Fernando M. Reimers et a].

The executive branch (three to five students) includes the president
of the United States, the Vice president, and the major departments of
the government, such as the Labor Department, the Department of
Defense, the State Department, and the Department of the Treasury.
Each department has a leader appointed by the president. Together,
all of the leaders, along with the president, the vice president, and
a few other people, make up the cabinet. The job of the executive
branch is to enforce the laws.

The judicial branch (three or five students—«4t must be an odd
number) is made up of the Supreme Court and other courts, and its
job is to interpret the laws.

The legislative branch (the rest of the class) is made up of Congress,
which is composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Its job is to make the laws. Congress also decides who and what to
tax and how to use tax money. Each house of Congress meets sepa—
rately. However, they can come together for joint sessions.

The students must elect a president and a vice president to lead the executive
branch. (If this will be too fraught a situation for the students, the teacher may
randomly—or deliberately—assign roles.) The president then assigns cabinet
positions to the other students in the executive branch. Students in the legislative
branch group must be divided into senators and congressmen/congresswomen.

For the remainder of the unit, the teacher will ask the students in each group
to think about what role their branch would play in a given situation. This can
be a journaling activity as well as an independent research and essay activity.

Activity 6.6.1.3

The Constitution

The students and the teacher should read the preamble together and discuss
its role as a thesis and mission statement:

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