About Us
Congress: The Context
SUBJECTS
U.S. Government, Social Studies
GRADE LEVEL
6-10
OBJECTIVES
1. Students will learn how to develop and support a thesis related to this goal statement:
The Legislative Branch of the federal government has the power to greatly influence the economic, social, and political well-being of the United States.
2. Using OpenCongress.org, students will identify the current two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative who represent them with 100% accuracy.
3. Given use of Congress-related print and electronic resources, students will identify two pieces of economic legislation (bill number and title) associated with their legislators and congressional district with 100% accuracy.
4. Given use of print and electronic resources, students will identify two pieces of legislation related to technology innovation (bill number and title) associated with their legislators and congressional district with 100% accuracy.
5. Given use of print and electronic resources, students will identify two pieces of social legislation (bill number and title) associated with their legislators and congressional district with 100% accuracy.
6. Given the six economic, technological, and social pieces of legislation identified above, students will write a five-paragraph essay stating why each piece of legislation is important and how passage of the legislation will impact current and future events, evaluating the content using the criteria listed in the five-paragraph essay rubric.
LESSON PLAN
Timeframe
Five class sessions are recommended with two or three of those sessions reserved for school library research. Additional time for out-of-school research (including use of local public and college/university libraries as well as their online databases) is encouraged.
Overview
The legislative branch of the federal government has a rich and eventful history. Political observers have long expressed an interest in analyzing the legislation our senators and representatives sponsor and the impact the bills have on our lives if they become law. Examining the structure, function, and output of the legislative branch produces a greater understanding of United States culture and its diverse geography and populations. This lesson is designed stresses the importance of the ability to infer and identify relationships between actions and activities using a thesis statement and supporting details.
Activities
Students will have ample time to go to the library and use print and electronic resources. Collaborate with the librarian to refresh students’ skills with accessing and using resources.
Essential Questions
1. How has past and present legislation impacted our work, travel, and communication?
2. What does the legislative process symbolize to our culture?
3. What factors can you identify that indicate legislation has a “chance” of passage - why are these factors important?
4. How has the development of the Internet affected access to legislation?
Day One
The student progress checklist and five-paragraph essay rubric will be distributed and reviewed as the basis for introducing the lesson plan. Next, discussion should be developed using the essential questions and keywords identified in the goal statement. Ask the students to list a “pool of terms” on paper to use for research purposes. Provide an overview of available library resources and refer to the student progress checklist for their first task – matching the generated keywords with the goal statement, objectives listed, and their individual development of a thesis statement.
Days Two - Four
In conjunction with the student progress checklist, students will use generated keywords to identify legislative branch and legislation-related resources (including print, non-print, and electronic). As identified by the checklist, the students will evaluate the content of the resources selected and link the information obtained with the information needed to support their thesis statement. At any time during the research process, students can begin pre-writing activities (outline, thesis statement structure, etc.)
Day Five
Students will use notes and resources to write their five-paragraph essay during the class period. This timed-writing activity (1) will reinforce their timed-writing experiences with proficiency testing and (2) will expose them to new timed-writing activities they will experience in other post-secondary and job-related writing and testing environments.
End Product
Five-paragraph essay identifying economic, technological, and social legislation and its impact on American life.
Supporting Materials: Students will be encouraged to supplement their supporting arguments with visual representations of such examples as a “How a Bill Becomes a Law” Timeline, U.S. Senator and Representative Profiles, and Annotated List of Legislative Resources, etc.
RESOURCES
OpenCongress: http://www.opencongress.org
ASSESSMENT
CORRELATION WITH INFORMATION POWER STANDARDS (From the American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications and Technology.)
Standard 3: The student who is information-literate uses information accurately and creatively.
Standard 6: The student who is an independent learner is information-literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.
Standard 9: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.
CREDIT
Adapted from “OpenCongress – Identifying Legislators and the Legislative Process” and submitted by Tom Adamich, District Librarian, Indian Valley Local Schools, Gnadenhutten, OH, and President, Visiting Librarian Service.
