Lesson Title: Checks and Balances

By: Jessie Tensmeyer, Wasatch Range Writing Project Teacher Consultant

Burning Question:  Can the United States’’ system of checks and balances be used as a model for division of responsibilities in the classroom? Can students learn more about checks and balances from devising their own system based on the system in the United States?

Objectives:

• Students will become familiar with the system of check and balances as delineated in the Constitution.
• Students will create their own system of checks and balances using the Constitution as a model.
• Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the systems they created.

Context:

This lesson is designed to be used surrounding a group project. The study of the Constitution will be done before the project. Students will use the systems of governance they create during the project, and evaluate how their systems worked after the project is complete. As most classes do group projects, this lesson could be adapted for any class.

Materials:

• The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
• A document camera (if possible)
• Poster board
• markers

Time Span: 

Approximately one class period for the beginning of the lesson and one for the end of the lesson. As the group project comes between the two parts and is completely up to the teacher, the time span will vary.

Procedures: 

1. Begin by using The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation to explain the governing powers of the different branches of the U.S. government and the system of checks and balances to the students. Pages 27-73 cover the first three articles of the Constitution. If available, a document camera can be used to show students the graphics as you read. To read this entire section aloud would take approx. 1 hour, so you may want to only read some and explain the rest in your own words.
   • The American constitutional system includes a notion known as the Separation of Powers. In this system, several branches of government are created and power is shared between them. At the same time, the powers of one branch can be challenged by another branch. This is what the system of checks and balances is all about.
   • There are three branches in the United States government as established by the Constitution. First, the Legislative branch makes the law. Second, the Executive branch executes the law. Last, the Judicial branch interprets the law. Each branch has an effect on the other.
2. Assign students to groups. Have each group develop its own individual but equal responsibilities for each member and create its own system of checks and balances (as it pertains to an upcoming group project). Have the group create a chart that illustrates their system and how it will work.
3. As students complete a group project, they will each need to fulfill their responsibilities that they decided upon as a group.
4. After completing the group project, students will write an analysis of how their separate but equal responsibilities and their system of checks and balances worked while they were fulfilling their group project.

Extensions:  

• Have students create 2 charts- one illustrating the United States system and one illustrating the system the students created.
• Make the group project a more in-depth study of the Constitution.
• Have students read the first 3 articles of the Constitution before looking at them in the graphic novel.
• Have students consider other “systems” and discuss if there are checks and balances in those systems. (Examples: school systems, sports associations, etc.)

Rationale: 

Often, in group projects, the responsibility is not evenly distributed. This lesson allows students to ensure that the responsibility will be evenly distributed. It also allows the students to be the ones who decide how the responsibility will be divided in a separate but equal fashion. Furthermore, this lesson helps students become familiar with the importance of checks and balances in the government and with how the government in the US operates.

Resources: 

• Hennessey, Jonathan and Aaron McConnell. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation. New York: Hill and Wang, 2008.
• Rakove, Jack N., ed. Founding America: Documents from the Revolution to the Bill of Rights.  New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2006.
• From U.S. Constitution Online is a summary of Checks and Balances: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cnb.html
• It is in Federalist Paper #51that James Madison argues that the Constitution as created a system of checks and balances: http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm