, change them as you see fit.

Chief Legislator: Proposes state Legislation in State of Commonwealth speech.  (I also take this time to ask the students what speech the President uses when he proposes legislation.)
Chief of State: ceremonial leader of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Commander-in-Chief: head of Virginia's National Guard
Chief Administrator: makes sure all state agencies run effectively (Virginia has a Department of Administration.  This department runs 5 different agencies: elections, human resources for the state,  general services, minority services and compensation.  To read more about this department click here.)
Party Chief: top member of his political party

Happy Teaching!
Cori

Virginia's Executive Branch

The next foldable for the lapbook is a similar to one for the legislative branch.  This foldable is another windowpane.  This lapbook is for SOL CE.7a.

The left side should be labeled "Virginia's Governor".  The right side should be labeled "Virginia's Lieutenant Governor".

Okay- as a side note.  Every time I teach this I think of Forest Gump and Lieutenant Dan.  I shared that with a group of students a few years ago and they looked at me like I had two heads.  I guess that movie was a bit before their time.  Oh well....

Then, on the "Virginia Governor" side have the students write on the outside flap: "Bob McDonnell (R) can serve only 1 four year term".  Then have them cut and glue his picture to the inside.

Then on the "Lieutenant Governor" side have the students write "Bill Bolling  (R) can serve multiple 4 year terms".  Have students cut and glue Mr. Bolling's picture on the inside.

Have students write their name on the back.

Happy Teaching!
Cori

Lawmaking Foldable

This is the last one for the Legislative Branch.  This one covers the same SOL as the previous one- SOL CE.7c.

This foldable is known as a look book.  You will take one piece of paper and fold it like you would when folding a letter to go into an envelope.  Then have the students cut  the paper so there are 3 pieces of paper.  I trick here taught to me by Mrs. S. is to have the students "shave" the fold.  Instruct the students to barely cut the fold.  The paper comes out with a smoother and cleaner edge.  

Once you have your three pieces of paper start with one slip and fold it at the red margin.  Then take your next piece and line up it's red margin with the end of the first paper.  Fold it so the red margin and the edge of the first paper meet up.  Then take the third piece and line it up with the second's end on the third's red margin.  Fold that third piece so it aligns. You should have a long foldable with six flaps.  Staple the top of the foldable to bind the pages together.

This is what the finished product will look like.

*Note: the Virginia Legislative Branch is apart of another foldable.

The top of the foldable should be labeled "Lawmaking Process in Virginia's General Assembly".  Then as the folds are available write Step One, Step Two, Step Three, Step Four and Step Five in descending order.

The essential knowledge then goes above each step:
Step One- Introduction of bill
Step Two- Working in committees
Step Three- Debating the bill on the floor of each house
Step Four- Voting on the bill in each house
Step Five- Sending the Bill to the governor to sign into law

Here are each of the flaps:

On this one I took out each house and replaced it with House of Delegates and Virginia Senate.  My thought process is the more the students see the names the better off they will be.

Again, I took out house and added their names.

I should have put the governor's name in here.  I'll add that.

These are the same exact steps as the national government so I don't spend too much time on this.  For this lesson at the national level I had the students make an instruction booklet that included pictures.  I am sure you could add space for the students to draw pictures if you would like.

Happy Teaching!
Cori

Legislative Issues Foldable

The next foldable for the Legislative part of the lapbook covers SOL CE.7c which states the student will be able to explain the lawmaking process at the state level.  This is where Federalism comes into play.  We discussed that the national government and the state government have different responsibilities when it comes to government.  The essential knowledge mentions 5 areas that states are concerned with: education, health, environment, state budget and revenue.

This foldable is a matchbook foldable.  To make this folable you take a whole sheet of paper.  Take the margin that has the hole punches and fold it up along the red margin line.  Then take what is left and fold that down.  The inside of the foldable should fit nicely into the small upper part.  The label for this foldable is "Primary Legislative Issues in Virginia".  There needs to be four cuts to make five flaps.  Only cut on the outside flap- I tell the students to turn their foldable so it looks like a mountain and cut only one side of the mountain. This is the finished foldable.

I don't know if you can tell but there are cuts in between the pictures.

* Note about pictures: I tell my students they are free to draw what they like as long it relates back to the idea and it helps them remember.  They are free to draw what I draw or they can come up with something on their own.

Education flap:

The picture is an open book.  Other ideas I thought of: school bus, school building, a teacher, backpack or notebook paper with pens and pencils.

On the outside flap is the information from the essential knowledge: "to promote an informed and engaged citizenry" and then on the bottom flap is the word "Education".

Health flap:

I drew the caduceus (the symbol for medicine).  Other pictures could be doctors, health department building or a thermometer.

On the outside flap is the essential knowledge "to promote and protect the health of its citizens" and then on the bottom flap is "Health".

Environment flap:

I drew a tree.  Other ideas could be a pastoral setting, a river, the Chesapeake Bay or a flower.

On the outside flap I wrote the essential knowledge, "to protect national resources" and then on the bottom flap "Environment".

State Budget flap:

I drew (a crude) Virginia (I never claimed to be an artist-I teach Civics) and then a dollar sign.  Another option could include a piece of paper that has the word budget written at the top.

On the top flap I wrote the essential knowledge: "to approve the biennial (every two year) budget prepared by the Governor Bob McDonnell".  The essential knowledge does not have the governor's name but I thought it would be a good way to reinforce the governor's name.  Then on the bottom flap I wrote "State Budget".

Revenue flap:

I drew a tax bill.  If you don't use the dollar sign for the budget part you could use a dollar sign here.

I wrote in the essential knowledge "to levy and collect taxes to pay for services".  I added the "pay for services" part.  Then a the bottom I wrote "Revenue".

Remind students to write their name on it and put in their baggie!

Happy Teaching!
Cori