Alabama Social Studies SS24.CWI.4a
The Standard
- SS24.CWI.4
- Compare and contrast the functions and powers of United States government entities which shape official responses to international issues and events.
Explain how foreign policy is created, how it can be influenced, and how it can be limited.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · International Relations
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students trace how a foreign policy plan moves from the president and advisers to action. They explain how voters, groups, and events abroad can shape the plan, and how funding, laws, and other countries can limit it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a proposal to send aid overseas, a student can identify who advises the president and what Congress controls. They can name a source of pressure and explain one reason the plan might change or fail.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the president can spend any amount on foreign aid without Congress. They may think the Senate votes on every agreement with another country, or mistake public pressure for a legal limit.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: The president proposes $500 million in aid after an earthquake abroad, but Congress has not funded it. Name one influence on the decision, explain Congress's role, and give one other limit on the plan.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Sort role cards for the president, State Department, Congress, and an aid group around an aid proposal; give Congress the funding tokens.
Write three sentences: Should Congress fund $50 million in overseas disaster aid when voters object? Give one reason and one limit.
Play four rounds: draw a crisis card, choose a U.S. response, then draw a funding, law, or foreign-government constraint card and revise.
Compare a White House statement about Ukraine aid with a Congress.gov aid bill to identify each branch's role.
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