Garfield Heights High School AP U.S. Government and Politics 2015

Summer Assignment Mrs. Iezzi

Khagan.iezzi@ghbulldogs.org

You will be required to purchase a 3-ring binder for AP Government. This binder

should be at least 2-3” and should be separated into the following sections: 1. Current Events; 2. The Constitution; 3. Branches of the Government; 4. Elections and Political Parties; 5. Interest Groups and Political Action Committees; 6. Public Policy; 7. Civil Rights. You will be working on Sections 1 and 2 over the summer.

DUE DATE

The binder assignments will be due on the second day of school, August 18th

, 2015. No late work will be accepted. Please note: Academic Integrity is essential to this course. All work MUST BE YOUR OWN.

PART ONE: CURRENT EVENT BINDER

Over the summer, you will begin to assemble current events for this binder. The intent of this assignment is to encourage you to begin following current events related to United States government and politics. Please place your articles and summaries in this binder.

1. You must collect 15 separate news articles. (These should be from a

credible source. You can print them out from a computer or clip them from a newspaper or magazine.)

2. 3 articles should be related to the Supreme Court 3 articles should be related to the 2016 Presidential Election 3 articles should be related to civil liberties issues The remaining articles can be split among the issues. EACH ARTICLE MUST BE RELEVANT TO U.S. GOVERNMENT and POLITICS!

Note: Some articles may fall into more than one of these categories. However, you may not use articles twice. You must have 3 separate articles for each category.

3. All articles must be current news stories. At least 2 must be from June 2015

At least 2 must be from July 2015 At least 2 must be from August 2015

4. Article summaries MUST BE TYPED! Begin each summary with the following information: a. Date of the article, Headline of article, Author, Specific Topic of the Article b. Summary (8-10 sentences.) The summary should include the significant

event, people, issue discussed and an explanation of how/why the article relates to U.S. Government and Politics. Do not copy. Please use your own words. Each summary should be attached to the actual article.

PART TWO: UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION BINDER Please familiarize yourself with the United States Constitution. You may find a copy here: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html Using the binder, you will outline/summarize the U.S. Constitution and place your outline in section 2.

1. Please read the ENTIRE U.S. Constitution. Read each article AND section. Pay attention to the content of the sections; powers of Congress, President and the Supreme Court; requirements of membership; how members are elected; content of the Amendments.

**Be prepared for a quiz on the third day of class on the Constitution.

2. Outline the sections and amendments. In your OWN words, please explain what each section contains and the main points of each of the amendments.

AP U.S. Government and Politics – Please note:

1. This course is designed to be a college level course. It requires both a greater volume of reading and more challenging content of writing than Honors or Government.

2. If you are unable to complete this summer assignment, you may be removed from Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics.

3. This course requires regular attendance and completion of assignments in a timely manner.

4. Outside reading assignments will be assigned weekly. These are essential for your understanding of class content.

5. Your class fee covers the cost of a review book, Barron’s AP U.S. Government and Politics. You will be issued this book in the fall.