Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Start with a process students know from school life.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Your student council wants the school to put a water-bottle filling station in the gym. Write the steps it would take, from the idea to the day the station is installed. Which steps must happen in a set order? Is there a point where the idea could be stopped?"

   Collect three or four lists and compare them. Then name the terms for the lesson. A process is a series of actions that leads to a result. A step is one action in that series. A key step is one the process cannot go on without, such as the principal saying yes. A detail gives information about a step (the price, the color of the station) but is not an action in the series. Many processes also branch: at some steps the path splits, and the idea can move forward or be stopped. Today students find the key steps in texts about how the national government makes laws and how interest rates change.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: The source. Social Civics was a civics textbook for high school students, published in 1922 by William Bennett Munro, a professor of government at Harvard University, and Charles Eugene Ozanne. Sources 1 and 2 are the book's explanation of how a bill became a law in 1922. Many steps are still the same today; the Closure note lists what has changed. Gloss before reading: a bill is a draft of a proposed law (the book defines it too); a committee is a small group of members who study bills on one subject; a measure is another word for a bill; a tariff is a tax on goods brought in from other countries.

   1The work of the committees may best be explained by describing the various stages through which a bill passes before it becomes a law. In the first place, any member of the House may introduce a bill (which is a draft of a proposed law) either for himself or for someone else. He does this by writing his name on the back of the bill and dropping it into a large basket at the Speaker’s table. During the course of each session many thousand bills are placed in this “hopper” as it is called. One of the Speaker’s assistants takes each bill from the basket and refers it to the proper committee. If the bill relates to taxation it goes to the Ways and Means Committee; if it relates to railroads it goes to the Committee on Foreign and Interstate Commerce. Every bill goes to some committee before the House looks at it.

   2When the various committees receive their bills they place them on a list for consideration and each is taken up in order unless the committee decides to give some bills the right of way. Hearings on the important measures are then held. The members of the committee meet in their committee room and listen to the arguments of those who desire to support or oppose the bill. Any citizen has the right to appear and be heard. Sometimes, in the case of some important bills, such as a tariff measure, the hearings may continue for several days or even for weeks. The committee hearings, however, are usually held in the mornings only, for the House is in session during the afternoons. When the hearings are concluded the committee decides what action it will take. It may recommend to the House that the bill ought to be passed, either with or without changes. Sometimes a committee completely redrafts a bill and reports it to the House in the entirely new form. But in the great majority of cases the committees feel unfavorably towards the bills and make no report or recommendation on these bills at all. Such measures are merely “killed in committee” and never get before the House. The House can, of course, require any committee to send up a bill; but this it hardly ever does. Most of the bills introduced by congressmen are put to death in this way; in fact more than eighty per cent of them never survive the committee stage. One committee acquired such a reputation for slaughtering bills that its committee room was nicknamed the “legislative morgue”.

   Part 2: Four questions for finding steps. Put these on the board and keep them up all period.

   Four questions for finding the key steps of a process

   Question	What to look for	Example from Source 1
   Where does the process start?	A sentence that names the process, then the first action	"the various stages through which a bill passes" (paragraph 1)
   What happens next?	Order and time words: first, then, when, after, having	"When the hearings are concluded" (paragraph 2)
   Is it a step or a detail?	A step is an action that moves the process forward; a detail only tells more about it	"many thousand bills" is a detail (paragraph 1)
   Where does the path split?	Condition words: if, unless, may, sometimes, but	"unless the committee decides" (paragraph 2)

   • Finding the first step (Source 1, paragraph 1)

     Question: Where does the process in Source 1 begin, and what is its first step?

     Result: The authors name the process first: they will describe "the various stages through which a bill passes before it becomes a law." The clue words "In the first place" then mark step 1: "any member of the House may introduce a bill." In our own words: a member of the House introduces a bill by writing his name on the back and dropping it into the hopper, a basket at the Speaker's table. This is the official example of the standard, how a bill becomes law.

   • A step or a detail? (Source 1, paragraph 1)

     Which sentence is a step: "During the course of each session many thousand bills are placed in this 'hopper'" or "One of the Speaker's assistants takes each bill from the basket and refers it to the proper committee"?

