Note: This lesson was originally published on an older version of The Learning Network; the link to the related Times article will take you to a page on the old site.
Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.
Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students share opinions about statements made in the New York Times article “In Wartime, Who Has the Power?” and their relationship to articles
of the Constitution. They then discuss how the president and Congress make decisions about the war in Iraq and write letters to their representatives expressing their opinions on the issues.
Jennifer Rittner, The New York Times Learning Network
Yasmin Chin Eisenhauer, Bank Street College of Education in New York
Suggested Time Allowance: 1 hour
1. Share opinions about five statements concerning constitutional principles and wartime powers.
2. Learn about the debate on presidential power during wartime by reading and discussing the article “In Wartime, Who Has The Power?”
3. Investigate and discuss the ways in which members of the executive and legislative branches of government balance constitutional principle and political concerns in making decisions about the course of the war in Iraq.
4. Write letters to Congress expressing their opinions on the issues raised in the article, citing historical precedent and constitutional provisions.
Resources / Materials:
-five poster boards, prepared as outlined in the Warm-Up
-copies of the article “In Wartime, Who Has The Power?”, found online at //www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20070305monday.html (one per student)
-the Constitution of the United States, found online at //www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html (one copy per student)
Activities / Procedures:
1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Before class, prepare five stations around the classroom. At each station, place a large piece of poster board with one of the items listed below pasted at the top of each one:
-article headline and part of the first paragraph: “The president is the commander in chief, and he has the power to deploy troops and to direct military strategy. Congress has the power to declare war and can use its control over the purse to end a war.”
-Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States . . . To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy.”
-Article II. Section 2 of the Constitution: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States
-From the article, paragraph 5: “Congress can’t tell the president to charge up the east side of the hill rather than the west.”
-From the article, paragraph 11: “The problem is not that Congress lacks the constitutional power to cut off funds [for the war], but that it may lack the political will to do so.”
On each poster board, create space for each of the following responses: “Question,” “Comment,” “Opinion” and “Connection.” As students enter class, have them rotate through every station with pens in hand, and respond to the statements they find at each station. Prompt them to consider, and write down, a question the statement raises for them, a comment they would like to make about the content, their opinion on the subject in general, or a note about a “connection” to something else they know about or have experienced concerning the statement.
After a few minutes, collect the poster boards and read aloud some of the comments. Then select one or two comments to discuss further. What prior knowledge did the students bring to bear on their comments? How did students respond to each others’ comments? How did reading each others’ comments inform the students’ thoughts on the ideas prompted by the items on each board?
2. As a class, read and discuss the article “In Wartime, Who Has The Power?” (//www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20070305monday.html), focusing on the following questions:
a. What rights does the president have concerning war, according to the Constitution?
b. How do these compare with the rights of Congress?
c. What proposals with respect to the war in Iraq are being made in Congress at this time, and in what way might they “raise serious constitutional questions”?
d. What historical precedents are offered as examples of actions that Congress might take?
e. How effective might these actions be in compelling the president to change course?
f. What do you think John Yoo means when he says that Congress’s power to cut funds for a war “can be a scalpel as well as a baseball bat”?
g. Why does Michael Gerhardt believe that Congress might not withdraw financial support for the war?
h. Why might members of Congress be concerned about public opinion, as opposed to thinking only about their constitutional powers?
i. Why is the Supreme Court unlikely to get involved in a possible power struggle between the president and Congress?
j. What is Jack Goldsmith referring to when mentions what James Madison would likely have wanted?
k. Why do you think these matters might be argued with passion and conviction?
3. Explain to students that they will consider how members of government weigh both the constitutional principles and the political implications of decisions made about the future course of the war in Iraq. To begin, invite volunteers to provide an overview of the rights and responsibilities of each branch of government, and explain the concept of balance of power.
Next, distribute copies of the United States Constitution to the class, and have students work in pairs to re-read the article and highlight statements that reflect the following (written on the board):
-Proposed plan of action
Instruct them to identify articles in the United States Constitution that correspond with the statements they highlighted. Have them also consider any other sections of the Constitution that address the balance of power or wartime powers. Then, give them some time to prepare notes for a general discussion.
Bring the class back together for group discussion. Questions to pose to students include the following:
-How might the current political climate influence congressional action?
-How does this differ from the political climate at the start of the war, and why?
-What historical precedents offer the most compelling support for a course of action?
-What constitutional provisions should guide any decisions, regardless of public opinion?
-At what point do you think the Supreme Court should intervene, if at all, and why?
Finish the discussion with students raising their own questions and opinions about the future course of the war and actions they would like to see taken by the president and congress.
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Individually, students write letters to their representative or senator that express their points of view on the issues and propose a course of action based on constitutional principle. Advise students to include specific relevant constitutional material in their letters. Have students mail their letters to their representative or senator. If they receive responses, have students share them.
Further Questions for Discussion:
-When and why might it be important for members of government to use historical precedent in making decisions that impact the present?
-How might knowledge of the past impact one’s ability to make decisions that affect the future?
-What role might citizens play in influencing decisions made in Congress and/or by the president?
Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on participation in the warm-up exercise, thorough gathering and presentation of constitutional evidence and analysis of the issues, and thoughtful completion of their letters to Congress.
relatively, deploy, purse, prosecuted, constitutional, encroached, transgressing, appropriations, acquiesce, comply, unilaterally, scalpel, appropriations, inconceivable, cudgels, censuring, micromanage, habeas corpus, binding, theological, conviction, murky, acceded, inevitable
1. Investigate the key issues and controversies surrounding the detention of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay after September 11, 2001. Who has been detained and why? What is habeas corpus, and how has it applied to the detainees? How are these issues addressed in the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What have been some responses to the detainments by citizens of the United States and the international community? Conduct a classroom debate on these issues.
