1. You will be assigned a role. You will need: a. Senators b. Representatives c. The President
2. As a member of Congress, brainstorm a law that will benefit the people. That idea is then shared with the Members of the House of Representatives.
3. The Members of the U.S. House of Representatives debate and discuss why or why not the bill should be a law. After they have discussed for a few minutes, hold a vote on whether the bill should become a law. The vote can be held verbally or on paper. If the bill passes it is then sent to the U.S. Senate.
4. The Senators debate and discuss the bill in the same fashion as the Representatives. A vote is held and the U.S. Senate decides if the bill is ready to go to the President for consideration. If the bill passes, it is sent to the President where he/she can either sign it into law or veto it.
5. If the bill stalls at any point, the class will discuss why the bill failed. Some questions to pose: a. Why did this bill not become a law? b. Could there be changes made to the law that would make it better?
6. Remember making changes to bills happens often. The discussion the students have would have likely occurred while the bill was in committee.
7. If the class agree that changes could be made to make the law better, and time permits, start again by having the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives discuss and vote, the U.S. Senate discuss and vote, and the President sign or veto it