     Result: The second is a step: it tells what happens to the bill next. The first is a detail: it tells how many bills there are, but the bill does not move because of it. A quick test: take the sentence out. If the process is now missing an action, the sentence was a step; if not, it was a detail.

   • An example inside a step (Source 1, paragraph 1)

     Is "If the bill relates to taxation it goes to the Ways and Means Committee" a separate step that comes after the bill is sent to a committee?

     Result: No. It is an example that explains the step before it, "refers it to the proper committee." The bill goes to one committee, and the examples show how the right one is chosen. Examples explain how a step works; they do not add a new step to the list.

   • A step that branches (Source 1, paragraph 2)

     When the hearings are over, what can happen to a bill?

     Result: The time words "When the hearings are concluded" start the step, and the words "may," "Sometimes" and "But" show three paths. The committee may report the bill, "either with or without changes"; it may redraft the bill and report it "in the entirely new form"; or it may "make no report," and the bill is "killed in committee." A good list of steps shows where the path splits.

   • Writing the key steps as a numbered list (Source 1)

     Task: list the key steps of Source 1 in order, in your own words, in five steps or fewer.

     Result: 1. A House member introduces a bill by dropping it into the hopper. 2. The bill is sent to the proper committee. 3. The committee puts the bill on its list and takes it up in turn. 4. The committee holds hearings for people who support or oppose the bill. 5. The committee decides: it reports the bill (as it is, changed or rewritten), or it makes no report and the bill dies. Left out as details: the number of bills in the hopper, the names of the committees, morning hearings and the "legislative morgue."

   Show Diagram 2 now: it collects the order, time and condition words from Sources 1 and 2. Keep Diagram 1, the whole path, for the end of Guided Practice, so that pairs build their own list first.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read Source 2 together; it picks up where Source 1 stops. Gloss "calendar" (a list of bills waiting for the House to take them up), "amendment" (a change to a bill), "engrossed" (copied out in its final form), "quorum" (the number of members who must be present to do business) and "conferees" (the members of a conference committee). Pairs continue the numbered list from Source 1 and mark any branch.

   1But let us suppose that a bill is favorably regarded by a committee and duly reported to the House. What happens next? It is placed on one of the calendars or lists; printed copies are made; and when its turn comes, it is laid before the House. A debate on the bill may take place, amendments may be proposed, and votes taken.

   2In considering measures, the House often sits as a Committee of the Whole. This merely means that the entire membership forms a great committee, but there are some important differences between the House in Committee of the Whole and the regular session. In Committee of the Whole the Speaker does not preside (but calls some member to the chair); the strict rules of procedure do not apply; one hundred members form a quorum (in regular session a majority of the members are needed to furnish a quorum) and there are no roll calls. In a word, the system enables the House to do business with less formality. At any rate if the measure safely passes the House, it is engrossed on parchment, signed by the speaker, and sent up to the Senate where it goes through the whole procedure of committee hearings and discussion on the floor.

   3Having passed the Senate it is signed by the presiding officer of that body and is then sent to the President for his signature. The President, as will be shown a little later, may sign it, veto it, or allow it to become a law without his signature.

   4If one chamber amends a measure, and the other chamber agrees to the amendment, the bill also goes directly to the President. But what happens in case either the Senate or the House make amendments to which the other chamber does not agree? That is just what very frequently occurs. In such cases a conference committee is appointed, made up as a rule of three members from each chamber. These conferees meet and try to reach a common ground by compromise. Then, when they have agreed, they report to their respective chambers and the latter must accept or reject the conference report without further amendment.

   Teacher model for the pair work: The committee reports the bill, and it is put on a calendar, printed, and "laid before the House" when its turn comes (paragraph 1). The House debates it, may amend it, and votes (paragraphs 1-2). If it passes, it is "engrossed on parchment, signed by the speaker, and sent up to the Senate," which holds its own hearings and floor discussion (paragraph 2). After the Senate passes it, the Senate's presiding officer signs it and sends it to the President, who "may sign it, veto it, or allow it to become a law without his signature" (paragraph 3). Branch: if one chamber changes the bill and the other does not agree, a conference committee works out a compromise, and each chamber must "accept or reject the conference report without further amendment" (paragraph 4). The sentences about the Committee of the Whole (who presides, the quorum, no roll calls) are details: they explain how the House works, but the bill does not move because of them. Show Diagram 1 to check the lists.

