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| Standard Three |

Towards the end of the semester in my current events class, Today's Problems, I presented the classes with a list of writing prompts. The students had to choose one of the prompts, or create one of their own, and write a persuasive essay about the topic. Each of the topics corresponded to an issue we had discussed in class at either the local, national, or international level. As a warm-up to the first draft of the paper, I led my students through a series of writing organizers in order to help each student develop their ideas thoroughly. Throughout this process, I called students up individually and discussed their topic and evidence for their opinions. Not only was I able to help struggling students form ideas and figure out how to tackle the assignment, but the students also realized that while they wanted to write about a topic, they could not provide at least three reasons //why// they held that opinion.
 * Persuasive Essay﻿ **

For an assignment like a paper, students need time to build up their ideas and evidence, but it is also necessary for them to receive feedback from their peers and teachers. Students had the chance to present their ideas about their chosen topic and, at times, a student just did not know how to write what they could articulate to me. This type of meeting and feedback also helps me, as a teacher, understand if I have really explained my expectations and directions well, or if I need to reaffirm them.

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**The Roles of the President ** While discussing the Executive Branch in Civics, I had the students create a foldable that included the various roles of the President. On the foldable, the students wrote down the eight different roles that our President engages in, such as //Commander-in-Chief// and //Chief Diplomat//. When the students opened the flap of a specific role, they wrote down a description of what the President did in that role, including any powers he has, as the Constitution states. I chose this activity to address the different learning styles of my group of students and because it provided an alternative to traditional note taking. Additionally, the foldable helped students discern what roles President Obama played when meeting with President Medvedev to sign a treaty.



**Supreme Court and Schools** During a unit on the Judicial Branch, I wanted to introduce my students to different Supreme Court cases that involved schools and individuals their own age. The class was broken up into groups of 3-4, each group having a specific case. For each case, the students had to read the background information then determine which amendments/rights were violated and/or addressed within the suit as well as provide the outcome and the Justices' opinions. They put their responses to these questions - and others listed on an overhead - on a poster and presented their discoveries to the class. While students were working, I walked around the room discussing the cases with the different groups, checking for understanding, opinions on the case, and providing insight on their progress and comprehension of the material. Providing the feedback was essential to some groups, as they missed important information or did not understand what one of the Justices' opinions meant.

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