Lesson
Who is My Representative in the Legislative Branch?
Guiding question
How can the people ensure their local interests are represented at the national level?
Founding Principles
Objectives
- Students will research and identify their representative in the U.S. House of Representatives and/or one of their senators and describe their roles and job duties.
- Students will explain how their Congress member’s decisions affect their daily lives.
Materials
Lesson Components
ActivityThe Legislative Branch Resume Example
A fictitous resume of James Madison that illustrates how Congressional resumes work today.
ActivityThe Legislative Branch Resume Template
A sample resume students can use to create a Congressional-ready resume.
ActivityThe Legislative Branch My Issue Handout
An activity to help students select a current issue that is important to them and consider how representation works and how elected officials are supposed to advocate on behalf of their constituents.
Lesson plan
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More Information
Facilitation Notes
- In this lesson, you and your students will discuss the elected officials who represent them in the House of Representatives and/or the Senate. Students will research and create a résumé for their representative to understand who the official is and how they perform the job. The lesson includes reflection and extension activities.
- Both houses of Congress are included in this lesson. Students may work to research both their representative and one of their two senators, depending on the teacher’s instruction. If students study two members of Congress, no more than one should be a senator.