Life before Congress

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Overview

Students will learn about the interesting backgrounds of Members of Congress and research the background of their own representative or senator.

Grade Levels

5 - 8

Objectives

Students will:

• name some interesting backgrounds of Members of Congress;
• identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government; and
• describe the background of one local representative or senator.

Estimated Time

1 to 2 days

Materials Needed

• E-Learning Module: Notable Members of Congress
• Internet connection with Macromedia FLASH ® enabled
• Projection device

Procedure

1. Use a projection device to show your students the “Interesting Background” section of the Notable Members E-Learning Module. Complete the interactive quiz as a class.
2. Ask students to identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government. If students cannot identify them, you can visit the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Web sites and look up your congresspersons. Have each student choose one representative or senator and conduct research to learn more about his or her background.
3. Ask students to complete one of the activities below.
   1. Create a picture book that describes the background of your local representative or state legislator.
   2. Write a short biography that discusses the background of your local representative or state legislator.
4. If time permits, allow students to share their projects with the class.

Extension and Adaptation Activities

Extension Activities

Ask students to go back in time for 30 years and make a list of all the representatives who served their district or the senators who served their state. Have them make a poster of the names and former professions of the men and women local voters had selected. Students can find information about former Members at the following Web site: http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch1.asp Tell students to type the name of their state in the search box to get the list of Members of Congress.

 

Cross-curricular Connection

Tell students to conduct a survey of local voters to determine whether or not voters look at politicians’ backgrounds when deciding whom to vote for. Have students display the results of their survey in a graph.

 

Adapting the Activity for other Learners

You may want to have audio-visual learners produce a video interview with your local representatives or state senators and have them describe their life before he or she was elected to office. Or you may want students to make up a song about your representative or state legislator’s life before he or she was elected to office.

Assessment

Basic Concepts and Processes

Ask students to respond to the following requests for information and assess their knowledge of key concepts taught in this lesson.

1. Describe the background of at least two Members of Congress.
2. Name your current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government.
3. Describe the background of one local representative or senator.

Scoring Guide for A Closer Look at Voting Patterns

Elements	Possible Score	Assigned Score	Notes
Participates during the interactive quiz	15
Identifies his or her local representatives and senators	15
His or her project accurately describes the background of a local representative or senator	70

Lesson Plan Feedback

If you have suggestions for improving this lesson plan, or if you have ideas for others using the module, please let us know. We value your input. Thank you!

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