December 16, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Wednesday Schedule:

1^st hour:           9:35-10:22 am                         C lunch:           1:15-1:40 pm

2^nd hour:          10:27-11:04 am                       6^th hour:           1:45-2:22 pm

3^rd hour:           11:09-11:46 am                       7^th hour:           2:27-3:05 pm

4^th hour:           11:51-12:28 pm                                              

5^th hour:           12:33-1:10 pm

Activity:

AP Government –Here are the objectives for today: I can list the candidates that appeared in the most recent Republican debate. I can list 4 headlines from cnn.com covering the debate and candidates. I can identify issues that are defining each candidate’s campaign for the presidency. Tasks: click on the following link to go to the news site, which is providing in depth coverage of the last Republic debate. Scan the articles related to the debate and in the comments section of the class blog, list the Republican candidates that appeared in the debate. Then, tell me 4 of the headlines of news stories on cnn.com pertaining to the debate. Finally, tell me 2 issues for 2 candidates that have been discussed or identified in the news. 

December 8, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – *Take home tests should be turned in today to Mr. Krause! *Have definitions for Chapter 12 done by tomorrow. *Matching and Multiple Choice Quiz on Friday! Here are the objectives for today: I can define selective attention and personal knowledge. I can explain how the media often shows bias in favor of or against a candidate. Tasks:

1.      Use your textbook, or notes, or a google search to define the terms “selective attention” and “personal knowledge”. Type your definitions in the comments box of the class blog.

2.      Then, explain why and how news media show favor towards a candidate or bias against a candidate in the press.

3.      Is this fair? Explain the value of opinion in the press and the value of objectivity.

When you are done, find a recent poll showing the current standings for the Republican and Democratic candidates for president for the 2016 election. List who is in the top two and share their percentage of how many Americans would vote for them if the election were today. Type your answers in the comments section of the class blog.

November 30, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – *Be sure to show me your Chapter 10 definitions notes today if you haven’t done so already! *Ch. 10 Test Thursday on Elections and Campaigns definitions, Multiple Choice, and FRQ (Free Response Question). Here are the objectives for today (type your responses in Word or Docs and then copy and paste into the comments box on the blog): I can identify 5 things that has made Donald Trump’s presidential campaign controversial and respond to 2 of them. I can complete an FRQ on Campaigns and Elections. Tasks: click on the following link to go to an article about ten groups Trump has insulted or offended since he began his presidential campaign. Read the article andin the comments box on the class blog list the 5 groups you think should be the most offended. Then, choose two of those 5 and explain why you think offending that group will make it harder for Trump to get elected. Be detailed. Write about a paragraph for each of the two that you choose. Then, answer the following FRQ on Elections and Campaigns:

The presidential election of 2000 hinged on the outcome in Florida. First, the television networks said that Vice President Al Gore had carried the state. Then, the state’s election was considered “too close to call.” Then, the networks declared Texas Governor George W. Bush the winner. The presidential election was so close that it took five weeks to determine the winner. Vice President Al Gore carried the East and West Coasts and inland industrial cities, while Texas Governor George W. Bush won much of the Midwest and Plains, as well as the South. Gore gained a half-million more votes than Bush, but Gore lost the Electoral College when he lost Florida. Bush's official margin in Florida was by 537 votes. With the presidency hanging on a few hundred votes in a single state, there were lawsuits and requests for recounts. Bitter disputes centered on confusing ballots, missing names from voting rolls, and subjecting minority voters to multiple requests for identification. The punch card ballots posed a major problem--they were vulnerable to voter error. Many ballots were called into question because voters failed to punch a hole all the way through the ballot. In an extraordinary late-night decision, the U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. A narrow majority of the Justices said that the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court violated the principle that “all votes must be treated equally.” It also ruled that there was not enough time to conduct a new count that would meet constitutional muster. The 2000 presidential election was the first in 112 years in which a president lost the popular vote but captured enough states to win the electoral vote.

