1.0 Overall: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce
students to the complex job of a Congress member. While the
U.S. Constitution outlines the general qualifications and responsibilities
of the office, the tasks accruing to a Congress member because
of pressures not expressed in the Constitution and the elastic
clause make the job more complex than a casual observer might
think. The United States Constitution, past/current events,
and CongressLink resources will facilitate student understanding
of the complex role of a Congress member.
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: Students will identify the constitutional
roles of Congress members; students will identify the constitutional
qualifications for Congress members.
3.0 Understanding: Students will classify the roles
of Congress members into categories; students will illustrate
the roles of Congress members; students will compare and contrast
the role of representatives with that of senators; students
will compare and contrast the qualifications of representatives
with that of senators.
4.0 Application: Students will determine what qualities
they would prefer in potential Congress members.
5.0 Analysis: Students will analyze various historical
situations to determine what role Congressmen were acting in.
6.0 Synthesis: Students will predict how Congressmen
may respond to various current events/scenarios based on their
roles.
7.0 Evaluation: Students will critique how their Congress
member responded to a certain current event, focusing on their
effectiveness in their congressional roles.
Class 1
Give each student 10 post-it notes. Have the students brainstorm
what job-related tasks a congressperson may have to complete
in a day. Give students several minutes to brainstorm. Be
sure to denote that the students are to have one task per
post-it note. Instruct students that a prize will be given
to the student who has the most tasks that were not duplicated
by others (this will give students an incentive to really
think about tasks and perhaps generate ideas not normally
discussed). Have students denote with a (s) for Senate and
a (h) for House if a task is particular to a certain house.
Have students get into groups of 4 to 5 students. Give the
groups a few minutes to share their ideas in a round table
format. Have students eliminate any duplication so that they
have one master list. Give each group a large piece of paper.
Have students categorize tasks on paper and label the categories.
Choose one member of each group to stand and share their
group's findings to the whole class, using the paper as a
prompt. Discuss as a class the similarities and differences
of the categories to determine as a class the main categories
of a congressperson's roles. Some possible categories may
involve constituents, committees, legislation, party membership,
etc. Compare the classroom's classifications with that in
your textbook, if applicable, and decide which categories
you prefer. Have groups re-organize their poster if necessary
in light of the class-generated categories. Also, have students
copy lists to their notebook. Collect posters and save for
the next day. You may want to go through posters and make
corrections to inaccurate information before the next class.
Homework: Have students analyze Article One of the
United States Constitution to add to their list any tasks they
may have overlooked in their groups.
Adaptation: For a lower-level class, the teacher could
generate the tasks for the groups and give them to the students
to group on butcher paper already marked with categories.
The class could then compare their posters and discuss why
things were classified as they were.
Class 2
Have students return to their small groups from the previous
day. Students are to use their homework assignment to add
to their posters if necessary. Have students put their posters
up throughout out the room Give each group one marker. Have
students circulate in their groups through the "Congressional
Poster Gallery". Groups are to check with the marker any
tasks that were not on their poster.Give the group with the
most "unique" tasks some positive reinforcement. Have groups
add to their poster any tasks that were absent that other
groups delineated. Answer any questions students may have.
This is also the time to clear up any incorrect information
that you observed in the poster gallery or add any information
you see as lacking. Next, have students brainstorm individually
what qualities are necessary for Congress members in light
of the various responsibilities they identified. Discuss
as a class the qualities they feel are important for a congressperson.
Compare the list generated by the class to the constitutional
requirements for senators and representatives.
Homework: Have students create a Venn diagram comparing
and contrasting the qualifications and responsibilities of
members of the House and Senate. Students could also create
a classified job description of 25 words or less for Congress
members, or create a "help wanted" poster for a congressperson,
denoting what types of people need apply. Both products would
identify both the formal qualifications for Congress, as well
as "unofficial" qualities they think are important.
Adaptation: Give lower-level classes a list of attributes
generated by the teacher. Students would then go through
the list to determine which of items would be important for
a congressperson to have, and which would not. On this list,
you could include the constitutional requirements, and as
the discussion ensues, point out that these are "must haves" according
to the Constitution.
