Unit Planning Guide
Stage 1 - Desired Outcomes
Unit Title: The Supreme Court & Civil Liberties / Estimated Timeframe: 4 Weeks
Focus Standards
AP Government
AP Government National Standards (From U.S. Education National Standards)
-
12.2
Foundations of the Political System
16. 5: Outline the judicial process at the Supreme Court level and assess the major factors influencing decisions and their implementation.
16.6: Trace the Supreme Court’s use of Judicial Review in major policy battles in various areas of American history.
ELD: 11-12 Pt. 1. B. 6
CCSS RH 11-12.2, 11-12. 3
Enduring Understandings, i.e., “Big Ideas” and what students will be able to know at the end of the unit:
The “Big Ideas” include:
  • the primary steps in the judicial process at the Supreme Court level.
  • How the Court’s power of Judicial Review was used in landmark Supreme Court Cases to settle Constitutional controversies.
  • Likely rulings and possible legal precedents from this year, taking into account the vacant seat on the SC bench.
  • The meaning of our civil liberties as they are expressed within the Bill of Rights, and current political battles over these same issues.
/ Essential Questions:
  • How does a case get the to Supreme Court?
  • How can the Supreme Court set new legal precedents through its use of Judicial Review?
  • What are your civil liberties?
  • To what extent is our government living up to the ideals of limited gov. and personal liberty laid out in the Bill of Rights?

Anticipated Misconceptions For The Unit: Students will most likely not have a sense for the court system in general outside of the Supreme Court, or any background knowledge of how cases get to the Supreme Court. Students may be confused about the independence of the Judiciary, how judges are not elected and are not beholden to any political party, etc. Students will definitely struggle with the interpretations of various courts on a variety of cases, how their legal reasoning laid out precedents for future cases. Students may confuse civil rights and civil liberties, may mix up various civil liberties contained in the Bill of Rights.
Objectives For Unit (Depth of Knowledge):
  • SWBAT identify and recall the primary steps in the judicial process at the Supreme Court level.
  • SWBAT Analyze and evaluate how the Court’s power of Judicial Review was used in landmark Supreme Court Cases to settle a Constitutional controversies, and evaluate the extent to which the court’s ruling set legal precedents.
  • SWBAT extend this analysis of past cases to current cases on the 2016 Supreme Court docket, predicting likely rulings and possible legal precedents and taking into account the vacant seat on the bench.
  • SWBAT Identify and synthesize key ideas in a secondary or primary source in order to provide an accurate summary of a Supreme Court case.
  • SWBAT Articulate an interpretive, research-based claim in response to a complex historical question.
  • SWBAT

