MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

DATE April 24, 2012

DAILY LOG ~ Ms. Mitnick ~ Civics and Economics

Planner Entry:1) Study for Political Parties Quiz on Wednesday

Warm-Up: None Today

Objectives – You should be able to:

  • Explain the differences between a closed primary and an open primary.
  • Explain the difference between an independent voter and the term “nonpartisan.”
  • Analyze the differences between the views of the Democratic Party and the views of the Republican Party

Class Activities:

1)Today was the PSSA Science Test so we only had periods 5, 6, 7, and 8.

2)After we wrote in our planners, we discussed election day! Today is Primary Day in Pennsylvania. We looked online at images of what the electronic ballots look like. We discussed the different offices besides President for which there are primaries. We also discussed absentee ballots and the new voter identification law. If you were absent and would like to see what the ballots look like, please come see me in homeroom and I will show you.

3)We then discussed the idea of a political party acting as a “watch dog.” The political party of the President is considered to be the party “in office.” Right now, this is the Democratic Party. The other party acts as a “watch dog” by making sure the party in office upholds it promises and remains honest. They also point out any wrongdoing by the party in office.

4)We then practiced identifying the views of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

5)We then discussed the role that the media can play in political campaigns. In 2004, Howard Dean was a Democratic candidate for President. He was one of the first candidates to use the Internet to build support and a huge number of people liked him. It seemed like he was guaranteed to be the democratic nominee for President. However, Howard Dean came in third in the Iowa caucuses. Do you remember that the Iowa caucuses are first? So Dean had a rally to encourage his supporters. He told them that they weren’t done yet, and that they would continue on to Michigan and Oregon and other states. He then gave a loud yell: “yeah!” The room was so loud, no one could hear him. He couldn’t even hear himself. But unfortunately for Dean, the microphone was turned way up. So the people at home heard this primordial scream. It sounded like Dean had gone crazy. The media played this clip over and over and over and over again. Dean lost most of his supporters. Then Dave Chappelle imitated the scream in a sketch, and Joey Porter copied the scream on Monday night football. If you were absent and would like to see the “Dean yell,” please come see me in homeroom and I will play it for you.

6)We did not have time to watch a clip of the Kennedy/Nixon Debates, but I explained how this was the first significant case of the media playing a large role in the outcome of a Presidential election. We will see this clip either tomorrow after the quiz, or the next day.

7)Periods 2 and 4 did not meet today due to the Science PSSA Test. If you are in Periods 2 or 4, you will do all of this tomorrow.

Papers Handed In Today: None

Worksheets Distributed Today: Howard Dean Yell Article