Back to School Week: Middle School Lesson Plans--Introduction

Trust for Representative Democracy

America's Legislators Back to School Week

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Sample Lesson Plans: Middle School Students

Introduction

Although many teachers understand the importance of teaching about state and local government-- the levels of government that most impacts the lives of our students-- few teaching resources are available. Government classes at the middle school level tend to emphasize the importance of students acquiring a depth of knowledge about our founding documents and the workings of our national government. Little attention has been given to state and local government-- the very levels at which citizens' voices are probably most effective and the levels of government that affect our lives the most.

The National Standards for Civics and Government address the need for students to study the importance of state governments. "Few Americans can identify most of the key people elected to serve them. It is important not only to know who these people are, but what their responsibilities are, and how they can be contacted on matters of interest. Such knowledge is an essential first step in providing Americans with the capacity to take part in their own governance. "*

The National Conference of State Legislatures has designated the third week of September as "Back to School Week" During this week, state legislators from throughout the country are encouraged by NCSL to contact principals and teachers in their respective districts and arrange for classroom visits to help students understand the pressures, conflicts, and difficulties that legislators deal with in trying to solve public problems.

The following includes suggested lesson plans for teachers and state legislators to use during America's Legislators Back to School Week. Making use of outside resource persons to co-teach lessons with classroom teachers in an interactive format has been recognized by many in the field of civic and law-related education as "best practice." Many of these lessons can be completed in one class period. The lessons are divided into three sections: activities to be completed before the legislator visit; lessons to be used collaboratively between the teacher and guest legislator on the day of the classroom visit; and a debriefing lesson and an assessment in which students reflect upon new insights they have gained by interacting with a guest legislator in their classroom.

* National Standards for Civics and Government, Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education, 1994, p. 65.

Lessons to Precede Legislator Visit:

1. Getting to Know You: Student/Legislator Inventory

2. Do You Trust Our Government?

3. The Mindwalk

4. What Is Public Policy?

5. A Day in the Life

During Legislator Visit Lessons:

6. (in class debriefing) A Day in the Life

7. Public Hearing Simulation: How Should Our Guest Legislator Decide?

8. The Legislative In-Basket

Post Legislator Visit Lessons:

9. Debriefing the Visit: A Legislator Resume

Teachers are also encouraged to adapt these lessons and to access the web site of their state legislature. Information about specific legislators and profiles of the districts that they represent can be found at http://www. ncsl.org/public/sitesleg.htm

Lessons were developed by:

Chris Elnicki, Social Studies Specialist, Cherry Creek (CO) Schools

Jackie Johnson, Staff Associate, Social Science Education Consortium, Boulder, CO

Lori Mable, Social Studies Teacher, Thunder Ridge Middle School, Cherry Creek (CO) Schools

Colleen O'Brien, Social Studies Teacher, West Middle School, Cherry Creek (CO) Schools

This project is supported by a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL.

Posted 9/12/01

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