Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I. Standards
of Citizenship
PO 4: Demonstrate the skills and knowledge (e.g., group problem solving, public
II. Objective
1. Students will use the essay writing process to respond to their choice of three different
prompts that require them to develop and articulate solutions to plausible and politically
difficult situations that force federal lawmakers to navigate opposing home-style and Hill
style duties in order to gain a federal lawmaker’s perspective, analyze the benefits and
downfalls of Federalism and examine the differences between the theoretical and actual
independent conclusion about the role of a legislator in reality and in theory, how the role
• Identifying differing home and Hill styles is useful for students who will soon be of legal
age to vote, because they will be able to determine how well their interests would be met
1. Personal notebooks/journals
3. Writing utensils
4. Personal computers
V. Warm Up
• Upon entering the classroom, students will take their seats and respond to the following
prompt in their journals: Journal about how a legislator might act or be influenced
differently depending on whether he or she is in D.C. or in his or her home district. This
• The instructor will verbally state the daily objective, in addition to it being written on the
board.
The instructor will then play a video of a heated town hall that portrays Senator John McCain
needing to justify his Hill style actions and decisions to his constituents. Once the video is over,
the instructor will ask for the students’ thoughts on it and any applicable follow-up questions.
VII. Instruction
• The instructor will then begin a short interactive Peardeck presentation that covers the
basics of different home style/Hill style legislative approaches. Once the basics are
covered, the instructor will ask students to discuss what the role of a legislator really is.
• Groups of no more than four will form to discuss the question, their opinions and any
opposing views.
• The instructor will ask the groups to share their conclusions and will record them on the
board
• Students will be redirected to the Peardeck presentation where each group will be
assigned a link to a resource that provides a unique point of view on the matter. They will
be asked to click on the link, explore the resource and talk about what new perspective
this resource provided and if it was enough to impact their original answers in their same
small groups.
• After adequate discussion time has been provided, the class will reconvene for a full class
summary and discussion about the topic, what ideas changed and why as a debriefing
exercise.
VIII. Assessment
Comprehension checks this lesson will come in the form of analyzing the students’: insightful
contributions made during the in-class deliberative discussion and the quality of their essays
IX. Closure
Exit Ticket: After our deliberative discussion in class today, what is the role of a member of
Congress? What should a MoCs primary objective be? Is it hypocritical to act and speak one way
X. Independent Practice/Homework
Essay Prompt: Write an essay that comes up with potential solutions to your choice from a
provided list of a politically challenging situation for legislators that cause them to navigate
opposing home style and Hill style duties (2-3 pages, due Monday).
XI. Reflection
The effectiveness will consistently be assessed by the instructor by closely monitoring student
research and discussions. While ideally the instructor will not intervene too much in a
deliberative discussion, guiding questions will be used to get students back on track if needed.
Additionally, the quality and content of the students’ essays will be another indicator of how well