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Congress In The Classroom!
By Andrea Ginos
Grade Level: 4th - 6th
Length: 45-50 minutes
Performance Expectations:
The students will simulate the workings of Congress by bringing
the lawmaking process into their own classroom. Students will
role-play congressmen and women attempting to pass a bill into
a law through the appropriate steps.
Materials:
Parchment paper
One 4 -5Ó feather for each student
Procedure:
Introduction- After a unit on the American government, making
sure you adequately cover the Congress and their law making process,
tell the students they are going to try and pass a law for the
classroom. Each student will receive a piece of parchment paper
and a feather. Have the students tape the feather to their writing
utensil so that it looks like an ink well feather pen of the 1800Õs.
Have the students individually, and silently if possible, write
a bill to be passed into a law for the classroom. Explain to them
that you, the teacher, are going to act like the president, and
have the right to veto any law that is inappropriate, so to write
their bills accordingly. Also explain to them that the wording
of their bill is important. Bad wording can lead to a bill being
thrown out. Read an example of a badly worded bill, such as, ÒMiss
GinosÕs class will watch movies on Fridays.Ó Have
students discuss how this is not detailed enough and could possibly
be manipulated later. ÒStudents in Miss GinosÕs
class will be able to watch a movie of Miss GinosÕs choice
every other Friday instead of afternoon recessÓ is a much
better wording of the same bill. (Have students also write their
names on the back of the bill as well to prevent any favoritism
in later selection.)
Development- After the children have written their bills, divide
the class into two equal sections. One section is the House of
Representatives and the other is the Senate. Within each group,
either have the students elect a Ôbill selection committeeÕ,
or pick one out yourself if this poses a problem. About half of
the students should serve on the bill committee. Collect all of
the bills within each group. Redistribute the bills to different
students so that no one has their own and have each student read
a bill to their group. At this time, all of the bills go to the
committee where they discuss which bill has the potential of getting
passed in the classroom. Explain to the students in the selection
committee that many bills might look the same, but to examine
the wording of the bill to decide which to pick. Which bill is
clear, concise and to the point? The students not in the selection
committee should be given a topic-related movie to watch, such
as ÒThe Making of a BillÓ or be allowed to watch
and listen to the selection process of both the Senate and the
House of Representatives, quietly.
The selection committee then goes back to their respective groups
and presents the bill they have chosen. Tell the students to vote
either yes or no for the bill their committee is presenting. (The
committee has no vote.) If the vote is yes, the bill goes to the
other branch of Congress. If the vote is no, it has been killed
and they do not have a bill anymore. Do not explain the outcome
of their vote until after the vote has been taken.
If a vote of yes was obtained by the students, the traditional
pattern of Congress is followed giving the bill to the Senate
if it came from the House, and vice versa. If and when a unanimous
vote of yes in finally achieved, the ÔpresidentÕ
can then sign the bill making a new classroom law.
Note: This can be a lengthy process in real life, as it may be
in your classroom. The reason you let the students pass or kill
a bill without interfering is to create the feelings of a real
life Congress. A studentÕs personal vote of ÔnoÕ
simply because it wasnÕt their bill they heard read is
a scaled down reality in Congress. If no bill becomes a law, then
the frustration of law makers in congress will become a reality
to the children through their own practice.
Closure- After the class has either passed a law or killed their
bills in committees, discuss the frustrations either the students
in the committees felt about pleasing the rest of their group
with one bill choice, the hardships of rewording a bill if that
was done, what they looked at in each billÕs wording to
select one to vote on, or the frustrations the students not in
the committee felt of possibly being misrepresented by their committee.
Did they feel cheated that the bill chosen wasnÕt theirs?
If a bill was killed quickly, do the students regret their hastiness
perhaps? These are all excellent discussion questions to go over.
The students just experienced one of the most frustrating jobs
of a Congress person. Talk about the laws in the community. There
are always groups of people that donÕt want a law passed.
What efforts have they noticed by members of the community to
influence the way we think or vote?
Assessment:
Informal assessment should be used to check students comprehension
of this activity. Since this is a role playing situation, check
to see if students are involving themselves in the process. The
objective is to simulate not only the law making process, but
also the emotions that lawmakers may feel. Students could do a
self assessment in a journal, explaining the pathway that their
bill traveled. Have them include any emotions that they felt throughout
the process pertaining to their role in Congress, what happened
to their personal bill, or about the process of passing a law
in general.
Adaptations/Consideration:
This should be a wonderful activity for the behavioral disorder
child. There is a lot of participation and discussion. You might
want to make sure that the BD child is definitely included in
the selection committee so that there is as little lag time as
possible where there is no activity. As usual, be sure to pair
any student that might need assistance with another child in the
classroom.
Reference:
David Croft, teacher at Harry S. Truman Elementary School, Rolla,
Mo 65401 (1984-85)
Andrea Ginos
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