About Us
Congress: The Context
SUBJECTS
U.S. Government, Civics, U.S. History
GRADE LEVEL
8-12
OBJECTIVES
This activity kicks off a mock Congress activity by forming committees and demonstrating the importance of knowledge as power. Students will be introduced to the concept of “seniority,” too.
LESSON PLAN
Set-up: Neatly print the following phrase, “DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT,” seven times on card stock paper. Cut out the letters of the first “DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT” and place the letters into a plastic sandwich bag. Repeat for each of the remaining six phrases. There should be seven plastic bags with the same phrase in jumbled letters, “DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT,” in each of the seven bags.
The students’ task will be to work in groups to arrange the 34 letters in their proper form. They will need help. Prepare directions on an index card for each of the seven bags of jumbled letters. The directions, however, will not all be the same. They will run progressively from difficult to easy.
The first set of directions should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order.”
The second sent should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words.”
The third set should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words. The beginning letters for the three words are ‘C,’ ‘D,’ and ‘G’ but not necessarily in that order.”
The fourth set should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words. The beginning letters for the three words are ‘D,’ ‘C,’ and ‘G’ in that order.”
The fifth set should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words. The beginning letters for the three words are ‘D,’ ‘C,’ and ‘G’ respectively. The first word is ‘Democratic.’”
The sixth set should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words. The beginning letters for the three words are ‘D,’ ‘C,’ and ‘G’ respectively. The first word is ‘Democratic’ and the second word is ‘Constitutional.’”
The seventh set should read, “Put the 34 enclosed letters in correct order. There are three words: DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT.”
As you can see, the task for students is progressively easier as they have more information.
Teaching Strategy: Divide the class into seven groups. Each group will receive a bag with the 34 letters and directions for completing the task. Here is the rule for group work: no talking between groups—members of each group will have to talk to sort the letters, but no sharing of information between groups!
Once the teacher has given the signal for each group to open the bag and complete the task, the groups will read the directions and complete the task. As motivation, tell the class that the last group finished has a rather lengthy reading assignment and the first group finished will have a reward (you don’t have to follow through on the threat!).
In Practice: As the groups works unfolds, the group with the easiest set of directions usually finishes quickly; this becomes very frustrating for the remaining groups. Gradually each group finishes—usually two groups compete not to be the last group finished. When all the groups are done, the class is directed to remain quiet as each set of directions is read from most difficult to easiest. Typically, this unsettles some unsettled individuals and groups.
Write the words “KNOWLEDGE” and “POWER” on the board. In discussion, stress how knowing more about the challenge resulted in more power to overcome it. The same holds true in Congress, i.e., the more a Congress member or committee knows about a subject, the more powerful they are likely to be. Show how congressional committees specialize in certain subjects by giving examples of committee charters (see “Key Committees” at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt).
Prepare for the Mock Congress: Use this exercise to create a seniority chart for the upcoming mock Congress by giving each student in the winning group the highest seniority, students in the next group to finish the next-highest seniority, and so on. This will result in seven “seniority classes.”
Discuss the meaning of seniority in Congress. Is using seniority as the basis for committee assignments an effective means? What are the advantages and disadvantages? (The seniority list for House members, for example, is posted at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/seniority-112.pdf.)
Form committees for the mock Congress by allowing each student with the highest seniority to chair a committee. Fill out the committees by having each chairman select one student from each of the six remaining seniority classes.
RESOURCES
Card stock paper
CREDIT
Pat Usher
Carl Sandburg High School
Orland Park, IL
