Subjects: U.S. History, U.S. Government, Civics, Comparative
Political Systems
Grade Level(s): 9-12
Time Frame: 4, 50-minute periods
Objectives [What the student should know and be able
to do at the end of the lesson]:
1.0 Overall: The general purpose of this unit is to
introduce high school students to the powers of the United
States Congress through the use of CongressLink and other related
Internet resources. In this unit students will develop a fundamental
knowledge concerning the powers of the United States Congress,
compare the powers of the U.S. legislature with that of another
nation, and assess the current role of the Congress with reference
to the ideology of the framers of the Constitution. This unit
will help students learn to classify legislative powers, compare
and contrast legislative powers, and evaluate the status of
Congress today.
Bloom's Taxonomy: CongressLink lesson plans are built
around Bloom's
taxonomy. The purpose of the taxonomy is to provide a coherent
format for lessons and to make it easier for teachers to design
them according to CongressLink's standards.
2.0 Knowledge: List powers of Congress. Locate powers
on CongressLink. Define types of congressional powers.
3.0 Understanding: Classify powers of Congress. Illustrate
a congressional power in a political cartoon.
4.0 Application: Select news articles to find examples
of congressional powers.
5.0 Analysis: Compare and contrast legislative powers
of the U.S. and different nations.
6.0 Synthesis: Use CongressLink to explore congressional
powers.
7.0 Evaluation: Use the Federalist Papers and ideas
of the founding fathers to compare with actions of today’s
Congress.
Procedure/Sequence
Class 1
Divide students into pairs and have students access Article
I of the U.S. Constitution using the CongressLink site to
do the scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt questions can be
based on information found in the Glossary and Historical
Notes in the CongressLink site. After students are acquainted
with the site and have finished the scavenger hunt, reemphasize
the powers given to Congress through class discussion and
develop a chart or graphic organizer on the board. Have each
student choose a congressional power and create a political
cartoon for homework.
Class 2-3
Divide students into pairs and assign each pair a country using http://confinder.richmond.edu/.
Sample countries include Iraq, Rwanda, Haiti, Vietnam, Libya,
Australia, and China. Students should compare and contrast
the legislative powers of the assigned country with those given
to the U.S. Congress. Using the information found, students
will prepare a live news report in which one student acts as
a news reporter on location and interviews a political leader
in that foreign country about that country’s legislative
powers. (Videotaping these news reports allows students to
make comparisons among the legislative powers of all assigned
countries.) For homework, have students develop a song or a
poem on congressional powers.
Class 4
Students continue to work in pairs and are given one of the
Federalist Papers to find in the CongressLink site. Federalist
Papers Number 33 and 44 deal specifically with congressional
powers. Students will read the assigned Federalist Papers
and will compare the intent of its author with the actions
of the current Congress using news articles on congressional
powers students have found and placed in an electronic scrapbook
they have created. After this research is completed, each
student will write an editorial judging whether today’s
Congress is in agreement with the ideas found in the Federalist
Papers. These editorials may then be posted on the WebBoard
for other classes to critique.
Materials:
U.S.
Constitution (Article I)
National Standards Addressed by Lesson [based on National
Standards for Civics and Government, Center for Civic Education,
1994. Citation based on section, subsection, standard of the
document]:
5-8 Purposes and uses of constitutions (I-C-2)
The American idea of constitutional government (II-A-1)
Distributing governmental power and preventing its abuse (III-A-1)
The institutions of the national government (III-B-1)
Major responsibilities of the national government in domestic
and foreign policy (III-B-2)
Financing government through taxation (III-B-3)
Evaluation/Assessment: See: http://www.congresslink.org/rubric/pdf
Author(s):
Dan Richardson
Lead Teacher
East Troy High School
P.O. Box 137
East Troy, WI 53210
(414) 642-6760
Jennifer Mantlo
Lead Teacher
Warren East High School
6867 Louisville Road
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(502) 781-1277
Peggy Caldwell
Lead Teacher
Morrow High School
2299 Old Rex Morrow Road
Morrow, GA 30260
(404) 362-3870
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