Unit and lesson plans prepared by teachers using CongressLink resources and features. This section also includes simulations. The plans are organized by subject:

Congressional Elections
Congressional History
Congressional Powers
Congressional Processes
Members of Congress
U.S. Constitution
Other

For links to other Web sites containing lesson plans for Congress see Related Lessons.

Congressional Elections

Winning the Seat: A Congressional Election Simulation
Political scientist Jeffrey Bernstein created this simulation of a congressional election to provide students with a solid understanding of what determines who wins and who loses these contests.

Election Activity: Decision 2004
Students will determine their political beliefs, complete a WebQuest-based research activity on a current political issue, participate in debate, and recognize the factors that influence how we choose candidates.

Noncompetitive Elections for Congress
American democracy faces a crisis – the crisis of noncompetitive elections.  More and more, American elections consist of incumbents cruising to victory. In this lesson, students will be able to explain why congressional elections are noncompetitive, analyze the pros and cons of electing incumbents to Congress, and analyze the need for congressional term limits.

Congressional History

The Compromise of 1850
This lesson employs the Compromise of 1850 to illustrate the process of compromise in the U.S. Congress. The Compromise was a series of five legislative enactments, passed by Congress during August and September 1850, designed to reconcile the differences then dividing the antislavery and proslavery factions of Congress and the nation.

The Great Compromise: A House Divided
In this lesson, students create their own solution to the problem of representation at the Constitutional Convention and read primary sources to gain different perspectives on the compromise that was actually reached. The lesson concludes with students creating a cartoon depiction of the final compromise.

Eulogy and Obituary as Historical Evidence
Students will understand the purposes of a eulogy and an obituary and the differences between them, identify the essential elements of both, determine which is the more authentic historical record, and be able to associate an individual's life with important historical events. This lesson is based on the eulogy and obituary for Everett Dirksen.

Highlights of the Senate: Creating a Timeline of the Senate's History
In this lesson, students select facts and milestones of the Senate to create a timeline of the Senate's history. Students make judgments about which single event would be most important to know.

How a Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1964
How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Case of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a student guide through the legislative process. The general purpose of this unit is to demonstrate to students the step-by-step procedure of a bill becoming a law using the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a case study. Students will understand how Congress makes laws and the role of congressional committees in this process. This will help them understand key concepts associated with the legislative process such as filibuster, cloture, bipartisan, petition, and lobbying. Additionally, they will also see how controversial social issues, such as civil rights, greatly affect the process.

Civil Rights Documentation Project
The Civil Rights Documentation Project provides a fuller accounting of law-making based on the unique archival resources housed at The Dirksen Congressional Center, including the collection of then-Senate Minority Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-IL), widely credited with securing the passage of the bills. The project takes the form of an interactive presentation with links to digitized historical materials and other Internet-based resources about civil rights legislation created by museums, historical societies, and government agencies. We hope to provide resources teachers can use to create lesson plans and materials to supplement their teaching of the legislative process, of recent American history, and of the civil rights movement, among other social studies topics.

Lessons from the Roman Republic
In this lesson, students learn about the influences of the Roman Republic on our government today. Students create an advertisement persuading people that representative government is the best form of government.

Role of Congress in Formulating Policy
In the modern world, most people associate the policies that the United States pursues with the President and forget that Congress plays a major role in how those policies are formulated and carried out. Historically, there have been times when Congress has played a very strong role vis-à-vis the Executive Branch, and at other times, it has been willing to let the President carry the ball. In both situations, there have always been strong members of Congress who felt they had a constitutional duty to do more than 'rubber stamp' or just sit by idly. This may mean that they proposed legislation, tried to significantly change proposed or already enacted legislation, or in some cases, fought to prevent passage. Whatever their approach, they were instrumental in the formulation of foreign and domestic policy. In this lesson, students learn that Congress plays a major role in how policies are formulated and carried out.

Congressional Powers

2, 4, 6, 8…Who Knows What's in Article I, Section 8? (or Powers of Congress)
In this lesson, students read Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and create a poem, rap, cheer, or song that presents the powers of Congress creatively. As a wrap-up, students justify which Congressional powers they believe are most important.