   Source 3 for Activity 3. This short account of the process today was written for this page. Groups compare it with Sources 1 and 2.

   1Today, just as in 1922, only a member of Congress can introduce a bill. In the House, the member drops it into the hopper, a wooden box at the front of the House chamber. In the Senate, a senator hands the bill to a clerk or presents it on the floor.

   2Next, the bill is sent to a committee, which often passes it to a smaller group called a subcommittee. The committee may hold a hearing, where invited witnesses answer the members' questions. If the committee wants the bill to move forward, it holds a markup, a meeting where members change the bill's wording and then vote on whether to report it to the full chamber. Most bills never get this far.

   3In the House, most major bills then go to the Rules Committee, which sets how long the debate will last and which amendments may be offered. After the debate, the full House votes. The bill passes if a majority of the members voting say yes.

   4The bill then moves to the other chamber, which can pass it as it is, change it, or never take it up. If the House and the Senate pass different versions, they must agree on the same wording, either by sending changes back and forth or by meeting in a conference committee.

   5Finally, the bill goes to the President, who can sign it into law or veto it.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read two more sources, then answer the quiz, which uses both. As they read, they number each step in the margin and circle the words where the path splits. Source 4 comes from the same 1922 textbook, from its chapter on the President; gloss "veto" (the President's refusal to approve a bill), "sustained" (kept in force), "overridden" (set aside), "null" (of no force) and "adjourns" (ends its meeting). Source 5, written for this page, explains the second official example of the standard, how interest rates are raised or lowered; gloss "central bank" (the bank that serves a country's government and its banks) and "economists" (experts who study how money, jobs and prices work).

   1In relation to Congress the President has the right to make recommendations and to veto any measure which he does not approve. These recommendations he may make either by written message or by appearing before Congress in person. The veto power places a powerful weapon in the President’s hands. Every bill or resolution which passes both Houses of Congress must be laid before the President. If he approves, he signs it. If not, he is entitled, at any time within ten days, to return the bill or resolution without his signature, giving his reasons for the refusal to sign. When the President vetoes a measure in this way Congress reconsiders it and a vote is then taken to determine whether the action of the President shall be sustained or overridden. If two-thirds of the members present in both the Senate and the House vote to override the veto, the measure becomes effective; if less than two-thirds so vote, the measure becomes null.

   2But suppose the President neither signs nor vetoes the measure within ten days after it is sent to him, what then? The constitution provides that in such case the measure shall become a law. If Congress adjourns before the ten-day period has expired, however, the bill does not become a law. It is not necessary for a President to veto any measure that may come to him during the ten days immediately preceding the adjournment of Congress. If he does not approve the measure, he merely withholds his signature and it dies on his table. This is known as the “pocket veto”.

   1Congress created the Federal Reserve, often called the Fed, in 1913. It is the central bank of the United States. One of its jobs is to raise or lower interest rates, the price that people and businesses pay to borrow money. The decision is made by the Federal Open Market Committee. It has twelve voting members: the seven members of the Fed's Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four of the other eleven Reserve Bank presidents, who take turns.

   2Before each meeting, the Fed's economists gather information about the economy: how fast prices are rising, how many people have jobs, and how much families and businesses are spending and borrowing. The committee holds eight scheduled meetings a year in Washington, D.C.

   3At the meeting, the members discuss what the information shows. If prices are rising too fast, the committee may raise rates to slow down borrowing and spending. If the economy is weak and people are losing jobs, it may lower rates to make borrowing cheaper. Then the members vote on a target range for the federal funds rate, the interest rate that banks charge one another for overnight loans.

   4When the meeting ends, the committee releases a statement announcing its decision, and the Chair of the Fed answers reporters' questions at a press conference.