Class 3
Give students the following scenario: It has recently become
apparent that a new postal distribution center has become necessary
in your part of the United States. Your local Congress member
from the area is a member of the Post Office Committee. It
is his job to determine in which district the new distribution
center should be located. The new postal distribution center
would bring many new jobs to the area chosen for the site.
Some citizens from your district would like the distribution
center to go in your district. There is land available on a
farm that is for sale. Others, however, would like to see this
land go to build new soccer fields and yet others are wary
of the traffic a new postal center would bring to the area.
A neighboring state is also competing for the center. While
community pressures for that site are similar to yours, studies
done by the postmaster show that this site is actually closer
to an airport, thus making it more cost effective. Your Congress
member and several members of his party are coming up for re-election
soon, and his colleagues would like to see the postal distribution
center put on hold for a while. They believe the money should
be used for a more "newsworthy" project.
Take on the role of a Congressman and announce that you are
going to hold a town meeting tomorrow on the subject. Divide
the students into various interest groups. Some possible groups
may include: soccer parents, the Chamber of Commerce, political
party members, community members who live near proposed site,
environmentalists, local unemployed community members, members
of a "Government Waste" watchdog group. Give students time
to prepare what their particular group would have to say to
the "Honorable" Congress member. Inform your constituents that
your decision will be based on the quality of their presentation
to you and how well they appeal to your various roles and responsibilities.
Give students time to script their comments to you, make posters,
bumper stickers, or any other props for the town meeting.
Adaptation: For lower level classes, teachers could
script out their own town meeting and assign students roles
to read.
Homework: Prepare for town meeting.
Class 4
Hold your town meeting. Ask prompting questions to the town
about some concerns and questions you have if the discussion "drags" a
bit. After discussion, list various community members on
the board and have class identify the main arguments of each
and which congressional role the argument would appeal to.
Tell students you need the night to "sleep on it" and will
make your decision in the morning as to what you will recommend
to the committee.
Homework: Write a letter to the editor explaining what
decision you believe the Congress memeber should make. Or,
create an editorial cartoon expressing your opinion of the
matter.
Adaptation: Students could write a newspaper article
summarizing the town meeting.
Class 5-8
Announce your decision to the class. Take a brief moment to
explain your answer and answer any questions they have. Introduce
the culminating activity for the lesson. This activity will
allow students to use the information they garnered to evaluate
current/historical situations. There are many different options
as to how this could be accomplished.
1. Assign U.S. history students to examine various dilemmas
Congress members have had to face in U.S. history. Groups of
students will take their assigned subject and research the
issues involved, the constitutional clauses that gave the Congress
members jurisdiction over the issue at hand, the roles the
Congress members had to act in to address the issue, and finally
the decision ultimately made. Students could then evaluate
the decision made. CongressLink and other historical web sites
are to be used to find information for their report to the
class.
2. Assign groups of students to research current candidates
for office in the area if it is an election year. Students
can use Vote Watch to see how incumbents have voted on past
issues. The League of Women Voters, the Republic and Democratic
Party homepages, as well as local news sources, could be used
to find information on candidates. Report to the class the
attributes of the candidate they were assigned: background,
experience, stand on various issues, etc. Student groups can
then present the information to the class and, after presentations,
students can be assigned to evaluate the candidates as to whom
they would vote for based on their qualifications and how well
they believe they can fulfill the congressional roles.
3. Assign groups of government students to research a current
issue facing Congress using the C-Span and Thomas link on CongressLink.
Once a group is assigned an issue, it is their job to report
to the class what the issue is about, what constitutional provisions
allow the Congress to
have jurisdiction over the issue, and what congressional roles
members must act in to address the issue. Students are then
assigned to write their Congress member about the issue, again
finding the appropriate address on CongressLink, urging the
Congress member to take appropriate action on the issue.
4. Assign either history or government students to use CongressLink
to find primary sources which illustrate a Congress member
operating in a particular role. Students are to identify the
document, the constitutional provision that gives the Congress
jurisdiction over the issue, the history behind the document,
and how it illustrates the Congress member acting in a particular
role.
5. Students in lower level classes could create their own
skit in small groups, an individual cartoon strip, or a storybook
for smaller kids, illustrating the roles and responsibilities
and qualifications of
Congress member.
