Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
On October 1, the U.S. government shutdown as Democratic and Republican lawmakers remained deadlocked over stopgap legislation to fund government operations. At least 800,000 federal employees were sent home without pay as many government agencies closed their doors. More than 1 million other employees were asked to work without pay. The 533 current members of Congress will, nevertheless, receive their paychecks. The key point of contention in the political stalemate is the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama‘s landmark health care legislation. A number of Republicans in the House of Representatives–in particular the Tea Party caucus–demand that the law be repealed or stripped of funding as a condition for keeping the government running.
Objective:
The United States federal government consists of three separate branches of government–legislative, executive, and judicial–to share the work of creating, enforcing, and interpreting the laws of the nation. A system of checks and balances makes sure that each branch acts only within its constitutional limits. Each branch has some powers that curb, or check, those of the other two. This prevents any single government group or official from becoming too powerful. The legislative branch, represented by the U.S. Congress, creates, abolishes, and changes the federal laws that govern the nation. Congress consists of two chambers–the Senate and the House of Representatives. The executive branch, which is headed by the president, carries out federal laws. It also creates and enforces regulations based on the laws. The judicial branch interprets the nation’s laws. It is made up of a system of federal courts and judges. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the nation. The Behind the Headlines news stories and related World Book articles explore the United States government.
Words to know:
- Barack Obama
- Congress of the United States
- Democratic Party
- Government of the United States
- Harry Reid
- House of Representatives
- John Boehner
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- Republican Party
- Senate
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Tea Party movement
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students what they know about the U.S. Congress. (Students might say that it consists of two bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives; that the Senate and the House meet in separate chambers in the Capitol in Washington, D.C.; that each state has 2 senators and a number of representatives proportional to its population; that senators are elected to 6-year terms and representatives to 2-year terms.)
2. Ask your students to debate, “Because federal employees are not on strike, they should continue to be paid even though they are not reporting to work.”
3. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of the history of the U.S. Congress. (Students may wish to use the “History of Congress” section of World Book’s Congress of the United States article for help.)