Composition of the House
When the Founding Fathers created the Constitution, they divided the powers among the Congress (legislative branch), the president (executive branch), and the courts (judicial branch). The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is the chief policy-making and representative branch of the national government. Since the United States is a representative democracy, members of Congress represent the people by translating public
Committees and the Iron Triangle
The committee system dominates the House of Representatives. It is within committees that much of the daily work of the House is completed. Committees meet to discuss specific policies, work to control the congressional agenda, and guide legislation as it progresses through Congress until it is either signed or vetoed by the president. Representatives can be members of several different committees during any given session. (Video is narrated with slides and speeches.)
Composition of the Senate
Congress is made up of two legislative houses—the House of Representatives and the Senate. One hundred senators, two from each state, serve and represent their constituencies in the Senate. (Video is narrated with slides and speeches.)
Power, Committees and Debates
Power in the Senate is not as clearly defined as it is in the House, and it is much more widely dispersed. Although the Constitution makes the vice president of the United States the president of the Senate, the real power is held by the majority and minority leaders who dictate legislative agenda. The party whips are the senators who ensure good communication among party members and work with the party leaders to urge members to vote with the party on key issues
What is the House of Representatives?
Here's how the number of representatives in the House are determined and where the lines are drawn. (Video has slides and narration. Professionally-made video)
Just the Facts: Historical Icons - Edward Kennedy
This brief video is a tribute to Ted Kennedy, the man who lived a life marked with controversy and personal tragedy, but he gained a reputation as a steadfast liberal politician who worked tirelessly on issues such as education and health care. Because many of images are from older sources, many of them appear blurry. (02:12)
A House or Representative Session
Way to long, over five hours, this video shows what it is really like on the floor of the House. The transcript along side the video is very handy and contains words that can be used for a word wall. A real eye-opener for students as they can see what the nearly empty chamber looks like.
School House Rock - No More Kings
This is a classic School House Rock animated video of the story of the pilgrims arriving in America. NOTE: This is another video that had to be uploaded as the original video that was on WatchKnow was deleted from YouTube. Good sound quality. (03:00)
Acts Leading to American Revolutionary War
This two minute podcast explains the Acts that led to the American Revolutionary War. The images are incorrect as a whole, but the four major factors are explained. A good overview, but lacks depth and an effort to explain why the British took such actions.
Common French Phrases for the Mail
Learn common French phrases for mail. Stephanie Hourie Morrow is a native French speaker and has been giving language lessons for 10 years. Each sentence is pronounced in English and French while the French phrase appears on the screen. For beginning to intermediate learners. Good sound quality.
Reading Comprehension - Compare and Contrast - Kindergarten
Explore the concept of 'compare and contrast' with your Kindergarten students. The video consists of single slide accompanied by narration. Narrated by Sally Sharp http://blog.learningtoday.com
Personification
Short stop-motion video created by middle school students in the collaborative stop-motion project known as The Longfellow Ten.
The Prohibition of Alcohol in the 1920s
The era of national prohibition began in 1920 with the establishment of the Eighteenth Amendment and was enforced by the Volstead Act passed by Congress that same year. The Act forbade the manufacture and sale of beverages with an alcoholic content greater than .5 percent. Zealous supporters of this law, including many women and parishioners, believed that prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol would eliminate the social problems caused by intoxication.
The Catcher in The Rye
This video was made by a student for an English class. It gives an explanation of the book ,The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. The video uses clips from Igby Goes Down to summarize The Catcher in the Rye.
Call of the Wild Part 2
This is an old animated video based based on the novel, Call of the
wild, by Jack London. The reading of the story by excerpts being read
from the novel.
Lemony Snickets -The Bad Beginning Chapter 4
This is a Sims 2 animation of chapter 4 of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events ,The Bad Beginning.
Neil Gaiman Talks about The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman talks about the his book, The Graveyard Book. He talks about what what the book is about and what children and adults think about his book.
Race to Nowhere: Strees and Students Film
Is the amount of daily stress that students deal with becoming too much to handle? This three minute video explains a bit about the demands put on students by standardized testing. Some hints at how to improve the situation are offered. The video is a promotion of Race to Nowhere.
Race to Nowhere
This 2:32 minute long video is a trailer to the movie Race to Nowhere, which is about the stress placed on students to do well. Although it is limited and lacks any statistics, it does present a compelling argument to long at the decision to have more standardized testings in schools and the pressure it places on students.
How to Teach Two-Digit Multiplication
When multiplying two-digit numbers, take the first number and multiply it be each of the other numbers. Multiply two-digit number and learn about place holders with help from a math author and teacher. (01:38) This uploader feels that the camera should be a little closer to the board.
