Lesson Plan:

Three Branches of U.S. Government & How a Bill Becomes Law

Lesson Objectives
Through an interactive activity, give students a deeper understanding of 1) the
responsibilities of the 3 branches of government and 2) how a law is made in the USA.

Lesson Outline
- Introduction: Tell the students that today, we are going to use our imagination and
pretend that we are the United States government—we will discuss and “make”
laws. This is to better understand how the U.S. government works and what role
each branch of the government plays.
- Maybe we can call ourselves the “United States of Lipót” (let me know if you have
a better idea for a name! Or maybe we can elicit ideas from students…) and we can
have, for example, “Congresswoman Molnár representing the state of Darnózseli”
and so on.
- Our school “Házi Rend” = the constitution.
- Before starting with the activity, here are some words they should know (write on
board  students copy):

 bill = a proposed law that is still under consideration.

 to propose = to suggest, bring up for discussion.
 unconstitutional = not in accordance with the constitution.
Any more words we can add to this list?
I would also appreciate it if you could find good Hungarian translations of the above
words!

(Optional) If we have the smart board, we can show students this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFroMQlKiag
Let me know what you think – is this necessary? It’s just a funny/catchy song, but it
does explain all the important steps quite well.
- Each student will receive a random card that has one of five shapes (circles, squares,
hearts, stars, triangles) on it. This is to assign students to one of five roles:
 Circle = House of Representatives
 Square = Senate
 Heart = Vice President
 Star = President
 Triangle = Supreme Court
- There should be one Vice President and one President. The House of
Representatives and Supreme Court should each have an odd number of students
(minimum 3) and the Senate should have an even number (minimum 2) – the exact
number will depend on how many students are absent.
- Once students have received their assignments, we can start with the interactive
activity = a demonstration of how laws are made in the USA.
- I will be one of the congressmen in the House of Representatives for the first part of
the activity to make things simpler. I will propose the first bill:

“Students shall be allowed to bring their smart

phones to school and use them any time they want.”

- 1) Students assigned to the House of Representatives should come to the front of the
classroom and discuss the bill. Afterwards, they vote on it. If a majority of the
students say yes, the bill can advance to the Senate.
- 2) Repeat: The Senate students discuss the bill and vote on it. If a majority votes in
favor of it, the bill can go to the president. The Vice President’s job is to moderate
discussions in the Senate, and if the vote is split 50/50, the Vice President can cast a
“tie-breaker vote.” Maybe you can be the Vice President so you can moderate the
discussion at this stage in the activity.
- 3) The President can either sign the bill into law or veto it. If the President vetoes
the bill, it goes back to Step 1 and the House of Representatives / Senate can vote on
the bill for a second time. If both houses can get a 2/3 majority to vote in favor of
the bill in the second round, they override the president’s veto and the bill becomes
law.
- 4) If the bill is signed into law, the Supreme Court can convene to discuss whether
the new law is in accordance with the constitution (= school Házi Rend) or not. If
they decide that it is not, the law will be declared unconstitutional and will cease to
exist.
- After we finish discussing the first bill, we can ask the class to come up with more
ideas for legislation that we can discuss. We can collect the cards and redistribute
them so that students aren’t stuck with the same role. Afterwards, simply repeat
steps 1-4 above.

Some Points to Keep in Mind:

- This is a highly simplified version of how things are done; in reality, the process is
much more complicated.
- For example, rather than just agreeing or disagreeing to a bill, congress can modify
or add to a bill. In that case, both houses need to agree on the same version of the
bill before it can go to the president.
- There are also other smaller steps that our activity ignores: for example, when a
congressperson proposes a bill, it must first go through a committee (a specialized
group within the house) before the entire house can discuss / vote on it.
- A bill can originate in either of the two houses – the House of Representatives or the
Senate. After one house votes in favor of the bill, it simply moves to the other house.
- Also, anyone can write a bill! It doesn’t need to originate in one of the houses – but
only a congressperson can formally submit a bill for consideration.