Our Federal System of Government
Sessions 13 and 14: Build Your Own Bill

Materials

• Computer with Internet access
• Student-generated bills

Instructional Activities

1. Remind students that simulated bills must be based on an expressed or implied power of Congress.
   
   
2. Log onto "Build a Bill" at <http://clerkkids.house.gov/games/bill/index_bill.html>. Write a bill to model the technique for students. (One possible bill would stop the coinage of pennies on January 1, 2009. Include how citizens would exchange pennies for other money and what happens if citizens still have pennies after that date, among other provisions.) Print your bill to show students what theirs will look like when they are finished.
   
   
3. Ask students to fill in the fields for the title, class, sponsors, text of the bill, and the house in which it will begin. (Remind students that money bills must begin in the House of Representatives.)
   
   
4. Explain that some bills are private bills; give one or two examples. However, all of the students’ bills will be public.
   
   
5. When students have completed filling in each field, have them click the "Build Bill" button. This will open a new window with a simulated bill. Print copies of each bill and create a bulletin board.
   
   
6. Ask students to identify the expressed or implied power applicable to each of their bills, and group bills according to powers.