Political cartoons have influenced the public and brought about change like other tools in the press. The historic 1754 cartoon of a sliced-up snake, each piece marked as a colony, appeared in Ben Franklin’s newspaper preceding the French and Indian War. You’re probably familiar with Thomas Nast’s...
It’s about that time. The Advanced Placement® Government & Politics Exam is around the corner. I’m sharing my top five tips to help you prepare students for the big day. These include some of the basics like knowing the obscure vocabulary and some of the AP® Buzzwords, using the CED as a review...
I was pleasantly surprised with my students’ efforts and results on the Civic Engagement project in COVID spring 2021. The student-government connections were not what they might have been in a non-pandemic year, but with proper social distancing and a reliance on email and telephone calls, several...
You know the Style #4 Free Response Question on the College Board’s national Government exam can be a real challenge. I am talking about the argument essay that takes more time for students to plan and write. Because it is a little more challenging, I tend to dread then delay teaching it. Not a...
Around 2005, I started a more regular and purposeful current events routine in my AP® Government and Politics class. I would supply three articles on Sunday, and students needed to read them by class time on Tuesday. I creatively called it “Current Events Tuesday.” No students cheered, but I soon...
Perhaps you heard of that Supreme Court decision handed down last year, where citizens and an interest group challenged a government-run World War I memorial in the form of a cross, as a violation of the establishment clause. The memorial stands at a busy intersection in Bladensburg, Maryland, and...
Though the College Board’s AP® United States Government and Politics FRQs #3 and #4 may be more involved and seem more challenging, FRQ #1 and #2 can be tricky for students. Data sets and primary reading passages can be intimidating.