   5Next, the Fed changes the rates it controls directly, such as the interest it pays banks on money they keep at the Fed and the discount rate it charges banks that borrow from it, so that the federal funds rate moves into the new range. Finally, banks change the rates they charge their customers. Many banks set their prime rate, a rate used for many business loans and credit cards, three percentage points above the top of the target range. Rates on those loans then go up or down too.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: On an index card, write the three steps from Sources 1 and 2 that you think a bill could least do without, in order. Then copy one sentence from Source 1 or 2 that is a detail, not a step, and explain why.

   Teacher note on the 1922 textbook and what has changed: Sources 1, 2, 4 and 6 are quoted exactly from the 1922 book, which printed short margin notes beside them ("1. Introduction of bill," "2. Consideration by a committee" and so on; Activity 2 uses them). The book calls every member of Congress and every President "he," as books of its time did; Jeannette Rankin of Montana had taken her seat as the first woman in Congress in 1917. The committee the book calls "Foreign and Interstate Commerce" was officially the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (today Energy and Commerce). Some rules have changed: committees now choose and invite the witnesses at a hearing rather than hearing any citizen who asks; the House can force a bill out of committee with a discharge petition signed by a majority of its members; major bills now go through a subcommittee, a markup and, in the House, the Rules Committee; the final copy printed on parchment is the enrolled bill passed by both chambers; and conference committees are less common, because the chambers often send changes back and forth instead. On the veto, the Constitution does not count Sundays in the President's time limit, a detail Source 4 leaves out. The book's figure of "more than eighty per cent" describes its own time. None of the passages contains a slur.

   Homework passage. Source 6 comes from the 1922 book's chapter on banking. It describes how a bank loan worked, what "discounting" a note meant, and how the federal reserve banks "rediscounted" notes for other banks.

   1When any person desires to borrow money from a bank he gives his note, which is a promise to repay the bank at a designated time. The bank may ask the borrower to obtain an endorsement upon his note, that is, to have some responsible person put his name on the back of it, which means that the endorser assumes liability for the amount of the note if it is not paid by the maker on time. Or the bank may ask the borrower to deposit “collateral” as security for the payment of the note. This collateral may be in the form of bonds, stocks, mortgages, or any other intangible property that has sufficient value. The bank holds this collateral until the loan is repaid.

   2When a bank lends money and takes a man’s note, with or without collateral, it is said to discount the note. It gives the borrower the face value of his note less the interest, whatever it is, calculated at the current rate. Thus if the rate is six per cent and the person gives his note for one thousand dollars payable in six months, the bank would hand him $970 in money. Business men obtain large sums of money from the banks by getting their notes discounted; they borrow money in this way to buy goods and then pay off their notes when the goods are sold. Such notes are called “commercial paper”.

   3Now the federal reserve banks help the member banks by “rediscounting” this commercial paper for them. Suppose a small bank has loaned on notes all the money it has to spare. Then it receives applications from its customers for more loans. What does it do? It takes a bundle of business men’s notes, or commercial paper, from its vaults and sends this to the nearest federal reserve bank. The latter does just what the member bank did in the first instance; it deducts the discount at current rates and gives the balance to the member bank in money, that is, in federal reserve notes. The member banks are enabled, in this way, to loan a great deal more money than would be the case if there were no way of getting their commercial paper “rediscounted”.

   [...]

   4Since 1920 the process of “deflating” credit has been going on. This process of deflation is guided by the federal reserve banks, which are able to contract the volume of credit by charging higher rates for rediscount.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence from Source 4 describes the first step of the process that paragraph 1 explains?

   A"The veto power places a powerful weapon in the President's hands" B"These recommendations he may make either by written message or by appearing before Congress in person" C"Every bill or resolution which passes both Houses of Congress must be laid before the President" D"This is known as the 'pocket veto'"

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Source 4, paragraph 1, what does the President do if he does not approve a bill?

   AHe returns it within ten days, with his reasons for not signing it BHe sends it to a conference committee of three members from each chamber CHe keeps it until Congress adjourns, so that it dies on his table DHe gives it back to the committee that first reported it to the House

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source 4, which step comes right after the President returns a vetoed bill?