Essential Vocabulary

  • Civil rights
  • Civil liberties
  • Judicial review
  • Five freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, petition govt.
  • Separate but equal
  • Right to privacy
  • Due Process
  • Equal Protection
  • Right to an attorney
  • 9th and 10th amendment – limits govt. power
  • Probable cause
  • Quotas (in relation to Affirmative Action)
  • Supremacy clause
  • Interest groups
  • Prior restraint
  • Obscenity
  • Symbolic speech
  • Sovereign immunity
  • Amicus Curiae
  • Writ of Certiorari
  • Appeal
  • Appellate Court
  • Lower Court
  • Oral Argument
  • Petitions/ Petitioner
  • Precedent
/
  • 14th amendment
  • Search and seizure
  • Warrant
  • Exclusionary rule
  • Double jeopardy
  • Affirmative action
  • Rights of the accused
  • 5th amendment
  • Cruel and unusual punishment
  • Right to bear arms (2nd)
  • Self-incrimination
  • Separation of powers
  • Executive privilege
  • Excessive bail
  • Death penalty
  • States’ rights
  • Reserved powers
  • Implied powers
  • Enumerated powers
  • Student speech
  • Libel/slander
  • “Wall of Separation”
Civil Rights Cases (1870s)
  • Brief
  • Certworthy
  • Concurring Opinion
  • Dissenting Opinion
/ Critical Thinking Skills (use DOK 3 or 4):
Students will draw inferences from primary documents in order to analyze the ideals & motivations of the framers of the Constitution.
Students will distinguish various political viewpoints from one another and relate them to a broader view about the proper role and scope of Government.
Grouping Strategies:
For extended activities like our paraphrasing of the entire Constitution, I will mix students heterogeneously in terms of their lexile/ writing levels and try to place EL’s with RFEP’s. In general, they sit with a literacy partner every day in class. / Use of Data to Drive Instruction (how will you use formative assessments):
By the middle of this month I should have a general sense of the writing levels because I will have graded a few current event writing assignments for each student, which will help inform my own sense of what specific students need in terms of scaffolding academic language, writing supports, reading strategies, etc. I will also have a chance to review guided reading HW assignments and evaluate/address class misconceptions leading up to the formative assessment. We will do a lot of work interpreting the Constitution in class and I’ll have lots of opportunities to assess students informally and in formative ways in regards to their comprehension. Taking this data into account will inform the adjustments I make in my upcoming lesson plans.
Instructional Strategies:
What will students do to engage with content?
Students will carry out a wide variety of activities to engage with content. These will include, but are not limited to, reading primary and secondary documents individually as well as in groups (esp. the Graphic Novel Constitution), participating in the Constitutional Convention act-out/ simulation, conduct research into current events related to Constitutional Issues, make use of the online Pearson site mypoliscilab.com for studying/ review purposes.
How will you check for understanding?
In Do Now’s and Exit Slips, in class discussions and group work. I can also use questions from the Pre-Test and Post-Test features on MyPoliSciLab to assess how well students are mastering various concepts throughout each week.
How will you facilitate Academic Discourse?
I will model and provide explicit guidelines for how academic language and civil discourse will look in my class. This could take the form of debate rules, sentence stems for agreement/ disagreement on political issues, and explicit review of academic vocab, both content-specific “brick” words as well as generally useful academic “mortar” words.
When and how is feedback provided to students?
  • Students receive feedback on Current Event reports in the form of comments/ scores/ track changes in their Google Drive for AP Gov.
  • Students take pre-tests/ practice questions on mypoliscilab, can take practice vocab quizzes to see how they’re progressing with key terms.
  • Feedback provided on turned-in formative assessments or group work, especially in presentation form like the simulation.
How are students self-monitoring?
  • Students should have a sense of the pacing of the class and its demands by the end of week 2. With the help of the class site, they should be able to stay on top of their assignments. With the aid of feedback provided by me and the tools on mypoliscilab, they should be able to identify their areas of weakness with each chapter or unit concept.
/ Materials:
  • AP Gov./ TCI Textbook Ch.’s 1 & 2, & MyPoliSciLab supplementary resources.
  • The US Constitution
  • The US Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
  • Other supplementary readings posted to our class shared documents (let me know if you want access to this).
  • All other powepoints/ formative assignments/ assessments posted on Teacher page.
  • Constitutional Convention Simulation Doc.
  • Possibly: Excerpts of the “John Adams” PBS movie to show dramatization of Constitutional Convention.

Differentiation Strategies)
English Learners:
  • Provide lots of visual support/ multimedia in lectures to help make abstract language more concrete.
  • Partner with non-EL students.
  • Lots of Concept Webs/ Graphic Organizers (like the “4 Worlds of History’)
  • Opportunities for Cooperative Learning
/ Special Education Students:
  • Check in individually with Auditory Processing students, provide additional resources like the notes posted on my teacher page, etc.

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Summative Assessments (at least 1 per unit):
Unit 1 Exam:
Over 50 multiple choice Q’s and a Free Response Essay portion.
Unit 1 Current Event Reports (4 will have been written in August). /
  • Formative Assessments (1 per week):
  • Textbook guided reading notes weekly HW assignments
  • Supplementary reading/ writing assignments
  • Group Simulation
  • Interactive MyPoliSciLab activities
  • Exit Slips/ Do Now’s