During our final week of class, Matthew is working on the required AP Civics engagement project. Matthew has elected to write a letter to a Congressman on an issue of interest, proposing alternatives or options and directing how to implement the options. Today ,we brainstormed numerous issues for the subject of the letter including: how to address raising the debt limit ceiling, welfare reform, the pros and cons of block grants to the states, and the benefits and detriments of universal healthcare.
As Matthew took the AP exam today, during class we discussed the exam and specifically what Supreme Court cases and foundation documents were the subject of the four essays. Matthew feels he was prepared and did well on the exam. We then discussed the parameters of the AP required Civics project that Matthew will complete in class this week. We reviewed the list of suggested projects and settled on a letter to a Congressman based on an issue or principle of government we studied during the year. We reviewed Congressman Brian Mast's website to determine what issues he is focused on and what legislation he is currently sponsoring in the House of Representatives.
During our final session before the AP exam, we reviewed some of Matthew's essay answers to the practice exam questions. Through this exercise we were able to review the functions of administrative agencies, to discuss the commerce clause, and to highlight how to draft an effective opening paragraph to the argumentative essay. Per Matthew's request, I further outlined on the board a summary of the articles of the Constitution and noted therein which Federalist Papers dealt with each article. I further reviewed the provisions of the 14th Amendment.
During our first session ,we reviewed Matthew's work on the multiple choice questions of a practice test(which were excellent) and analyzed how to answer concept application essay questions, data analysis essay questions, and Supreme Court comparison questions. This enabled us to review the relationship between the bureaucracy , Congress, and interest groups and to review the due process clause and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. During our second session, we addressed in further detail how to respond to the four types of FRQs or essay questions posed on the AP exam . With respect to the Supreme Court case comparison question, I provided an outline format and suggestions for responding to all four parts of the question and discussed the significance of the questions' specific terminology: "describe, identify, and explain." I then provided model answer sentences and discussed how to compare and contrast the facts and holdings of the case law. We then addressed the longer essay , the argumentative essay. I again provided an outline format- first stating a thesis statement( a position on an issue) followed by the word "because". This practice essay provided the opportunity to review impeachment proceedings as outlined in the Constitution, and the relevant portions of the Federalist Papers that discuss separation of powers and the powers of the president.
As the College Board has this week and last week posted review videos for the 2023 exam, we first discussed the contents of these videos and the importance of Matthew's viewing this material. We then reviewed and discussed multiple choice questions from a practice exam posted by the College Board. These questions provided an opportunity to review checks and balances, candidate centered campaigns, third parties in politics, and to analyze data and graph questions as well as concept application questions based on a passage about political factions.
During today's review session, we first highlighted the main arguments in all of the relevant Federalist Papers which I then tied to the relevant articles of the US Constitution. We further examined the anti-federalist arguments authored by "Brutus." During the remainder of the session, we reviewed Matthew's work on the MCQs of an assigned AP practice exam. We discussed areas where Mathew encountered some difficulty and reviewed strategies for answering graph and quantitive analysis questions.
We continued to review the holdings in the required Supreme Court cases and in doing so reviewed the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and due process clause, the incorporation theory of substantive due process, the Establishment clause and the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, and the limits on free speech. I also addressed some related more updated case law on all of these issues as the AP exam includes an essay requiring the student to compare a required case with one that the student has not studied in class. Matthew has completed a practice test that we will review during our next class on Friday.
As Matthew needs to be totally conversant with the required foundation documents, we today began to review the substantive content and relationship between John Locke, The Declaration of Independence, Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and the Bill of Rights. I further reviewed Art I and III of the Constitution and the critical Supreme Court cases interpreting the "commerce clause" and the "necessary and proper clause."