   AThe President signs the bill once the ten days have passed BCongress reconsiders the bill and votes on overriding the veto CThe bill is engrossed on parchment and sent to the Senate DThe bill dies on the President's table as a pocket veto

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Suppose that after a veto, 290 of the 432 members present in the House and 64 of the 99 senators present vote to override. Using the rule in Source 4, paragraph 1, what happens?

   AThe bill becomes law, because the House vote is more than two-thirds BThe bill becomes law, because a majority in each chamber voted to override CThe bill goes to a conference committee, because the chambers disagree DThe veto stands and the bill becomes null, because the Senate vote is short

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why is the sentence "These recommendations he may make either by written message or by appearing before Congress in person" not a step in the process described in Source 4?

   AIt describes a different power of the President, not something that happens to a bill BIt describes something that happens after the pocket veto, at the end of the process CIt gives the authors' opinion about how strong the President's veto power is DIt is an example that explains how the ten-day limit for returning a bill works

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What is the job of the question "what then?" in the first sentence of Source 4, paragraph 2?

   AIt shows that the authors are unsure what the Constitution says BIt opens a new path: what happens if the President neither signs nor vetoes CIt asks the reader to predict how Congress will vote on overriding the veto DIt repeats the first step of the process that paragraph 1 describes

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Congress sends a bill to the President and adjourns four days later. The President does not approve of the bill and never signs it. According to Source 4, paragraph 2, what happens?

   AThe bill becomes a law once ten days have passed BCongress must vote on the bill again when it returns CThe bill dies without a signature: a pocket veto DThe bill goes back to the committee that reported it

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which order matches the steps in Source 4, paragraph 1? (1) Congress votes on overriding the veto. (2) The bill passes both Houses of Congress. (3) The President returns the bill with his reasons. (4) The bill is laid before the President.

   A4, 2, 3, 1 B2, 3, 4, 1 C2, 4, 1, 3 D2, 4, 3, 1

9. Question 9 of 20 · Short Answer

   Source 4, paragraph 2 describes what happens when the President neither signs nor vetoes a bill within ten days. Explain the two possible results and what decides between them. Quote the source.

   Show model answer

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Source 5, who makes the decision to raise or lower interest rates?

    AThe President, after the Chair of the Fed holds a press conference BCongress, by a vote of both the House and the Senate CThe banks, each time they set a new prime rate DThe Federal Open Market Committee, with twelve voting members

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What is the first step in Source 5's description of the process?

    AThe Chair of the Fed answers reporters' questions BThe members vote on a target range for the federal funds rate CThe Fed's economists gather information about the economy DBanks change the rates they charge their customers

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Source 5, paragraph 3, what may the committee do if the economy is weak and people are losing jobs?

    ARaise rates to slow down borrowing and spending BLower rates to make borrowing cheaper CStop meeting until prices stop rising DAsk Congress to change the members

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Source 5, what do the committee members vote on?

    AA target range for the rate banks charge one another overnight BThe prime rate that each bank charges on business loans and credit cards CThe number of Reserve Bank presidents who may vote DThe interest that families earn on savings accounts

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which step comes right after the meeting ends in Source 5?

    AThe Fed's economists begin to gather information BThe members discuss whether prices are rising too fast CThe committee announces its decision in a statement DCongress votes on whether to approve the committee's decision

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence from Source 5 is background information rather than a step in the process?

    A"Then the members vote on a target range for the federal funds rate" B"Congress created the Federal Reserve, often called the Fed, in 1913" C"Finally, banks change the rates they charge their customers" D"When the meeting ends, the committee releases a statement"

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Suppose the committee votes for a target range of 4.25 to 4.50 percent. Using the rule in Source 5, paragraph 5, what prime rate would many banks set?

    A7.50 percent B7.25 percent C4.50 percent D1.50 percent

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    List the key steps of Source 5 in order, as a numbered list of five or six steps in your own words. Leave out background information, and give the paragraph for each step.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Which step in Source 5 is carried out by someone outside the Fed? Why is that step needed for a rate decision to reach families and businesses?

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Make a flowchart of Source 4 with at least five boxes. Show every place where the path splits, and label each branch with the condition that decides it.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 4 and Source 5 each include a vote as a key step. Compare the two votes: who votes, what the vote decides, and what step comes next in each process.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RH.6-8.3: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.