Political Ad project

You and your group will create a political ad to be broadcast on tv. In order to get an A your ad must meet the following criteria:
-1 must be within (+or-) 3sec of 45 seconds (25 pts)
-2  must include a minimum of 3 accomplishments of the candidate and 2 negatives of the opponent(25pts)
  3.   -all of the following topics must be covered in ad (25 pts)
      a. Foreign policy issue ie. Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Libya, Iran, Terrorism etc....
      b. Stance on a social issue ie. abortion, health care, education, 2nd amendment, crime, welfare etc..
       c.Economic issue ie, jobs, bailouts, Wall Street, Taxes, Deficit, Debt, medicare, social security etc..
       d.Education,
-4 be creative and accurate( 20 pts)
   - all stats must be cited and from a reputable source
   - facts must be accurate and demonstrate an understanding of the issue and your candidates position
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the office being sought(5pts)
    - ie. term, responsibilities, etc....

Political Campaign Ads
Find and view 6 political campaign ads. (4 Presidential and 2 Senatorial ads)
Do the following for the 4 best ads you come across
1. Describe the overall message of the ad.
2. For whom is the ad targeted? Rich ? Poor? Black? White? Hispanics? Men? Women? Pacifists? Businessmen? etc.....
3. Critique the ad.
Next week we will be creating our own ads so try and get ideas from the things you see.

Senate Committees

Senate Committees

Go to the Senate Committees Homepage
Read the About the Committee System Section.
Go back to the homepage
Pick 1 committee that sounds interesting to you or a committee that you may want your bill to be in.
Create a powerpoint that explains the following:
1. Jurisdiction of the committee (what areas are under its responsibility)
2. Who is the chairman?
3. Describe two bills that are currently in committee

Political Ads
1. Find 4 political ads from this 2012 election

Senate

Senate Research

Your objective today is to research a current US Senator who is up for reelection and find the following information:
Go to senate.gov for list of all current US Senators
1. What state? and party?
2. List 5 things you think are important to know about the Senator's biography.
3. How many terms has the Senator served?
4. On what committees does the Senator serve?
5. Describe the current polling data of the election.
a. Find a current political advertisement  in favor of your candidate
b. Find one against him/her . describe
5. Go to Thomas.gov find one piece of legislation that the Senator sponsored or co-sponsored. Find one that makes sense to you and summarized into a few sentences what the bill does.

8. Finally pick an issue that your Senator feels passionately about and write a 30 sec sound bite, to be delivered in class, writing as if you are that Senator. The sound bite should be written as if your senator is answering a question from a reporter, so give the question then give your 30 sec answer.

Senator, What Political party are you?

Senator, What Political party are you?

Today you will officially pick the political party that you will represent in your role as a US Senator.
Take all three political party quizes:
1. Are you a republican or democrat?
2. What political party are you?
3. What political party is right for you?
After reading the results of the quizes go to an official site of the party that the test said you most closely resembled; democratic party, republican party, Libertarian Party,
Green Party , Tea Party
Post a one paragraph declaration explaining the party you will join
Paragraph must include
a. name of the party
b. an explanation of the major beliefs of that party and why you chose to join it.
c. include any things that you do not agree with

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

The goal for today is to understand the case and to be able to discuss the complexities of it.
Read Officers in the Bronx Fire 41 Shots both pages.
Read The Diallo Verdict
answer the following questions:
1. what were the officers charged with?
2. what was the prosecution's argument?
3. What was the defense's argument?
4. What do you think?
5. List three words/ phases you do not understand. Look up and define those words.

Election

Go to realclearpolitics.comwww.realclearpolitics.com
Read at least 4 different  articles on the debate
1. Based on all of your reading and your viewing of debate two, post a one paragraph comment expressing your ideas/ opinion/ observation/ concerns etc
2. Find current polling data that reflects the current popular vote polling data.
3. Find current polling data that projects the current electoral count.

Lobby groups and their role in legislation

Go to The National Rifle Association's website 
1. Explain one piece of legislation they are for and one they are against.





Go to the National Restaurant Association's website
1. Explain who they are, what they do and 5 companies that are members.
Check out Issues for Action
2. Describe in three sentences the proposed NY Beverage Ban
3. Describe the NRA position on the ban.
4. Describe the NRA reasoning for their position on the ban.
5. What do you think about the ban.

Check out other issues of interest to the NRA lobby.
6. What is the H-2B Visas? And what is the NRA's position on them?

criminal justice

Go to Crime Causation Theories.
Read, comprehend and explain.

Today's lesson focus is on interest groups or lobby groups. By the end of class you will know what they are, how they operated and be able to identify the particulars of their influence.
Go to www.opensecrets.org
click on lobbying on the left hand side of the page.Read
click on ranked sectors. Read and look at all the different sectors. Click around.
click on top spenders. Read and look around.
post a one paragraph comment on the blog explaining one specific interest group and their influence/ interest on a particular bill.

Bill to law

Represent Me Do activity.
What does this activity say about the role of a Congressman.
Read How Old is Too Old To Drive

- List 3 reasons the article offers to support the idea that there may be a crisis on the highways because of elderly drivers.
Read House Approves Mandating Regular Vision Tests for Seniors
Answer the following questions:
1. Is this a state or federal law? How do you know?
2. What does the law for seniors to do?
3. What other requirements are there in the bill?
4. According to Donna Erdman which age group has the most accidents?

Watch South Park Grey Dawn

Debate
Go to realclearpolitics
Read many of the different opinions of the debate then post a 1 paragraph comment on the debate.

Debate
Go to
CNN.com
Read different opinions of the debates. You can also check out more partisan news organizations such as Drudge(r) or Msnbc(l) or Foxnews(r) or Huffingtonpost(l) then post a one paragraph comment with your opinion of the debate.

Judicial Review is the concept by which the Judicial Branch of the government reviews the constitutionality of laws and actions by the government on its citizens.
In this activity you will research examples of laws/ actions that were reviewed for their constitutionality.
Go to http://www.oyez.org/issues.
Objective:
1. Find a first amendment case that you find interesting and understand.
2. In your own words explain the constitutional question under review and explain how the Supreme Court ruled on the issue.
3. Do the same thing for an 8th amendment case. ( cruel and unusual punishment)
4. Do the same thing for a 5th Amendment case.( self incrimination or Double Jeopardy)

Test on Friday or Monday review on quizlet