How would movie director Wes Anderson explain the traditions and rituals of the SOTU Address?

Yeah, no student ever asked that question.  But, if one ever does, an answer might look like this video (3:51) from CNN.

A crazy cool way to compare President Obama's SOTU Address to every other previous address

We can all read, listen to, and watch President Obama's State of the Union Address.  But to really understand the historical context of that address, we need to compare it to other Addresses by former presidents.  This site allows you to do that.

On the left half of the page is the text of President Obama's address.  On the right side is a horizontal list of former presidents.  As you click on a word or two-word phrase, a bar chart displays the frequency that a former president used that term.  For this example, I highlighted the phrase "tax cut" that President Obama used in the second paragraph of his address.  That phrase yielded this bar chart:

You can see that the former president who used that term most frequently in his SOTU Address was Bill Clinton.  Two former Republican presidents, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, used it less than half as frequently than either President Obama or President Clinton.

The display here is sleek and dynamic.  As you click on a term the bar chart grows to the right, and presidents are listed in the order of their frequency of using the term.

It looks hypnotically cool, but how could you use it in class with your students?  Here's one idea: Have your students go to the site and read the speech.  As they read, they should compile a list of the five words or terms most important to understanding the topics of greatest concern to President Obama.  Then click on each word/term and determine what former president also relied heavily on that topic.  Have them then research how that issue impacted that former president's agenda.

At tonight's State of the Union, Obama will feature several people as he goes through his speech.  It is a technique that was started by Reagan when he highlight Lenny Skuknik (above).  Here are some of the people who will be at the speech.

Thanks to Doug Zywiol for this very recent interview with Skuknik. 

A little perspective: How well do front-running outsiders do once the voting starts?

How have front-running political outsiders fared in previous presidential primaries?  Not well (at least for the past two presidential campaigns), according to this feature from the Wall Street Journal, which analyzes trends from 2008 and 2012 nationally and in Iowa and New Hampshire. 

Will that pattern continue during this year's contests?  A good question to discuss with your students.

What is an Executive Order and What Did Obama Do?

Thanks to Rebecca Small for these two great videos, the top of which defines executive orders and the bottom of which describes what Obama's recent executive order is all about.  

Is there a "daughter effect" in this year's presidential campaign?

A fascinating story in today's Washington Post says that there is, at least as it relates to the Democratic candidates for president.  The story reports on a recently published study that aggregated recent public-opinion survey data.  The conclusion: "parents of daughters are 14 percentage points more likely to support Hillary Clinton in the primaries than parents of only sons."

It would be fun to try to see whether this "daughter effect" pattern replicates in our classrooms.  Better still, assign this as a research project.

State of the Union Address

Getting ready for next week's State of the Union Address by President Obama?

In this video (24:29), Donald Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historian, describes the history of the address from President Washington to the present.

Unbelievable Short Video on the Budget Process

This is a great video on the budget process that includes resolutions, fiscal year, discretionary and non discretionary spending, appropriations and so much more that you need to teach in government, all in just five minutes.

Thanks to Johnny Burkowski on the AP US Government Facebook page for the tip. 

Who's up and who's down in Iowa

Interesting read in this post from the Iowa Starting Line website about the Feb. 1 Republican caucus.  They call it today's Monday Power Rankings.  

Here's their assessment:

1. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are 1-2.
2. Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush are 3-4.
3. Chris Christie is in 5th but surging.
4. Ben Carson is in 6th and falling.

It would be fun to share and discuss this with your students.  Another good idea would be to find additional Iowa coverage supporting and contradicting this assessment.  Polls from RealClearPolitics and the prediction market PredictIt would be good resources.

Moving to New Digital Challenges

This may come as a surprise to many of my readers, but today is the first day in almost 25 years that I won't be in a brick and mortar classroom.  It was a bittersweet last two days with my students as I have an amazing bunch of kids (two classes of which are above), but was offered a great job to head up my county's online campus.  I am excited about the transformation to a new setting as I love learning new things and meeting new people, but saying goodbye to my students and fellow teachers wasn't easy.

