"We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism.
We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire.
We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert". -- J. Robert Oppenheimer
U. S. Constitution - Article II Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. Interactive Constitution National Constitution Center
Each year the President delivers a State of the Union Address to Congress. In the address, the successes of the administration are reviewed and the goals for the future are outlined.
Governors report similarly on the State of their State. In Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia it is called the State of the Commonwealth Address.
Use FactCheck.org's - Facts on the Union exercise to evaluate either the most recent State of the Union or your State of the State.
1. Select one of the President's priorities or one of your Governor's priorities.
Check out the facts.
2. Essay - Do you support the issue as a priority? e you support the actions that are proposed? Why?
3. Math - Examine the previous year's priority list (National or State). Evaluate the success in achieving the goals.
4. Make a chart showing the success rate of five of the priorities.
5. Grade the Chief Executive. Based on their achievement of their established priorities, grade them on governing.
In case you are ever on a TV game show - Who gave the longest State of the Union? Who gave the briefest one?
I don't make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts. -- Will Rogers
Resources:
The American Presidency Project
Project Gutenberg - State of the Union Addresses of American Presidents (in downloadable electronic file formats)
C-SPAN State of the Union videos and transcripts (since 1945)
State of the Union (SOTU) provides access to the corpus of all the State of the Union addresses from 1790 to 2007. SOTU allows you to explore how specific words gain and lose prominence over time, and to link to information on the historical context for their use.
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UTD 1/2010, posted 6/2007 In the spirit of Thomas Paine - released to public domain by Cynthia J. O'Hora
Aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards: Reading, Writing Speaking & Listening, History; Civics and Government; Mathematics, Civics and Government; Science and Technology | Aligned with the National Standards for Civics and Government
Save a tree - use a Digital Answer Format - Highlight the text. Copy it. Paste it in a word processing document. Save the document in your folder. Put your name and the date in a header. Answer on the word processing document in a contrasting color (not yellow) or font (avoid symbol, 
, 
or other ornate artistic fonts). Save frequently as you work. I do not like losing mine. You will not like it either. Submit your response via a class drop box or email. Bad things happen: Save a copy of your work on your computer. Or perhaps you have the resources to record verbal answers. If you do, be sure to first read / record the question. Then record the answer immediately after it.
Proof read your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets worck. 