Mr. Perse reserves the right to adjust any and all assignments based on various factors including scheduling issues, bad-weather cancellations, and student progress.
Friday, August 19: Students should read text pages 6 - 10. This information is from Chapter 1 and is the Unit 1 / Section 1 reading assignment. Students should also complete the Unit 1 / Section 1 worksheet, which is due Monday, August 22.
Monday, August 22: Students should read text pages 10 - 12 before tomorrow's class. This material is a continuation of Unit 1 / Section 1.
Tuesday, August 23: Students will work in class on the Unit 1 / Section 1 Guided Reading Activity worksheet. This worksheet is due at the end of class. If students do not finish by the end of the class period, the worksheet should be turned in tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24.
Thursday, August 25: Students will work in class on the Unit 1 / Section 1 vocabulary assignment. This assignment is due at the end of the period, or if students have not finished, at the beginning of class on Friday, August 26.
Wednesday, August 31: Students will work on the Unit 1 / Section 2 Vocabulary worksheet in class.
Thursday, September 8: The Unit 1 test, covering text pages 6 - 25 (Chapter 1) will be administered in class today.
Friday, September 9: Students will engage in an in-class exercise dealing with writing descriptions of, and a narrative about their understanding of the American system of government. The work is to be submitted at the end of the class period on Monday, September 12. This work will mark the beginning of Unit 2, and the origins of America's system of government.
Tuesday, September 13: Students will work during a portion of the class period on the Unit 2 / Section 1 Vocabulary Builder worksheet. The worksheet is due at the end of the period. If students do not finish by the end of the period, they should complete the worksheet and turn it on Wednesday, September 14.
Friday, September 16: Students will work during a portion of the class period on the Unit 2 / Section 2 Guided Reading Activity worksheet. This worksheet is due at the end of the class period.
Tuesday, September 20 / Wednesday, September 21: Students will be working on an in-class assignment detailing the features of the Declaration of Independence. The assignment is due at the end of class on Wednesday, September 21.
Friday, September 23: Students will watch a video in class about the Articles of Confederation. They will make a list of what they think the problems were with the new American government. The list is due at the end of class.
Tuesday, September 27: Students will begin working on a more in-depth assignment regarding the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. The assignment will be based on information from Unit 2 power points 26 - 38.
Monday, October 3: Students will begin work in class on a worksheet about the Federalists and the Anti-federalists. This worksheet is due at the end of this class period and is worth 10 points. If students do not finish by the end of the class period, the worksheet is due on Tuesday, October 4.
Thursday, October 6: Students will be given a "practice" test to complete for homework Thursday night. This assignment is worth 17 points and will be collected from the students before they take the Unit 2 test on Friday, October 7. This "practice" test serves as an interactive review for the actual unit test.
Friday, October 7: The Unit 2 Test will be administered today.
Tuesday, October 11: Students will work in class on the Unit 3 / Section 1 Guided Reading Activity. This assignment is due at the end of class, or the next day, if not finished.
Friday, October 21: Students will submit written impressions of the film "Iron Jawed Angels" which was shown in class last week. Students should write about what they learned from watching the film and how that might relate to issues today. Students should also comment on what they liked and did not like about the film. This assignment is due at the end of class.
Thursday, October 27: The Unit 3 test is scheduled for today.
Friday, October 28: A list of terms related to Unit 4, will be handed out to the students. The students should fill in the definitions of those terms as we move through Unit 4. This assignment is due Friday, November 11.
Monday, November 14 - Friday, November 18: Students will review Units 1,2, and 3 in class to prepare for an AIR test readiness
pre-assessment test on Thursday and Friday. The purpose of this work is to assess what the students have learned thus far and what needs to be reiterated prior to the semester exam in December.
Friday, December 2: The Unit 4 test will be administered in class today. Prior to taking the test, students will need to turn in the test review packet. This packet will be graded. I will not accept any test review packets after Friday, December 2.
Monday, December 5 - Friday, December 9: Students will view the film "The Trial of the Chicago 7." This film involves issues concerning the 1st, 6th, and 14th Amendments.
Monday, December 12 - Monday, December 19: Students will work on the semester exam review packet in class. This packet will be collected on the day the students take their mid-term exam. This packet will be graded.
Tuesday, December 20 - Thursday, December 22: Students will be taking their semester exams this week. Before taking the exam, students will need to turn in their semester exam review packet. This packet will be graded.
