Lesson Plan: How a Bill Becomes a law (The Legislative Process)
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Objectives: The students will...
1. Describe theparts that make up the legislative branch on all three levels of government.
2. Outline the processby which a bill becomes a law on both federal and state levels.
Main Activity: PowerPoint: How a Bill Becomes a Law:The Journey of a Bill
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Distribute the fill-in-the-blankworksheets designed to accompany this presentation entitled
8.2.2 - PowerPoint: How a Bill Becomes aLaw: The Journey of a Bill.
PowerPoint: Available as a web page
Project the PowerPoint presentation or allow students to view it individuallyin the computer lab.
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Informstudents that their worksheet has additional images that will help themunderstand how a bill becomes a law. This procedure for getting bills throughCongress is known as the legislative process. The PowerPoint presentationcontains a flow chart that guides students through the entire process fromstart to finish. Each frame highlights the next step as the bill moves fromintroduction to passage. The flow chart is included at the end of the studentworksheet guide.
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Filmstrip or Video: The Federal Government InAction: The Congress
Previewany video or filmstrip your school or district has on the Legislative Branch ofGovernment. One suggested production on this topic is Ken Burns: Congress (TheVideo). Available at pbs.org (Item Code: TCNT901). C-SPAN has recently broadcasted and released on DVD a 9-hour lookat the US Capitol, which contains a rich collection of facts about Congress.Locate the video for sale on-line at http://www.c-spanstore.org.The product ID isCHVC
http://www.c-spanstore.org/shop/index.php?main_page=product_vidprod_info&cPath=18_33&products_id=CHVC
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Prepare and distribute study guide packets to students.Prepare a set of transparencies that contain the study questions contained inthe filmstrip and distribute the packets to students.
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Show the video or filmstrip.
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While studentswatch the video, have them answer the study guide questions. Students shouldmaintain an answer sheet on their own papers. Stop the audio to discuss keyideas, analyze visual information, and mark answers to study guide questions.
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Period 10: IndependentProject: Creating a Game Board on How a Bill Becomes a Law
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Distribute theworksheet entitled 8:2.3 - The Legislative Process: Creating a Game Board. Theworksheet contains directions for the students on how to create a game boardthat reflects the process of how a bill becomes a law.
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Students canwork in groups on their game board. Direct students to various sources ofinformation that will help them develop the game board. They can use theirtextbooks, their PowerPoint notes, and the sample game board provided for themon the opposite side of the directions. They can also conduct library researchor investigate the process on the Internet. One excellent resource for youngpeople can be found on the website of the US House of Representatives at http://clerkkids.house.gov/laws/index.html.
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The directionsthat you should distribute to students have been included here. Inform studentsthat they should create a game board that includes the elements found on theevaluation sheet. They should use the sheet as their checklist while creatingthe board. The board can have trivia cards that contain questions on thelegislative process, or the board can have events that cause the player to moveforward, backwards, or lose their turn. The design of the game itself is up tothe student as long as all the parts of the legislative process can be foundsomewhere on the board or in their cards. Use the evaluation sheet as a rubricfor evaluating student performance.
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You can havestudents bring in their boards and take time to play each other’s games. Thisway, they will reinforce their understanding of the legislative process andhave fun while ding it.
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8:2.3 - The Legislative Process: Creating a Game Board(Directions to Students)
<![if !supportLists]>1.<![endif]>Take out your information sheet on How A Bill Becomes a Law.You can also use your textbook or the Internet (any resource that helps youunderstand the process).
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<![if !supportLists]>2.<![endif]>You may work in groups of two or three.
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<![if !supportLists]>3.<![endif]>Create your own game board that helps you and other studentslearn how a bill becomes a law.
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<![if !supportLists]>4.<![endif]>Brainstorm a word bank of terms that can be used as game cardsas a bill moves from start to finish. Terms should include but are not limitedto:
1. Lobbyist
2. Pigeonhole
3. Filibuster
4. Rules Committee
5. Mark-Up
6. Debate
7. Veto
8. Override
9. Pocket veto
10. Recommend to the Floor
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<![if !supportLists]>5.<![endif]>Take a look at the sample game board. (Next page). Use imagesfrom your Internet, hand drawn images, or Xerox copies from your book tocomplete the game board.
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<![if !supportLists]>6.<![endif]>Create game cards that help the bill move backwards orforwards. Make your game board colorful (lots of red, white, and blue) and haveit reflect the legislative process of moving through both houses, committees,and to the President.
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A game board example
I have included two examples of actual game boards createdby student groups. These are exemplary pieces of work because they had thecritical elements that illustrate the legislative process. Remember thatstudents can use images copied from their textbook, magazine cutouts, imagesfrom the World Wide Web, or they can hand-draw graphical icons that illustratehow the bill moves through both houses of Congress.
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| Here is an example of a game board project. It could have included a greater number of supplementary images, but the “capitol” design won it high marks. |
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| Here is a second example. The students hand-drew images around the path to illustrate the process. Effort is also seen in the colors, design, and accuracy of information. |
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<![endif]>Use the Bill to Law Evaluation Checklist to assess students’progress on their projects.
Independent Practice: Congress in theNews
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Have studentslocate one magazine, newspaper, or Internet-based article dealing with Congressand current events. Direct students to discover articles dealing with thechanges in Congressional leadership since the last election.
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Distribute theworksheet entitled Civics Note-taking Worksheet: Gathering Information From aMagazine Article. (Available as a Word 2000document or in PDF format). Theteacher workbook contains an example of how students use the worksheet toanalyze and interpret an article on Congress, but the worksheet can be used forany Civics topic.
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Students shouldsummarize key terms that they locate and identify in the article. Their summaryappears in the column on the right next to the terms that place in theleft-hand column.
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Make atransparency of the blank version of the worksheet. Have students suggest whichterms to discuss. Each student may have a different set of terms, but theexample in the teacher’s edition used an article on Tom Delay because he is theoutgoing House Majority Leader at the time of this writing. Display terms anddefinitions on the overhead and have students write down key terms they mayhave missed.
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Ask students the following basic question after discussingthe article: Based on what you read in the article, show how Congress helpsmake our government a democratic government that follows the principals ofAmerican democracy?
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Content Reading Assignment: Reviewing Terms
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Have studentsreview the list of vocabulary terms for this chapter.
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Have studentscreate a set of flash cards for the list or for part of the list. The flashcard should have the work on one side, the definition on the other along with adrawing that will help the student remember the definition.
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Allow studentsto use their cards to practice terms if time remains.
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Evaluation: The lesson will be evaluated by…
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<![if !supportLists]>1.<![endif]>The accuracy of student’s written responses to discussionquestions.
<![if !supportLists]>2.<![endif]>The accuracy of student responses on interactive worksheet.
<![if !supportLists]>3.<![endif]>The quality of student definitions and pictographs on theirflash cards.
<![if !supportLists]>4.<![endif]>The number of point earned on the How a Bill Becomes a LawGame Board
<![if !supportLists]>5.<![endif]>Student’s scores on future tests and quizzes.
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