1.      Elections and Campaigns each play a significant role in the United States political system, yet they differ in some fundamental ways.

a)     Describe how the coattails of a presidential candidate can help another person running for office.

b)     Do you believe a candidate running for office in Florida in 2000 would have benefitted from the coattails of one of the candidates? Explain.

c)     Describe the issues of the vote in Florida. Why was it controversial? List the reasons.

d)     What steps could be taken to prevent the issues of the 2000 Presidential Election from recurring? Be specific and include details.

If you have time left over, review current events articles on the 2016 Presidential Candidates. 

November 12, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – *Be sure to show me your Chapter 9 definitions notes today if you haven’t done so already! *Ch. 9 Test tomorrow on Political Parties definitions and FRQ (Free Response Question). Here are the objectives for today (type your responses in Word or Docs and then copy and paste into the comments box on the blog): I can identify the positives and negatives of policy ideas proposed by politicians. I can complete an FRQ on Political Parties. Tasks: click on the following link to go to an article about Trump’s proposed “Deportation Force”. Read the article and identify what would be 1 or more positives about the proposal (why would people support the plan) and what would be 1 or more negatives about the proposal (why would people be against the plan). *Hint: don’t just think about Republican vs. Democratic views on immigration. Then, answer the following FRQ on Political Parties (you may want to refer to your notes on Interest Groups as well):

1.      Interest Groups and Political Parties each play a significant role in the United States political system, yet they differ in their fundamental goals.

a)     Identify the fundamental goal of interest groups in the political process.

b)     Identify the fundamental goal of political parties in the political process.

c)     Describe two different ways by which interest groups SUPPORT the fundamental goal of political parties in the political process.

d)     For one of the forms of support you described in c), explain two different ways in which that form of support helps interest groups to achieve their fundamental goal in the political process.

If you have time left over, do a google search on the term Cult of Personality and compare that with the term from Chapter 9, Personal Following. How do they differ and has there a Cult of Personality surrounding an American political leader? Is this good or bad? Explain.

November 4, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Wednesday Schedule:

1^st hour:            9:35-10:22 am                          C lunch:            1:15-1:40 pm

2^nd hour:           10:27-11:04 am                        6^th hour:            1:45-2:22 pm

3^rd hour:            11:09-11:46 am                        7^th hour:            2:27-3:05 pm

4^th hour:            11:51-12:28 pm                                              

5^th hour:            12:33-1:10 pm

Activity:

AP Government – Here are the objectives for today: I can identify information from the Michigan Republican and Democratic parties websites. I can identify the Michigan Representative and Senator for my district (NOT US Representative or Senator). Tasks: click on the following link to go to the Michigan Republican Party’s website. Explore the site, Then, click on the following link to go to the Michigan Democratic Party’s website. Explore the site. Then, in the comments box of the class blog, list two things that the sites have in common and two things that are different about the WEBSITE itself. Then, do a Google search for the current Michigan Senator and Representative for where YOU live. Sample searches would include Michigan Representative Lansing, Michigan Senator Lansing. List them on the class blog in the comments box. When you are done, read the news for current events: cnn.com, wilx.com, wlns.com. Nothing must be submitted for the news stories only for the first two tasks.

October 27, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – Here are the objectives for today: I can identify the Republican and Democratic candidates for President of the United States. I can identify news sites that are known for their conservative or liberal bias or form being unbiased. Tasks: Do a Google search for current presidential candidates. List 5 of them and the political parties they belong to, if applicable. I recommend opening a Word document to record all of your responses for today, so you don’t accidentally back arrow or close out a tab or browser and lose all of your work you are typing in the comments box!! Then do a Google search for biased political news sites. You may also do searches for conservative political news sites or liberal political news sites or unbiased political news sites. Identify one of each and read an article from each. On the class blog, list the 3 sites that you found and give an example of bias that you found on the class blog (example a conservative site criticizing a liberal candidate or a liberal site criticizing a conservative candidate). Then, click on the following link to find a news story about a current presidential candidate. Summarize the article in a paragraph in the comments box on the class blog. *Chapter 11 Vocab Matching Quiz Tomorrow – Interest Groups!

