Kyle's+LEDP

Kyle's Learning Environment Design Project:


 * Class:** MS/HS Social Studies
 * Topic:** US Gov't
 * Lesson:** Branches of Power/Creating and Passing Laws
 * Materials:** computers, normal classroom materials
 * Goal/Objective:** To gain an understanding of how legislation is created and passed in USA- and how those laws affect our lives.
 * Time:** 3-5 class periods (depending on grade level, how long the periods are, how detailed you want the project to be, and how long you want to spend on presentations/debates)


 * Per 1-** Introduce topic, discuss the "balance of power" idea the framers wrote into our constitution. If you want, you can show the 4 min School House Rock video "I'm Just a Bill" as a "grabber". Then have students go on icivics.org and play the "Branches of Power" game. The game should last about 30-45 mins. Before period is over, tell students that for the next couple of periods you will be members of congress and will be attempting to pass laws like in the branches of power game they just played. Get students into groups of 4-5 and call them "congressional committees". Give each committee a topic such as education, or the environment, etc. and tell students to be thinking about ideas they can turn into bills over the next period.


 * Per 2-** Arrange your students into their respective committees and have them come up with a bill to present to their class ("congress") relating to their topic. Remind them that their goal is to get 2/3 of their class to vote for their bill, so they need to find ways to write their bill to appeal to an array of opinions. Tell the students the have until the end of the period to have a draft of their bill written and a copy to be turned into you so that they will be ready for presentations next class. This period is primarily a work period and the hard deadline is mainly to keep your students on task. If there's time, with the final few minutes of class, explain to your students how the next period will be structured as it will be devoted to committee presentations and debates on the issues.


 * Per 3(and 4?)-** This is where you can devote more time to this lesson if you want a more enriching experience for your students, but also where you can end the project if the students aren't as engaged as you'd hope/are crunched for time. If you want this to be a more challenging experience you can find a way to assign your members of congress various ideals they must fight for in debates (like in the game, and in actual congress). For example you can assign some students to want to focus on the fiscal issues of the bills, or the equality issues of the bill. But you can also leave the students to their own opinions, and see if any debates naturally occur over the topics. Again you can make this process as long or as short as you need for time. You can have students go for a straight vote after the presentations for the fastest time, or you can facilitate a healthy debate. You can give your committees time to revise their bills after some debate, or make class do straight vote on bills as is, depends on your teaching style and time restraints. If a committee's bill gets 2/3 votes on their bill, it will be passed into law, and you as "the President" can sign it with some pomp and circumstance. If it does not receive the 2/3 vote, the bill "dies" and will not become law. It's important your students know that having a bill "die" will not equate a bad grade, and that a vast majority of bills die in congress. After the committee presentations and votes, debrief the class on the experience, and have them write either a paragraph, or a page long reflection on their experience as members of congress due the next class period. You may also show one or two other "parody" videos of the School House Rock "Bill" song, that have a more critical perspective of the process to show them some contrast on the issue and how even this process is not as "cut and dry as it seems".


 * Bonus Activity*- If the class took to the project well, why not have them come up with an idea and write a class letter to your congressperson suggesting their idea for a law. Once you've drafted the letter, the whole class can sign it and mail it together. Maybe you'll get lucky and receive a response.

-Probing (during the actual game simulation)- The game is designed for some trial and error. -Identity- Students are actually becoming congresspeople, in the game and in the class activity. -Active Critical Learning- re-enacting the legislative process. -Cultural Model of Semiotic Domain- gives students a better understanding of how their gov't works. -Self-Knowledge- //hopefully// they will also learn a little bit about the issues they care about/are important to them through the project.
 * Some of Gee's Learning principles at work:**