Tuesday, January 10: Students will will be assigned the Chapter 5 / Section 1 Guided Reading Strategy worksheet. The worksheet, which covers pages 122- 126 in the text, is due either at the end of the class period or Wednesday, January 11.
Wednesday, January 11: Students will be assigned the Chapter 5 / Section 2 Guided Reading Strategy worksheet. The worksheet, which covers pages 128- 136 in the text, is due either at the end of the class period or Thursday, January 12.
Wednesday, January 18: Students will research a newspaper or magazine article on the topic of gerrymandering in Ohio and summarize the issues discussed in the article. Their summary should include a basic description of what gerrymandering is, why it is a problem, and why gerrymandering isn't being eliminated. It is very important that students choose an in-depth article that covers these topics. Students will turn in their summary AND a copy of the article on Friday, January 20.
Tuesday, January 24: Students will research 1 or 2 newspaper or magazine articles on the topic of the Senate filibuster and summarize the issues discussed in the articles. Their summary should include a basic description of what the filibuster is and BOTH the pros and cons of keeping the filibuster as a part of Senate practices. It is very important that students choose an article that covers a positive aspect of the filibuster and an article that covers a negative aspect of the filibuster. Students will turn in their summary AND a copy of the articles on Thursday, January 26.
Monday, January 30: The Unit 5 test is scheduled to be administered in class today.
Thursday, February 2: Students will write a short opinion paper in class on whether or not the 22nd Amendment is a good or bad thing. Students will be able to utilize in-class time to read about the 22nd amendment to formulate an opinion. The short paper is due at the end of class.
Monday, February 6: Students will be assigned to find an article which discusses the pros and cons of the electoral college. Students are to summarize the main points regarding both the positives and negatives of keeping the electoral college. This summary, along with the article, is due Wednesday, February 8.
Tuesday, February 14: The Unit 6 test is scheduled for today.
Wednesday, February 15: We will begin Unit 7 today. Students will read text pages and complete the Chapter 7 / Section 1 Guided Reading Activity worksheet. This worksheet is due Thursday, February 16.
Friday, February 17: Students will read text pages 196 to 205 and complete the Chapter 7 / Section 2 Guided Reading Activity worksheet. This worksheet is due Tuesday, February 21.
Monday, February 27: Students will be assigned a vocabulary worksheet related to power point #s 41 to 56. This worksheet is due Friday, March 3.
Tuesday, March 7: The Unit 7 Test will be given in class today.
Assignments and Due Dates Below will be Updated.
The Unit 8 Test will be given in class today.
Students will be given an extensive End-of-Year Test Review packet, which will help them prepare for the Government AIR tests on April and . The packet will be collected and graded. The packet is due
Students will be working on an end-of-the-year project based on the podcast "Serial-Season 1." This podcast depicts the trial of Adnan Syed, a Baltimore-area high school student who was accused and convicted of murdering his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. There will be periodic assignments during this three week period, which will be explained to the students as we move forward.
Students will be assigned the first several "stations" of the "Serial" project. These "station" assignments will be explained in class. Students will also have a chance to work in class on Friday to finish this part of the overall project. I will be collecting this work at the end of class on
Students will work on the Episode 1 worksheet during class and turn it in at the end of class.
Students should begin working on the "Serial People Map" following the playing of Episode 2 in class.
Students will work on the Episode 3 worksheet during class and turn it in at the end of class.
Students will complete the "Jay's Story Worksheet" for homework and turn it in on
Students will listen to Episode 5 in class today and will complete the Episode 5 worksheet. This worksheet should be turned in at the end of class.
Students will listen to Episode 6 in class today and will complete the "Evidence Chart" for homework. This chart will be turned in on Wednesday, May 11.
Students will listen to Episode 7 in class today. There is not a graded assignment associated with this episode.
Students will listen to Episode 8 in class today. There is not a graded assignment associated with this episode.
Students will listen to Episode 9 in class today and complete the Episode 9 worksheet by the end of class, time permitting. If we do not complete the episode during the class period, students have the option of turning in the Episode 9 worksheet on Monday, May 16.
Students will listen to Episode 10 in class and work on an exercise regarding the issue of potential racial bias in the cases against Adnan Syed. This assignment is due at the end of class on Tuesday, May 17.
The students will finish Episode 10 and begin Episode 11 in class. The Episode 11 worksheet will be due at the end of class on Wednesday, May 18.
Students will complete the Serial Podcast by listening to Episode 12 in class.