October 19, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – Here are the objectives for today: I can explain what the goals are of a specific interest group. I can do research about an interest group to learn more about them. Tasks: Choose an interest group from the list below. Find their website to learn more about them. Click on the comments box on the blog and write a paragraph explaining what you have learned. You will look for stories that pertain to your interest group throughout the year. When you are done, look into history of the special interest you have chosen. How long has that issue been a concern? Examples of topics may include, the economcy, women’s issues, the environment, foreign affairs, healthcare, and so forth.

Interest Groups List

1.    American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

2.    American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

3.    American Dental Association (ADA)

4.    American Federation of Teachers

5.    American Shareholders Association

6.    American Wind Energy Association

7.    Americans for Prosperity

8.    The Center for Education Reform

9.    The Center for International Policy

10. Clean Water Action

11. Conservative Review

12. Council on American-Islamic Relations

13. Food Policy Action

14. Human Rights Campaign

15. The Humane Society of the United States

16. Keep America Safe

17. League of Women Voters

18. Marijuana Policy Project

19. National Association of Counties

20. National Association of Manufacturers

21. National Association of Police Organizations

22. National Farmers Union

23. National Organization for Women (NOW)

24. National Retail Federation

25. National Rifle Association (NRA)

26. National Right to Life Committee

27. National Trust for Historic Preservation

28. Partnership for America

29. People for the American Way

30. The Sierra Club

31. Tea Party Express

32. United Mine Workers of America

33. United States Chamber of Commerce

34. Women Employed

October 9, 2015

Welcome to our AP Government class blog! Our activities on the blog will be in the green box located below. Read the activity and follow its instructions. When you are ready to answer the questions required, scroll down to the bottom of the blog page and click on add comment. Type your answers in the box that pops up and at the end of your answers, include your name. You MUST have your name in the comments box or you will NOT receive credit for your work. This is just like putting your name on your paper! ALSO, you must click anonymous from the drop down boxes listed below the comments box, since the comments are submitted to me for review and not published. If you leave the box for Google ID checked, your answers will be lost in space for all eternity (until you redo it!). If you have ANY questions, please let me know! Tip: If you have any doubts or fears about losing your work, do as I do, and copy and paste your answers into a Word document, Notepad, e-mail to yourself, etc., so you have an electronic copy as backup. I will be posting to the class blog on a weekly basis from now on, so stay tuned and check back frequently!

Be reminded that you lose participation points when you are caught on YouTube, Facebook, and similar sites. You may listen to music on a site like www.grooveshark.com that does NOT have videos. If music starts to interfere with your ability to complete your work or stay on task, you will lose that privilege.

Activity:

AP Government – Here are the objectives for today: I can explain what an FRQ is and I can complete an FRQ on Federalism. Tasks: Right click on the following link to learn about FRQ’s, which appear on the AP Exam. Click on the comments box on the blog and list 2 things that you learned. Then, answer the following FRQ on Federalism.

FRQ on Federalism

The framers of the United States Constitution created a federal system.
(a) Define federalism.
(b) Select two of the following and explain how each has been used to increase the power of the federal government relative to the states.
• Categorical grants
• Federal mandates
• Selective incorporation
(c) Select two of the following and explain how each has been used to increase the power of the states relative to the federal government.
• Welfare Reform Act of 1996
• Block grants
• Tenth Amendment 

 Type your response in the comments box on the blog. Be sure to RIGHT click on links to open them in a new tab. Be sure that the comments are submitted as Anonymous and that you have typed your name on the top line of the comments box. Remember, Test Monday on Ch. 3 – Federalism vocab, multiple choice, and an FRQ. Have fun and good luck!