Lauren Vangieri M.A. 30 plus years in education and administration. TCS associate since 2001.

American Government and Economics are taught as two 16 week courses patterning typical college classes. Note-taking is vital as the Government course utilizes original documents and hand outs instead of a traditional text book. Lecture classes are presented on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s with student study days on Tuesday and Thursday’s. This allows students to work on notes, reading assignments, papers and test prep with the support of  each other and myself.

Spring Semester ( 3d and 4th marking periods)

American Government will be taught using original sources. All students will receive a copy of the US Constitution and will also analyze documents instrumental in understanding the concepts of US government and civics. Students will understand key terms as well as  the philosophies behind the Constitution.

Student study skill emphasized: note taking from lectures, essay tests, comprehension and application of documents to essay tests. Tuesday/Thursday class periods will allow students to review notes and sample essay questions with the teacher. Monday,Wednesday,Friday classes will be lectures with exit questions to wrap up key ideas.

Week 1 review of terms that are prerequisites to the study of civics

Weeks 2 & 3 – Social Contract Philosophers. Hobbes, Locke, Rouseau and Montesquieu will be examined according to their mutual writings and thoughts on:

Man in the State of Nature, Natural Rights, Function/limits of Govt.,Legitimacy of Govt.,Dissolving govt.

Each philosopher will be examined individually and students will be expected to compare/ contrast the ideas as well as find their contributions to the US Constitution.

Week 4 -Historic Documents with influence on the Constitution examined

Week 5 – Founding Fathers and the Constitutional Convention – Preamble

Week 6 -  Article I and how a bill becomes a law supplement

week 7 Article II and the roles of the president supplement

Week 8 – midterm March 19 – Students will be able to select from offered essay question that have assigned points values reflecting the difficulty level of the questions. There will be 5 20 point questions from which students may do no more than 3; 3 50 point questions from which students will do no more the 2; and 2 100 point questions from which student may do no more than 1. Students should take full advantage of review sessions on Tuesday and Thursday as well as their own study time and study halls as the questions will be designed to require thinking, nit just reacting. Very few took advantage of the previously offered 30 point extra credit essay which students should have seen as an indicator of the difficulty level of the mid-term!

Week 9 – Article III Supreme Court and Federal courts.

Government Project Due May 11

Government Project

Select 1 of the options below.  Due _______________________________________

All options are worth 100 points.

1. Interview a person holding a political office. You must have at least 10 questions but no more than 15. ALL questions must be approved by your teacher in advance. Interviews do not have to be face to face, but your interviewee must know you are recording. Submit your questions and answers in writing after the interview.
2. Observe a political meeting. Submit a written summary of the session including an agenda, resolutions and further acts under consideration. Expect to stay for the whole session which may be for several hours.
3. Conduct an analysis a political survey. All questions must be approved in advance. Data and questions must be submitted with a graphic representation of your analysis.
4. Conduct a political debate with other member(s) of the class. Topic must be approved in advance and rules of debate will be strictly followed and enforced by the instructor. Your research notes for debate preparation must be submitted at the time of the debate.
5. Collect a minimum of 10 political cartoons from any era and submit them with a brief description of what all of the symbols in the cartoon mean. You should clearly indicate why the cartoon is funny and/or pithy for the era. Up to 5 extra cartoons MAY BE considered for extra credit at the instructors discretion.