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