CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS
* RESPECT YOURSELF
•Give your best effort,
•Take pride in your work,
•Do your part to reach mastery
* RESPECT OTHERS
•Be kind and tolerant of everyone
•Use appropriate language
•Use care with supplies and property
* RESPECT TEACHERS
•Pay attention when the teacher is talking
•Follow classroom procedures
* RESPECT YOUR CLASS AND SCHOOL
•Be on time
•Have all materials
•Be ready to start when the bell rings
•Follow school expectations and procedures
•Students remain in class for the first and last 15 minutes of each period.
TARDY PROTOCOL
* FIRST TWO TARDIES - Teacher
Keep students after class
* THIRD TARDY - Teacher
Keep student after class
Call parents
* FOUR OR MORE TARDIES – Teacher and
Office
Keep student after class
Referral to Lunch Detention
NOTES:
•Refusal to stay after class will result in lunch detention
until the time with the teacher is served.
•Failure to serve lunch detention will result in a discipline
referral for defiance, ISS and a parent meeting with the
administrator.
In an effort to deter students from
being tardy to class, we are
asking that students not be
allowed to leave the classroom
for the first and last 15 minutes of
each period.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Those with A’s and B’s
on report cards 1st
trimester will see a
movie in the PAC on
Monday during 5th and
6th periods.
The PBIS Committee wants
to reward students with
perfect attendance running
from November 12th to
December 17th with ice
cream and social time on
December 18th from 2:453:05.
Pre Assessment
Why is the study
of government
important?
What is government?
The institution through
which a society makes
and enforces its public
policies.
If we did not have
government, who would:
 Protect?
 Educate?
 Provide and regulate healthcare?
 Regulate the environment?
 Take care of streets and traffic?
 Punish criminals?
 Provide civil rights for the elderly and poor?
 Protect consumers and property owners?
On your own…….
 List 10 daily activities
 Next to each item, list a law that
may affect the activity
 Going to school – can’t drop out
until 18
 Would you change any of these
laws? Why or why not?
We all have opinions on
everything…..

What are your opinions on the following:







Gun laws
Federally funded health care
Prayer in school
Welfare
Gay marriage
Abortion
Federally funded college education
So, yes, we can all
have opinions on
issues.
But what does this have
to do with
understanding how
government works or
functions?
Write down and explain the
meaning of one of these
quotes:
 “Too often we enjoy the
comfort of opinion without
the discomfort of thought.”
--John F. Kennedy
 “Everyone is entitled to their
own opinion, but not to their
own facts.”
--Daniel Patrick Moynihan
 “Opinion is the exercise of
the human will which helps
us to make a decision
without information.”
--John Erskine
What’s the difference
between an informed and
uninformed opinion?
 Which is easier to argue
against?
 Has someone ever
successfully changed your
opinion about a subject?
How?
This is one of the more
important classes you’ll take
in high school!
Why?
 "No one is born a good citizen;
no nation is born a democracy.
Rather, both are processes
that continue to evolve over a
lifetime. Young people must be
included from birth. A society
that cuts off from its youth
severs its lifeline." --Kofi
Annan
Politics & Government does affect you!
 “A government big
enough to give you
everything you want, is
strong enough to take
everything you have.”
—Thomas Jefferson
 “Just because you do not
take an interest in politics
doesn’t mean politics
won’t take an interest in
you.”
—Pericles, 430 BC
In this 21st century age of
information….
 We need to be able to effectively
share our opinions.
 But we must be educated about
the topics.
 The purpose of this class is to
teach you HOW government
works and WHY your
involvement matters.
If we fail to teach you this, here is the
consequence:
“The best argument
against democracy is a
five-minute
conversation with the
average voter.”
Winston Churchill
What does that mean?
And yet:
“ It has been said that
democracy is the worst
form of government
except all the others
that have been tried.”
--Winston Churchill
 What does THIS mean?
The purpose of this class:
Teach you about the various forms of
government in the world, with a
particular focus on understanding our
own.
To help you understand what it means to
be a “citizen” of a state & nation.
To learn about the politics, or process,
involved in government and how the
making of POLICY affects us all.
What is
PUBLIC POLICY?
THIS IS A TERM THAT WE WILL REFER TO OFTEN
IN THIS CLASS.
PUBLIC POLICY

WHAT GOVERNMENT DOES OR DOES
NOT DO TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE OR
PROBLEM (think about the list of issues
we just gave our opinions on)
 Policy might take the form of
a law or regulation
 Policy is directed toward a
goal or desired solution
 Policymaking is part of an
ongoing process; it's often
revisited or revised
UNIT #1 ESSENTIAL
QUESTION:
 How do people around the
world form governments
to
 Establish order
 Provide security
 & accomplish common
goals?
Learning Targets for Unit 1:

LT1: I can define government and the basic
powers every government holds.

LT2: I can describe the four defining
characteristics of the state.

LT3: I can identify four theories that explain the
origin of the state.

LT4: I can understand the purpose of
government in the United States and other
countries.

LT5: I can compare and contrast the forms and
functions of government in key countries
around the world (Russia, China, India, Brazil,
Iran, EU country)