Engaging Scenario

Our class is transforming into one of the chambers of Congress. You and three other members of Congress have decided that in order to solve a problem (school, community, state, or nation) you are going to write up a bill and present it to Congress. Your bill must be persuasive since it must pass by a majority vote in our house of Congress. If all goes well and your bill passes and is signed by the president, your bill will become law.

Task 1 Student Directions:

  1. Cooperative groups will pick and develop a thinking map on chart paper to be displayed around the classroom for the legislative process. The students will pick from the different thinking map formats to explain their topic and argument. The groups will decide which thinking map best fits the legislative process, How a Bill Becomes a Law. The groups will concentrate on connecting the ideas in each part of the standard(SSCG8e). The students will review notes on the legislative process (How a Bill Becomes a Law)
  2. Create a diagram using cartoonlike illustrations to show How a Bill Becomes a Law
  3. Provide illustrations, and brief captions for all 10 steps
  4. Use art supplies to enhance the assignment

Task 1 Teacher Notes: The Unit 2 Performance task one rating will be based on the cartoonlike illustrations and captions. The entire assignment will be evaluated on the depth of the analysis in the sections of the Thinking Map (40 points), the illustrations (30 points), captions (10 points), and Creativity, Neatness, MLA heading, and Grammar (10 points). The total points equal 90 points.

Performance Task 1Illustration and Caption Scoring Guide

4 Advanced / 3 Proficient / 2 Basic / 1 Below Basic
Demonstrates advanced proficiency
All “3” Proficient criteria plus:
Provides 10 illustrations for the 10 steps of the legislative process
Provides 10 captions for the 10 steps of the legislative process
Follows appropriate order for steps
Use art supplies to enhance the assignment
Includes current events examples of any of the steps in the legislative process. / Demonstrates Proficiency
  • Provides 10 accurate illustrations and captions for the 10 steps of the legislative process
oProvides 10 captions for the 10 steps of the legislative process
The steps are in the correct Follows appropriate order for stepsorder. / Demonstrates partial proficiency
Graphic organizer responses reflect a limited understanding of selected legislation.
Student is able to summarize some of the legislation.
Student can consider pros and cons of some of the legislation. / Does not meet proficiency
Graphic organizer responses do not reflect an overall understanding of selected legislation.
Student is not able to summarize each piece of legislation.

Performance Task Synopses Unit 2

Task 1

Illustrate the steps of the legislative process.

Task 2

Research and analyze three current national/local bills.

Task 3

Brainstorm on problems in your school, community, state, or nation that you would like to see resolved. Create a bill that will solve the problem that your group has identified.

Task 4

Present bill to classmates. Hold mock elections in class.