Students will learn about how bills advance through legislation based on the three branches of the U.S. Government. Students will draft a bill, describe implementation of the bill, and examine the constitutionality of their bill.
Rubrics included in documents in Parts One, Two, and Three below
This is a collaborative lesson taught by both the classroom teacher and the school librarian. Get in contact with your school librarian early to discuss scheduling and teaching responsibilities.
This lesson plan is a guideline. If you need to make minor adjustments or changes to best suit the needs of your students or the resources in your building, please do so. If you have questions about the curricular requirements, please contact contact Lindsay Behne - Secondary Social Studies Teaching & Learning Consultant at (531) 299-6704 or lindsay.behne@ops.org.
At the completion of this lesson, you will need to send two student examples each of a level 2, 3, and 4 project to the person designated by Ms. Behne. This can be electronically or as a hard copy.
TASK DEFINITION
Identify a topic of interest to use to write a bill. (Topic Selection sheet and web organizer provided.)
INFO SEEKING/LOCATION & ACCESS
With direct instruction from the school librarian (with support from the classroom teacher), students will locate information to support their bill.
--Section One Prompt will focus on the problem that they wanted to address when selecting their topic. (two paragraphs)
--Section Two Prompt will focus on solutions to the problem. (two paragraphs)
--Section Three Prompt will focus on eligibility for benefits provided by bill. (one paragraph)
--Section Four Prompt is the date the bill will go into effect.
Possible Sources of Information: Interest Groups websites provided below.
USE OF INFORMATION
Teacher will guide students through writing an outline of a bill they would like to propose in relation to their chosen issue. (Example outline with prompts included)
In the Bill Outline, students are to select a senator or representative to support their bill. This is not an actual senator or representative. Instead, it is a classmate who supports their bill and who will also serve as a peer editor. If you do not wish to have this as part of your lesson with students, you can skip the part where they enter the supporting senator or reps name.
With direct instruction & support from the school librarian and/or teacher, students will create citations for sources used.
SYNTHESIS AND SHARING
Teacher will review the requirements for the final product and assist students as necessary.
Students will use information from the Part One Notes organizer to fill in an outline for their bill. (Template Provided)
Students will write a one page document of support/opposition. Students will need to select an interest group or political party that would support their bill and one that would that oppose. For each, students will need to provide two reasons why each group/party would be in support or opposition. (Support/Opposition Graphic Organizer included).
TASK DEFINITION
Teacher (and possibly school librarian) will assist students in identifying an executive agency to support their bill.
INFO SEEKING/LOCATION & ACCESS
The teacher and school librarian will assist students in locating the following information regarding their executive agency.
Defend your choice of Executive Agency
Department--how/why does this department fit with your bill?
Executive Agency--how/why does this agency have the power to regulate this law?
Implementation
Give two ways this agency can carry out this bill (suggestion--refer back to solutions from Part One)
Penalties could be issued if the law is not properly followed
Fiscal needs of implementing this bill? What costs do you see in regards to personnel, materials, physical space, etc.? What funding streams could be used to cover these expenses?
Possible Source of Information: Complete list of executive agencies below.
USE OF INFORMATION
Teacher will guide students through transferring information into a notes organizer (Part Two Notes Organizer provided).
With support from the school librarian, students will create citations for their sources. Recommendation to use district subscription to Noodle Tools.
SYNTHESIS AND SHARING
Teacher will review the requirements for the final product and assist students as necessary.
Students will use information from Part Two Notes Organizer to complete the outline for Executive Agency. (Template provided).
TASK DEFINITION
Teacher will assist students in identifying an amendment or article from the Bill of Rights (1-10, 14) to support the constitutionality of their bill.
INFO SEEKING/LOCATION & ACCESS
With direct instruction from the school librarian (with support from the classroom teacher) on search strategies and recommended resources, students will locate information regarding the constitutionality of their bills.
Students will locate information to regarding the following:
Possible Sources of Information:
USE OF INFORMATION
Teacher will guide students through transferring information into a notes organizer (Part Three Outline Template).
With support from the school librarian, students will create citations for their sources. Recommendation to use district subscription to Noodle Tools.
SYNTHESIS AND SHARING
Teacher will review the requirements for the final product and assist students as necessary.
Students will write a one page paper that examines the constitutionality of their law.
1) Restate the law (from your bill).
2) Opposition (think about who would oppose your law--could be the political party or interest group from Part One OR possibly state governments. What amendment could they argue your law violates/infringes upon and why?)
3) Defend with Amendment or Article (How does your law uphold this amendment?)
Students will participate in a Judicial Review process: In groups of 3-4, students will review the constitutionality of the laws proposed and decide which argument they agree with (the author or the opposition). (Judicial Review Committee graphic organizer provided.)
Teacher will guide students as they complete the self-evaluation form containing teacher selected items from the form included below.
The self-evaluation can be as brief (one question) or as long as the teacher deems necessary. This can be a graded or non-graded activity.
Noodletools provides a format for creating research papers. It provides an area for notetaking, citation creation, and paper formation.
Guides for using Noodle Tools
This 20 minute video gives an overview on how to use NoodleTools.
This video shows how to create a new project.
This video shows how to check the format of your citation.
This video shows how to add a preformatted citation from a database or website.
Omaha Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status, or economic status in its programs, activities and employment and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following individual has been designated to address inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Superintendent of Schools, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).
Las Escuelas Públicas de Omaha no discriminan basados en la raza, color, origen nacional, religión, sexo, estado civil, orientación sexual, discapacidad , edad, información genética, estado de ciudadanía, o estado económico, en sus programas, actividades y empleo, y provee acceso equitativo a los “Boy Scouts” y a otros grupos juveniles designados. La siguiente persona ha sido designada para atender estas inquietudes referentes a las pólizas de no discriminación: El Superintendente de las Escuelas, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).