Lesson plan
How Does A Bill Become A Law?
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to list and describe the steps it takes for a bill to become a law.
Introduction
(5 minutes)- Tell your students that they will be learning about how a bill becomes a law today.
- Ask your students how they think a law becomes a law.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(30 minutes)- Go over the How Does A Bill Become A Law slideshow.
- Explain each slide with examples.
Guided Practice
(60 minutes)- Ask your students to get into groups of four.
- Ask each group to write a bill that they want to change into a law.
- Divide the class into three groups. The three groups should be senators, representatives, and committee members.
- Assign a speaker of the house and play the role of president yourself.
- Go through the steps of how to change a bill into a law for one of the bills using the three groups.
- After all the steps have been completed, change the roles of your students and repeat the process for the second bill.
- Have your students repeat the activities and switch roles until all bills have been debated.
- After all bills have been debated, go over the ones that passed and the ones that did not.
Independent working time
(20 minutes)- Ask your students to answer the questions on the How Does a Bill Become a Law: Reflection worksheet.
Differentiation
- Enrichment: Ask advanced students to partner up. Have each student write a bill with at least three sections. Have the students switch bills with their partners. Ask them to rewrite their partners' bills, making changes to each section of the bill.
- Support: Ask struggling students to think of a bill that could turn into a law. Go over the steps with your students while they illustrate what is happening to their bill at each step.
Assessment
(20 minutes)- Ask your students to write and explain the steps that it takes for a bill to become a law.
Review and closing
(10 minutes)- Have your students to discuss some of their answers from the worksheet as a class.
Related learning resources
How Does A Bill Become A Law?
Lesson plan
How Does A Bill Become A Law?
How does a bill become a law? Help your students figure out the answer with this engaging, hands-on social studies lesson.
5th grade
Social studies
Lesson plan
Newton's Third Law
Worksheet
Newton's Third Law
If you push your little brother, does he push back? Well, according to Newton's third law of motion, he does!
5th grade
Science
Worksheet
Newton's First Law
Worksheet
Newton's First Law
Newton's first law of motion, or the law of inertia, explains that objects in motion stay in motion!
5th grade
Science
Worksheet
Law of Gravity
Worksheet
Law of Gravity
Discover some of the fascinating properties of gravity by studying one of Newton's famous laws, the Law of Gravitation.
5th grade
Science
Worksheet
