Otto Von Bismark is widely attributed to have said the following, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.”  The idea is that lawmaking can be a messy (and sometimes disturbing) process.

In this lesson, students will first learn about the general lawmaking process in the US Congress.  

Before class, I will send students a role sheet, which will give details about a hypothetical member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Students should review this role sheet before the game to understand their member's goals and positions, which will help them play the game more strategically.  I will provide some in-class time for students to familiarize themselves with their characters, but we will be able to devote more time to the game if everyone does this in advance of class.

During the game, students will play their characters before and during key votes on bills I've created for the class.  Each character has a list of "must pass" and "must defeat" bills, which will improve or harm their reelection chances.  Everyone also has a special project for their district.  If this doesn't pass, the voters at home will be pretty angry!  Students will learn different ways that real life members of Congress use to get the legislation they want: backroom logrolling (making deals), persuasive floor speeches, or amendments that make bills more/less likely to pass.

After the bills are passed or defeated, each student gets a score based on how much they were able to accomplish and whether or not they got reelected.  Just like in real life, success isn't equally likely for everyone in Congress - being a Democrat in a blue state or a Republican in a red state improves your chances immensely!  

At the end of the lesson, we'll reflect on what lessons we learned.

NOTE:  In order to make sure this class is fun, safe, and productive with everyone, parents and learners should familiarize themselves with the Outschool Community Standards before signing up for this class and follow them once class starts (https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/16039-community-standards).   I reserve the right to move students to the waiting room or remove them from class if they depart from the standards.