Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: How a Bill Becomes a Law Name: Young Kim

Content Area: U.S. History Grade Level: 8th grade

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

8.2 Students analyze the political principles underlying the U.S. Constitution and compare the enumerated and implied powers of the federal government.
8.2.6 Enumerate the powers of government set forth in the Constitution and the fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.
8.2.7 Describe the principles of federalism, dual sovereignty, separation of powers, checks and balances, the nature and purpose of majority rule, and the ways in which the
American idea of constitutionalism preserves individual rights.

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

Big Ideas
 The Constitution and its amendments provide the framework that allows and facilitates the powers involved in the creation of our laws.
 There are specific steps in the legislative process that incorporate a system of checks and balances.
 The legislative process is always ongoing and we are all participants.
Student Learning Objectives
 Students will be able to name and explain the steps for how a bill becomes a law.
 Students will be able to apply this knowledge to the current bills being considered in the legislative branch.
 Students will learn to conduct internet research using reliable sources and teamwork to produce collaborative documents regarding their findings.

Unit Summary:
Students will learn about the legislative process in America. We will go over the specific steps in detail and also cover the role of the system of checks and balances in the
enactment process. Students will learn to apply this knowledge to the bills that are currently being considered in Congress by working together to conduct collaborative
online research. Students will also learn about the ways in which people can get involved in the legislative process. Students will be given the opportunity to think critically
about how we can create the best laws for our local, state, and national community.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Formative: Summative:
Survey of students’ prior knowledge Guided Notes regarding the lecture material Exam on the main content and the big ideas of this unit
Webercise regarding how a bill becomes a law Essay to answer the question of “How can we create
Flow Chart regarding how a bill became a law the best laws for America?”
Think Pair Share and Discussion regarding the flow chart
Flashcards regarding elements of each step in the process

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective:
Students will be able to name
and explain the steps for how
a bill becomes a law.
Lesson 2 (Webercise)
Student Learning Objective:
Students will be able to apply
this knowledge to the current
bills being considered in the
legislative branch.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective:
Students will learn to conduct
internet research using
reliable sources and
teamwork to produce
collaborative documents
regarding their findings.
Unit Resources:
Acceptable Evidence
(Assessments):
Students will fill in guided
notes on the lecture material
which will cover the learning
objective. Students will
create flashcards on the main
points of this lecture and
continue to create more
flashcards in future lessons.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will complete a
webercise using specific
websites that are reliable
sources of information.
Students will also continue to
create more flashcards
regarding the main points of
this lesson.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students will complete
collaborative flow charts that
visually represent the actual
steps of the legislative
process in House and Senate
using online research.
Students will also continue to
create more flashcards
regarding the main points of
this lesson.
Lesson Activities:
Students will listen to a teacher lecture that is accompanied by visual and musical aids. Students will participate
by asking and answering questions while completing the guided notes on the lecture material. The guided note
begins by asking the students to share their ideas for laws in America. The students should have already
completed an online survey regarding this topic prior to the lecture. Then the students will be presented with the
number of members in Congress who are there to represent them and also have the power to introduce bills. The
lecture covers the specific steps that are involved in the legislative process. There is a video presentation of
House voting to pass a Senate bill. Then the lecture covers the current Senate and House membership along with
the current partisan split of each. Students are asked to ponder the question of “What is the point of all the
debating, amending and voting in order to agree on the same bill?” Then they are presented with the four
possibilities that can happen to a bill once it reaches the president. The lecture ends with a table that breaks
down the bills and resolutions introduced in each two-year Congress by their final status. After the lecture, the
students will answer the question of “How can we create the best laws for America?” on their guided notes.
Lesson Activities:
Students will use their laptops to conduct internet research as directed in the webercise. Students will visit an
interactive website to learn about the Constitution. Then students will learn about the names of the members of
Congress who are there to represent them. Students will also learn about their congressional districts and the
contact information of their senators and representatives. Then students will conduct research on the bills being
considered in Congress by using the Congress website. Students will research the following: which committee or
subcommittee is scheduled for the next hearing in House/Senate, what is the bill number of one of the bills being
debated on the floor of House/Senate, bill number of one of the bills that became a law etc. Students will be
asked to find one bill that they support and provide reasons for their support. Students will also engage in
interactive games on the legislative process and be asked to reflect upon important questions. Students will
answer the question of “How can we create the best laws for America?” again after having completed the
webercise.
Lesson Activities:
Students will go to the Congress website to see bills that have already become laws. Students will get into pairs:
one student will choose a law from a House bill that begins with H.R. and the other student will choose a law from
a Senate bill that begins with S. They will complete collaborative flow charts using a template and fill in all the
fields that are relevant to the laws that they have selected. As an example, for the step of introduction, students
will complete the following fields: bill number, sponsor, introduction date. For the step of passed in House,
students will fill in the passing date along with the name(s) of the committee(s) that this bill was assigned to. (if
any) Students will continue to cover all the relevant steps until the final step of when this bill became a law. This
flow chart is designed to show the exact steps that an actual bill took to become an actual law. The diverse routes
that a bill can take to become a law will be conveyed visually when you put all the flow charts together to form a
collaborative document. Students will discuss their findings with their study partners. If desired, the teacher
may select some interesting flow charts for class discussion. Students will review their flashcards for the exam
on the big ideas of this unit. Then students will be asked to write an essay which is meant to help them organize
and summarize the unit material and process it using their own words through critical thinking.
Digital Unit Plan Site: https://lessononlaws.weebly.com

Entry Level Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KDYF3F5

Teacher Lecture:
 Lecture: https://prezi.com/view/mRuZ4h9ONX2FyfUfubN3
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFroMQlKiag
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8qz5VdQV4
 https://goo.gl/Hzg97D
 https://goo.gl/QFTBMP
 Guided Note: https://www.scribd.com/document/368799885/guided-notes

Webercise:
 Worksheet: https://www.scribd.com/document/368817294/webercise
 https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution
 https://house.gov/representatives
 https://senate.gov
 https://congress.gov
 https://icivics.org/games/lawcraft
 https://icivics.org/games/represent-me

Flow Chart:
 Resource: https://congress.gov
 Sample: https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view/dd094220-1432-4bce-a9f5-8e8d4b8dddcc
 Rubric: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2731930&

Summative Essay Rubric: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&module=Rubistar&rubric_id=2731956&

Useful Websites:
 https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/interactives/constitution
 https://constitutioncenter.org/billofrightsgame
 https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process
 https://www.senate.gov/legislative/process.htm
 https://www.usa.gov/how-laws-are-made
 https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
 https://www.congress.gov/members
 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/home.xhtml
 https://www.congress.gov/legislative-process