Congressional Powers
The general purpose of this unit is to introduce high school students to the powers of the United States Congress through the use of CongressLink and other related Internet resources. In this unit students will develop a fundamental knowledge concerning the powers of the United States Congress, compare the powers of the U.S. legislature with that of another nation, and assess the current role of the Congress with reference to the ideology of the framers of the Constitution. This unit will help students learn to classify legislative powers, compare and contrast legislative powers, and evaluate the status of Congress today.

Congressional Power, Organization, the Differences Between the House and the Senate, and Criticisms Then and Now
In Federalist No. 51 Madison wrote, "In a Republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconvenience is to divide the legislature into different branches." The Framers of the Constitution took great care in organizing the legislative branch of the United States government into a bicameral system to avoid overpowering the other two branches. There are distinct differences between congressional power and organization of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In this lesson, students will discuss among their group why the Framers chose to organize the legislative branch of the U.S. government in the manner that they did.

War-Making: The Use of a Congressional Power
The purpose of this lesson is for the student to understand the sharing of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches in the war-making power. Students will also gain an insight into the events surrounding the declaration of war in 1941 and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964.

What in the World Should Congress Do?
Students will use primary sources to decide when they think it is appropriate for Congress to intervene in foreign affairs.

Congressional Processes

Checks and Balances: The Line Item Veto
In this lesson, students perform a series of activities culminating in a persuasive letter to their Congress Member. Citing evidence from primary sources, students construct a position on the Line-Item Veto Amendment. Students will demonstrate their knowledge, understanding, and mastery of the concepts of checks and balances in their letter.

Congress and Interest Groups
After completing this assignment, students will better understand congressional committees and interest groups.  They will learn to assess the significance of the donations to committee members, consider from whom they have come, and how the donations might impact the committee vote on legislation. Students will also learn how interest groups seek to influence politicians.

Congressional Committee Simulation: Raising the Minimum Wage
This classroom simulation of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce allows students to understand the procedures and political process of committee action on a bill.  Students play the roles of Republican and Democratic committee members with four different views on raising the minimum wage.  After hearing arguments of opposing interest groups in a committee hearing, committee members attempt to forge a bipartisan majority through political bargaining and compromise on a bill to increase the minimum wage.

NOTE:  This lesson was prepared in April 2008 when the minimum wage was $5.85 and set to increase to $6.55 on July 24.  Congress has already passed legislation that will increase the minimum wage further on July 24, 2009, to $7.25.  Teachers may want to introduce this lesson by saying that Congress often begins to deal with legislative issues well in advance—in other words, committees could begin taking testimony now on what the wage should be after 2009.

Congressional Workload
This lesson employs various measures of House and Senate productivity since 1947 so that students will know how legislative work is measured and evaluated.

Creating a Television Ad for an Interest Group
In this lesson, students examine propaganda and media bias and explore the ways interest groups get their message across through the use of media campaigns. Following the development of their own interest group, students develop an advertising campaign which includes the development of a radio and television commercial.

The Creation of a Bill: Mr. Smith and You
In this lesson, students view an excerpt of the classic film "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" to learn how a bill is created and presented in Congress. Students then work in groups to develop and present their own bills to the class.

House Floor Debate Simulation
This unit will help teachers create a simulation of the U.S. House of Representatives floor debate process that can be adapted for use in a variety of middle school, high school, and college classrooms. In general, the simulation seeks to teach lessons about the various issues that factor in to the decision-making process of a member of Congress. Some of the issues woven into the simulation include parliamentary rules and procedures, the role of constituents, competing demands for time, competing policy interests, the role of the press, and political concerns and institutional concerns. The materials include four different established scenarios as well as resources to create a more customized case-study. The explanation and simulation would likely take place over two class periods.

How a Bill Becomes a Law: Charting the Path
In this lesson, students learn the steps of a bill becoming a law and use this information to write a story about "the life of a bill." Students then evaluate the effectiveness of our system of creating laws.

