Social
Studies (1)

Unit Overview

1. Introduction

2. Rights Scorecard

3. Amendment Comics

4. Separation of Powers

5. Vocabulary Assessment

6. Graphic Images

7. Search and Seizure

8. A Debate on Cruel and Unusual Punishment

9. Due Process

10. Project

Part 1
Federal Government Structure and Authority

How is our government set up to wage the War on Terror?

Lesson 1: Introduction
Knowledge

Class Time Required: 45 minutes.

Purpose, Background and Context: A background discussion of the 9/11 attacks

Objectives for Student Understandings: Students should understand the 9/11 attacks, and come up with ideas as to why they occurred

Objectives for Student Skill Development: Students should generalize from given facts, predict and draw conclusions based on partial information, and predict consequences of actions.

Materials, Resources and Readings: Notes on the 9/11 attack from the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11); vocabulary words (See vocab list at end of the unit’s overview); each student may also need to be reminded before class begins to get a pencil or notebook. DISCLAIMER: The Wikipedia is an open-source project and may contain biased statements written by amateur scholars. However, the information on Wikipedia listed here should provide a balanced and basic understanding of 9/11 facts, and, later in the unit, the USA Patriot Act.

Lesson Questions:           
What happened on 9/11?
What is our government doing to prevent an attack in the future?

Procedures:
Preface (10 Minutes)
Place a transparency with the related vocabulary words on the overhead. Tell your students to copy the words and definitions. This gets students into the habit of coming to class on time, and reminds them that there are consequences for being late. Tell those students who do not write down the words and definitions from the overhead that the projector will be turned off 5 minutes after class starts, and that there will be a test on the words at the end of the week. Be sure to give them examples of the words and explain their context in detail so they know how to use them.

Procedure 1 (5 Minutes)
Write the following question on the board: What happened on 9/11?  Give students 2 minutes to write down their answers, but be liberal with the clock.

Procedure 2 (20 Minutes)
Ask them to tell you what they have written down. You may also need to correct factual inaccuracies about the 9/11 attacks. You can check the Wikipedia document to make sure that their facts are correct.

Procedure 3 (15 Minutes)

After establishing their knowledge, ask them the Lesson 1 Essential Questions. Brainstorm, and write their answers on the board. Remind students to write down what is written on the board in their notebook, and then collect their notebooks for grading. Check their notebooks for notes, and give them 5 points if they have the information from the board written down.