Alabama Social Studies SS24.USG.4a
The Standard
- SS24.USG.4
- Describe the role and responsibilities of the legislative branch, including the process of lawmaking, the power of the purse, and the system of checks and balances within Congress.
Compare and contrast the leadership roles within Congress, including the Speaker of the House, the Senate President Pro Tempore, majority and minority leaders, and party whips.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify which leaders work in the House and which work in the Senate. They compare who presides, who plans party strategy, and who checks votes before a bill comes to the floor.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how the Speaker's House role differs from the Senate president pro tempore's role. They can tell what majority and minority leaders do and why whips count votes before a vote.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the Senate president pro tempore controls the Senate agenda like the Speaker helps control the House agenda. They may also confuse whips with leaders who schedule votes, or assume minority leaders set the chamber's schedule.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Who leads the House, who can preside over the Senate when the vice president is absent, who plans party strategy, and who counts party votes? Name each role and its chamber.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs role cards for the Speaker, president pro tempore, floor leaders, and whips; have them sort the cards by chamber and job.
Ask students to write why the Senate majority leader has more control over floor plans than the president pro tempore.
Read job clues such as 'checks party support before a vote'; students hold up the matching role card and explain their choice.
Show a recent House roll-call tally; students mark each party's votes and identify which whips would track those numbers.
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