Iron Triangles
"Iron Triangles" helps students understand how issue networks are formed at the federal level.

Logrolling
This is a simulation about the legislative process of logrolling.  This simulation could be used as a sidelight to the lawmaking process, the committee system, or as an exercise to demonstrate a reason for client politics with concentrated benefits and distributed costs. After completing this simulation, students will have a more complete understanding of the process of logrolling, how it occurs, and what are the consequences.

Making Congress Work Through Leadership
Making Congress Work Through Leadership is based on statements by former House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel drawn from the archival holdings of The Dirksen Congressional Center about the nature of leading in Congress. The general purpose of this unit is to introduce students to the contrasting leadership styles practiced by different elected party leaders in Congress. This will help them understand such concepts as majority and minority roles in legislatures; the nature of deliberation, negotiation, and compromise; the context that shapes legislative leadership; and, the work of Congress more generally.

Senate Re-enactment
This is a very useful lesson plan when discussing the process of creating laws.  It is also a way to help make students aware of current situations in American government.  While it does not cover all aspects of creating laws, it is a great way for students to have a definite opinion about a current political issue, which helps in discussing policy standards of presidential candidates.

The State of the Union Address
In this unit, students will about the nature and purpose of the President's State of the Union message. Using George Washington's first message and Bill Clinton's most recent, the unit shows how the State of the Union message involves Congress.

The Veto Process
Students will be able to (1) summarize the veto and override process as outlined in the U.S. Constitution and used by the executive and legislative branches; (2) research and graph the correlation among the political control of the respective branches, bills introduced, and the number of vetoes and overrides.

What Can You Learn about Congress from Pictures?
In this lesson, students examine different images of the Senate and House Chambers to draw conclusions about Congress. They "paint" a blank template of a Congressional Chamber with words describing the conclusions they have reached.

Members of Congress

A Congressional Scavenger Hunt
In this lesson, students work in groups to find names of Senators and Representatives, requirements to become a Congressperson, maps of states with many and few representatives, political cartoons and more for a Scavenger Hunt on Congress. Students create a poster or collage to display their findings.

A Day in the Life of a Senator
In this lesson, students read a primary source document written by a former Senator and create skits depicting a scene in the life of a Senator. Finally, students evaluate their own potential as future Senators.

Communicating with Your Members of Congress
The purpose of this lesson is to acquaint students with their senators and representatives by using a variety of web sites. Students will explore their own positions on issues and then compare them with positions and policy decisions of the senators and representative. Finally, students will take part in the political process by communicating their views with a member of Congress and develop a greater understanding of the workings of a representative democracy.

How Representative is Congress?
Students become aware of certain characteristics of the membership (i.e., ethnicity, age, gender, and political party affiliation) of Congress and determine if Congress is representative of the public as a whole. Students will gain an understanding of the sociopolitical and sociological nature of Congress, an important aspect of "representation" and related to the unit What Every Student Should Know About Congress.

The Job of a Member of Congress
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.

Legislative Branch - Want Ads: An Introductory Lesson
In this lesson, students will determine the qualifications for Congress and create want ads for the positions of senator and congressman. They will evaluate how the principles of government assist or impede the functioning of the government. They will think creatively, critically, and strategically to make effective decisions, solve problems, and achieve goals. After students read Article 1 of the United States Constitution, they will complete a chart entitled “Comparing the House and Senate.” Students will use the information they collected to complete the attached “Comparing the House and Senate” chart and write a want ad for a congressman and senator.

Making Your Views Known: Writing a Letter to Congress
In this lesson, students read sample letters to Congress, choose an issue of concern in the nation, and write their own letters to a Congressperson.

What Makes a Congressional Leader?
The student will understand the qualities that make a leader. More specifically, the student will understand those qualities a Senate or House leader must possess. They will also realize that leadership is not one dimensional but reliant upon many different circumstances and attributes.

Why Do We Need a Congress Anyway?
In this lesson, students will understand the responsibilities, rights, and privileges of United States citizens. They will develop and employ the civic skills necessary for effective, participatory citizenship. They will determine ways to ask for specific remedies to problems and learn how to communicate with their own representatives in Congress.

