Specializations of Members of Congress

Overview

This lesson examines how Members of Congress set their own priorities among the various possible roles they could take on. Students learn more about their own representatives and decide which role he or she decided to focus on and why.

Grade Levels

9 – 12

Objectives

Students will:

• identify their representatives; and
• define the following terms: Legislative Insider, Party Insider, Ombudsman, Statesman, and Outsider.

Estimated Time

2 days

Materials Needed

• E-Learning Module: The Many Roles of a Member of Congress
• Internet connection with Macromedia FLASH ® enabled
• Projection device
• Chalkboard and a piece of chalk or a whiteboard and marker

Procedure

Day 1

1. Explain to students that the Congressional Management Foundation encourages freshmen Members of Congress to choose one overarching role in their work in Congress.
2. Use a projection device to show students "Main Types of Members" from The Many Roles of a Member of Congress E-learning module. As you are viewing the E-learning module, write down the definitions of the following terms: Legislative Insider, Party Insider, Ombudsman, Statesman, and Outsider.
3. Ask students to name their representatives. If students are unable to do this, use a projection device to show students how to find this information on the Internet.
4. Divide the class into three groups. Assign each group a different representative.
5. Ask the groups to look at their assigned representative's Web site and read through the local newspaper to find articles about their assigned representative. Have students print out information from the representative's Web site and cut out the newspaper articles. Students should bring these items to class the next morning.

Day 2

1. Have students meet in their assigned groups and share the information they obtained from their representative's Web site and the newspaper articles they clipped.
2. Ask each group to consider the articles they read about their assigned representative and decide whether or not the representative is primarily a Legislative Insider, Party Insider, Ombudsman, Statesman, or an Outsider.
3. Allow each group to state its conclusion and explain why the group came up with that conclusion.

Extension Activities

Invite one of your representatives to visit the classroom. Ask the representative to explain which role he or she gave a particular focus to and why. If your representative is unable to visit the class, you may want to contact a former Member of Congress. To find contact information for a former Member of Congress, visit the United States Association of Former Members of Congress Web site at:http://www.usafmc.org/

Ask students to conduct research to learn more about Representative Bud Shuster, Representative John Dingell, and Senator John McCain. Have students decide which role these Members of Congress decided to focus on.

Assessment

Basic Concepts and Processes

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

1. Name your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators.
2. Define the term Legislative Insider.
3. Define the term Party Insider.
4. Define the term Ombudsman.
5. Define the term Statesman.
6. Define the term Outsider.

Lesson Plan Feedback

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