So what does that mean for this blog?  I will continue to post, but the daily posts will be led by

• Jeff Feinstein who teaches nearby at West Potomac High School will take over the blogging on a regular basis for the US History and US Government Teachers blog, but since I am going to teach that subject online for the rest of the school year I will continue on that blog as well.
• George Coe, whose work many of you know will take control of the World History Teachers blog
• Rich Hoppock will be blogging on the US government, economics and US history sites
• Summer Johnson who is a special ed teacher and will be adding a new twist to the US Government blog

My new position is officially titled "eLearning Coordinator" so guess what - I have started a blog called appropriately enough the "eLearning Blog."  It will be useful to both my online and brick and mortar friends as you can see from the early posts.  But as with my other blogs, it will grow as I do in my new job and I hope you will want to stay around and learn.

What this also means is that I am looking for people to join us on all four of the content blogs as I'd like to open this to regular posters who are committed to posting 3x weekly on pedagogy, content and technology.  What I am not looking for is someone who wants to vent.  My focus (I hope) has always been on the positive and I would like to continue in that vein. If you are interested in talking to me, I'd need a few potential posts and then I'd be happy to give qualified people a trial period to see how it works for you and us.  Email me at kenhalla@gmail.com if you are interested. 

Will the GOP see record turnout at its Feb. 1 Iowa caucus?

This post from the Des Moines Register says that the answer is YES, and lists six reasons to back up its prediction.  Those reasons include Ted Cruz's support among conservative evangelicals, Donald Trump's support among newcomers, increased use of technology to organize caucus-goers, and the large number of candidates.

T/H @JenniferJJacobs

The White House has a YouTube Channel

The White House has its own YouTube Channel.

As you would imagine, it is comprehensive and well-curated.  If you click on the Playlists tab you can see folders on topics like White House Briefings, Music & the Arts, Travels, Energy & Environment, Immigration, and Behind the Scenes.

Classroom Connection: Assign students to watch videos in one of the Playlists.  As they watch each video they should consider what presidential role is being illustrated.  Students can also rate the media effectiveness of the video in terms of how effectively it conveys the president's message.

Learning about the Department of Defense

This news story does a great job summarizing the role the Department of Defense plays in staffing America's three intercontinental ballistic missile bases.

This article would make an excellent introduction to discussing the president's foreign-policy apparatus.  It discusses one important tool the president has for dealing with foreign threats.

The Uighurs of China

So called "cleavages" are fair game on the FRQ part of the AP US Comparative exam.   One of the groups that has made the exam is the Uighurs, who are a Muslim group in the western part of China. Here is a great article on them from today's NYTimes.  You can watch a short overview on them here and here is a great overview of them from the BBC. 

The next big voting rights case: Your teachers' tool kit

The next big voting rights case is pending right now before the Supreme Court.  A decision is expected before the Court ends its term this June.  These links can help you prepare your students for understanding that decision, as well as issues concerning voting rights generally.

Evenwell v. Abbott is the first big voting rights case since the Supreme Court's 2013 case in Shelby County v. Holder.  That case invalidated a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that had allowed the U.S. Justice Department to oversee election laws and procedures in states with a history of voting discrimination.

Evenwell deals with a different but related issue.  It's actually deceptively simply stated: When the Supreme Court requires "one-person, one vote," does that mean that each election district should have an equal number of registered voters, or an equal number of people?

Your teachers' tool kit to teach this lesson:

--Watch this short video summary (2:07) of the issues before the Court in Evenwell:

--This news story summarizes the argument advocates made on this subject before the Supreme Court.

--A recent New York Times story offered its interpretation of the legal issues, and what is at stake for minority voters.

--Click here as well for a comprehensive resource about issues concerning the Voting Rights Act sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.