U.S. Constitution

A Mock Constitutional Convention
The purpose of this lesson is to provide students an opportunity to step into the shoes of the framers of the United States Constitution to analyze and evaluate the social, political, economic and geographical forces that shaped the United States Constitution. Students will conduct research in the role of one of the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention and then participate in civil discourse as the delegates might have 200+ years ago using the principles of parliamentary procedure. Students will have "reality checks" throughout the experience to compare their convention results with the actual U.S. Constitution.

Amending the Constitution
One of the most important but least used powers of Congress is the ability to amend the Constitution. Since ratification, over 7,000 amendments have been proposed, only 33 passed by Congress, and just 26 ratified by the states. In this lesson, students become familiar with both ratified and failed amendments, connect a current amendment proposal before Congress with past efforts, determine how decisions are made with regard to amendments, and develop an original proposal for an amendment.

Class Constitution
In this lesson, students analyze the basic components of the U.S. Constitution in order to create a "class constitution" to be used to maintain order and discipline throughout the school year.

Teaching the Amendments
The general purpose of this unit is to teach students the amendments to the Constitution through the use of CongressLink, Internet resources, and creative activities. In this unit students will gain a sense of their rights as United States citizens, as well as the reality that many rights are limited and controversial.

Other

An Introduction to Representative Government
In this lesson, students compare rule-making by one to rule-making by many through simulations, class discussions, and the creation of a Venn diagram.

Congress and the Courts
Students will analyze the United States Constitution to discern the relationship between Congress and the federal courts, the attributes they deem important in a judge, and how the courts can influence legislation. Students will also apply to principle of judicial review to legislation as they take on the role of a federal judge.

Congress's Accomplishments…What Has Congress Done for You?
In this lesson, students use primary and secondary sources to become experts on a law Congress has passed and teach each other about the laws they have researched. Students then illustrate the impact of one of these laws with "before" and "after" pictures and justify the importance of the law in writing.

Creating a Citizen's Guide to Congress
In this lesson, students bring all previous lessons together by creating a citizen's guide to Congress.

Design Your Own Interest Group Network: The Nader Formula
This project is designed for students to create interest groups.  In the process of creating their interest groups, they will explore the development of interest groups, use case studies to show their significance in legislation, and delve into the world of campaign finance. At the end of the project students create a 30-60 second commercial spot promoting their interest groups and calling other people to action.

Does it Matter if We Participate in Representative Government? A Socratic Seminar
In this lesson, students participate in a Socratic seminar to discuss and defend the importance of participating in representative government.

Getting Involved: How Can You Participate in Representative Government?
In this lesson, students examine the different ways people can participate in representative government through class discussions, group work, and investigation of primary and secondary sources. Students create commercials that inform viewers how to get involved in representative government.

U.S. Capitol
Students are linked to the United States Capitol, located in Washington, DC. Visiting the Capitol, even in the virtual sense, will help students grasp the idea that the House and the Senate are separate bodies within Congress, each with its own space within the Capitol.

Party Time
Using a variety of primary, or historical, sources, students will analyze their political beliefs and associate them with the basic tenets of the political spectrum. They will be able to determine if their partisan leanings are to the "left" or to the "right."

Hilary G. Conklin's "What is Representative Government?"
This 10-week unit is designed to engage middle school students in a series of creative and multi-disciplinary activities that will help them understand representative government - how the ideas for representative government evolved, how our current Congress functions, and how today's citizens can participate in representative government. In the 15 lesson plans presented here, activities include students examining primary sources, conducting a Congressional Scavenger Hunt, acting out scenes from a day in a Senator's life, and writing letters to members of Congress. These lessons include reproducible activity handouts and graphic organizers created to help students with varied learning styles both visualize Congress in the past and present and break information down in comprehensible ways. While the materials comprise a cohesive unit, the individual lesson plans stand on their own. This project is supported by a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL. The author is Hilary G. Conklin who currently teaches 6th and 8th grade social studies at Lincoln School in Providence, RI.