About Us
Congress: The Context
SUBJECTS
U.S. Government, Civics
GRADE LEVEL
6-8
OBJECTIVES
Students will define democracy, representative government, republic, Congress, legislative, and citizen; identify the United States as having a representative democracy; explain the significance of being able to participate in government or rule-making through representatives; explain advantages and disadvantages of representative government; compare and contrast decision-making by one versus by many; and create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast decision making by one and by many.
LESSON PLAN
Class 1
Present the following three rules to students. Explain that these are new rules that will be instituted in the classroom beginning the following day. (Adjust these "ridiculous rules" according to your personal taste.)
1. All students must use only magenta-colored ink when writing in class.
2. You may only speak if your name begins with "C."
3. All students' notebooks must have the teacher's name written in silver glitter and must cover at least half of the front side of the notebook.
Students write a journal response to these new rules. How well do they like the rules? How well do they think they will adjust to the rules? Break students into small groups and have them complete "Do you like these rules" handout together.Students present their findings to the class. Students will most likely decide that the rules are not to their liking, were probably made by the teacher, serve the teachers' interests, and think that they should have some decision-making power. Explain to students that this activity served as a simulation of authoritarian decision-making, or government with the ideas of only one person. Make sure to tell them that the rules are not for real and do not have to be followed!
Class 2
Kids make rules about pen color, notebook decorating, and who may speak in class. (or choose whatever types of rules you can live with having students make-depending on how you like to run your classroom and where you are in your school year, you can spend more time on this activity and actually have students come up with a set of classroom rules that everyone will operate by). Explain that today the students will rewrite the rules with their input, using a system of student representatives. In groups, students will decide on 3 new rules their group would like. They will select one member of their group to be the group voter. Each group voter will speak for the group and propose one rule to the class. These proposed rules will be written on the board and the group voters will then vote on 3. Group voters turn in their votes and the teacher announces the results of the new class rules. Before they leave class, ask students to write their reactions to the process used today: How fair was the system we used to create rules today?
Class 3
Ask students to recall the previous 2 days' lessons. (teacher-made rules, then students made rules through representatives). Write examples of laws made by Congress on the board: It is illegal to make copies of copyrighted material without permission; It is illegal to drive while intoxicated; It is illegal for an employer to make decisions about anyone on the basis of race, religion, sex, or ethnicity; The minimum age for employment is 14 years old. (There are some exceptions); Children aged 14 and 15 may not work more than 3 hours per day during the school year. Divide students into groups and have them complete "Are these good laws" handout together. Have students present their work and discuss the results. If students do not know, clarify that these laws were made by many different Americans (i.e., through representative government). Make a class list on the board of the advantages and disadvantages of having many people make rules. Students should add to their lists. (Advantages: more people's ideas are represented, people have a say. Disadvantages: takes longer, can have disputes in decision-making process, not everyone is happy in the end)
Class 4
Explain to students that they will be learning terminology today that describes the concepts they have been discussing over the past 3 days. These will be essential terms to know to understand the representative government we live in today. Introduce and explain "Vocabulary to know: words relating to our government" handout to the students. They will work with a partner to first look up and write definitions in their own words for each term. Then, they will combine words by writing sentences using 2 words on the perimeter of the organizer. Model this by writing a definition for representative government and writing a sample sentence. Once students have completed this, they will proceed to the Evaluation: students create a Venn diagram comparing rules made by one person versus rules made through representative government. Using Venn diagram, they write one paragraph explaining which system is more effective for making laws for a nation and why.
RESOURCES
"Do you like these rules?" (handout)
CREDIT
Hilary G. Conklin
