American Government is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected Module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. American Government includes updated information on the 2016 presidential election.Senior Contributing AuthorsGlen Krutz (Content Lead), University of OklahomaSylvie Waskiewicz, PhD (Lead Editor)

Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government, a service of the Government Publishing Office (GPO), is designed to inform students, parents, and educators about the Federal Government through it's online library, learning adventures, and games.

This website helps students understand what the Central Intelligence Agency does and how they do it. It provides links to help students learn about the CIA, the various jobs available in the CIA, and how to become a CIA expert. It also provides fun stories and games.

Created through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, Chronicling America offers visitors the ability to search and view newspaper pages from 1690-1963 and to find information about American newspapers published between 1690"“present using the National Digital Newspaper Program.

A 9 minute introduction to the difference between command economies and market economies. This video will aid in the mastery of standard EPF. 1(e)

The delegates at the 1787 Convention faced a challenge as arduous as those who worked throughout the 1780s to initiate reforms to the American political system. In this unit, students will examine the roles that key American founders played in creating the Constitution, and the challenges they faced in the process.

This lesson plan looks at the major ideas in the Declaration of Independence, their origins, the Americans' key grievances against the King and Parliament, their assertion of sovereignty, and the Declaration's process of revision.

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In this unit, students will take a look at the historical vision of the American Dream as put together by our Founding Fathers. They will be asked: How, if at all, has this dream changed? Is this dream your dream? First students will participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing for his or her vision of the American Dream, and then they will write an argument laying out and defending their personal view of what the American Dream should be.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate closely one of the documents that they feel expresses the American Dream.
Students participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing his or her vision of the American Dream.
Students write a paper, taking into consideration the different points of view in the documents read, answering the question “What is the American Dream now?”
Students write their own argument describing and defending their vision of what the American Dream should be.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What has been the historical vision of the American Dream?
What should the American Dream be? (What should we as individuals and as a nation aspire to?)
How would women, former slaves, and other disenfranchised groups living during the time these documents were written respond to them?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will learn about audience appeal and analyze how Jefferson chose his arguments and his language to appeal to his particular audience.

This curriculum unit explores some of the most important arguments of those opposing or supporting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

The federal government’s budget is in the news almost every day. We hear about programs being implemented and others being reduced or eliminated in lawmakers’ attempts to agree on a final budget. Regardless of the decisions being made, peoples’ opinions and wants vary. As you can imagine, a federal lawmaker’s job is not easy.

In this module, your students will play the role of a freshman lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives trying to serve his or her constituents’ goals and the long-term goals of the United States. Along the way, they’ll learn about the federal budget process and how federal government initiatives and programs are funded. This content from Econ Lowdown also features alignment to national Financial Literacy and/or Economics standards.

Want to learn about the Federal Reserve? Have no fear! In Plain English describes the structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System in an easy-to-understand interactive format.

Topics include:

Why Do We Need a Federal Reserve?
Board of Governors
Federal Reserve Banks
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
What Does the Federal Reserve Do?
Independence and Accountability

The Federal Reserve System is an important – but complicated institution. Make sense of the Fed in a format that is explained – In Plain English. This content from Econ Lowdown also features alignment to national Financial Literacy and/or Economics standards.

Want to learn about the Federal Reserve? Have no fear! En Lenguaje Sencillo describes the structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System in an easy-to-understand interactive format.

Topics include:

Why Do We Need a Federal Reserve?
Board of Governors
Federal Reserve Banks
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
What Does the Federal Reserve Do?
Independence and Accountability

The Federal Reserve System is an important – but complicated institution. Make sense of the Fed in a format that is explained – En Lenguaje Sencillo. This content from Econ Lowdown also features alignment to national Financial Literacy and/or Economics standards.