Flag Burning

During the next class period we'll be discussing Morse v. Frederick. When finished, we'll move on to a discussion of flag burning which we'll get into by watching the short film "...for which it stands: Flag Burning and the First Amendment". Following a discussion about the film, we'll read excerpts from the Court's opinions in the Texas v. Johnson case.  Students should print, read and annotate it for the next class period.

Morse v. Frederick

After concluding our discussion on Seven Days in September we'll return to the Morse v. Frederick case.  With a partner, you'll discuss and respond to the questions found in this DOCUMENT. You and your partner should make a copy of the list of questions and then share it in a google doc. Make sure both of your names are at the top and place your finished work in your Issues folders on your google drive.  This will be a graded assignment. I'm assessing how well you're able to read and understand the law (Supreme Court opinions).

9/11

For the next two class periods, we are going to pause our look at students' rights and freedom of speech to consider the impact of 9/11 on the nation. We'll use the film Seven Days in September to guide our discussion. We'll try to make connections between some of the ideas we've already been looking at in class and some of the scenes from the film. We will return to our main unit on Tuesday.

What Speech Can Schools Prohibit?

Today in class we continued our discussion of free speech in schools by beginning to take a look at the Morse v. Frederick case. Students should be sure to have read, annotated and understood the packet prior to their next class period.

Freedom of Speech Day 3

Finished going over the Tinker v. Des Moines case. Spent time looking at both the Majority and Dissenting Opinions. Finished class by doing the "How Does a School Define Disruptive Speech" activity in the packet. HW was to read and annotate the For Further Thought cases.

Freedom of Speech Day Two

(Per. 1: 9/2, Per. 6: 9/3)
We finished discussing the case studies, exploring the limitations on the First Amendment. Then we introduced the Tinker v. Des Moines case by reading the background summary and classifying the arguments.
HW for your next class period is to read and annotate the excerpts from the Majority Opinion and the excerpts from the Dissenting Opinion. Be prepared to answer questions 1, 2, and 3 from each.

Freedom of Speech Day One

Today we brainstormed the meaning and purpose of having a "Freedom of Speech". We then started to read the principles of the First Amendment and its limitations. Read and annotate the first three pages of the linked document for our next class period.