2. Create a “separation of powers” board game that outlines the challenges, opportunities and actions that might be taken by each branch of government. Who are the governmental “players,” and what symbols or icons might be used to represent them? What obstacles might the players face? What are the starting and end points of the game? What constitutes a turn (or losing a turn) in the game? Make a model of the game to submit to the school’s resource center for other students to enjoy.
3. Create a set of “baseball cards” for U.S. presidents that includes the relevant facts and figures concerning each one’s military and war experience. Design your cards to reflect the historical period of each president’s time in office.
4. Investigate a congressional committee that is actively involved in making decisions about the Iraq war, such as the Committees on Appropriations, Armed Forces, Foreign Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs. Who sits on the committee, and how are those members chosen? What role has the committee played in proposing or setting policies, in general, and those for the Iraq War, in particular? Prepare a detailed profile of the committee and its current positions on the war.
Economics – Conduct an economic analysis of the cost of the war in Iraq. Prepare a series of charts and graphs that track the various facts and figures associated with the Iraq war including the annual budget, re-appropriations, troop deployments and the costs associated with handling casualties and benefits for injured soldiers. Using the figures from the first five years of the war, conduct a budget analysis to determine its cost over the next five, ten and 15 years.
Fine Arts – Create a political cartoon that illustrates your perspective on an issue raised in the article. Present finished work in a public exhibition in the school, and submit it to the school newspaper for publication.
Geography – Color-code a world map to highlight the countries where U.S. troops are currently deployed. Use graphic symbols or icons to indicate the dates of deployments and numbers of troops deployed.
Teaching with The Times – Read the National section of The Times every day for two weeks and clip articles that follow up on the issues addressed in the article you read in class. What actions have been proposed or taken? What reaction followed from other members of government and/or the public? How do you feel about the actions being proposed or taken? What effect do you think these decisions will have on the war, the American public and the next major election? To order The New York Times for your classroom, click here.
Technology – Prepare an illustrated, annotated timeline of wartime technologies, including those designed for communications, identifying locations and disabling enemies.
Other Information on the Web:
The United States House of Representatives (//www.house.gov/) provides historical and current information about the legislative branch of government and its representatives.
The White House (//www.whitehouse.gov/) provides historical and current information about the presidency of the United States, including statements about policy matters.
The Supreme Court of the United States (//www.supremecourtus.gov/) offers historical and current information about judicial decisions and concerns.
The National Archives and Records Administration (//www.archives.gov/) offers the public a vast collection of historical documents related to American government.
Academic Content Standards:
Civics Standard 9- Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy. Benchmarks: Understands how certain values are fundamental to American public life; Knows that constitutional government is a fundamental principle of American democracy
Civics Standard 29- Understands the importance of political leadership, public service, and a knowledgeable citizenry in American constitutional democracy. Benchmarks: Understands the functions of political leadership and why leadership is a vital necessity in a constitutional democracy; Knows personal qualities necessary for political leadership, and understands ethical dilemmas that might confront political leaders; Understands why becoming knowledgeable about public affairs and the values and principles of American constitutional democracy and communicating that knowledge to others is an important form of participation, and understands the argument that constitutional democracy requires the participation of an attentive, knowledgeable, and competent citizenry
Historical Understanding Standard 1- Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns. Benchmarks: Knows how to construct and interpret multiple tier time lines; Understands patterns of change and continuity in the historical succession of related events
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Understands that specific individuals and the values those individuals held had an impact on history; Analyzes the influence specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmarks: Uses a variety of resource materials to gather information for research topics; Determines the appropriateness of an information source for a research topic
Language Arts Standard 7- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational texts. Benchmarks: Identifies techniques used to convey viewpoint; Draws conclusions and makes inferences based on explicit and implicit information in texts; Differentiates between fact and opinion in informational texts
Language Arts Standard 8- Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning. Benchmarks: Plays a variety of roles in group discussions; Asks questions to seek elaboration and clarification of ideas; Listens in order to understand a speaker’s topic, purpose, and perspective; Conveys a clear main point when speaking to others and stays on the topic being discussed
Historical Understanding Standard 1- Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns. Benchmark: Understands historical continuity and change related to a particular development or theme
Historical Understanding Standard 2- Understands the historical perspective. Benchmarks: Analyzes the values held by specific people who influenced history and the role their values played in influencing history; Analyzes the influences specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history and specifies how events might have been different in the absence of those ideas and beliefs; Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history and studies how things might have been different in the absence of those decisions; Understands that the consequences of human intentions are influenced by the means of carrying them out
Civics Standard 9- Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy. Benchmarks: Understands how the institutions of government reflect fundamental values and principles; Understands the significance of fundamental values and principles for the individual and society
Civics Standard 29- Understands the importance of political leadership, public service, and a knowledgeable citizenry in American constitutional democracy. Benchmark: Understands why becoming knowledgeable about public affairs and the values and principles of American constitutional democracy, and communicating that knowledge to others are important forms of participation, and understands the argument that constitutional democracy requires the participation of an attentive, knowledgeable, and competent citizenry
Language Arts Standard 4- Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmarks: Uses a variety of news source to gather information for research topics; Determines the validity and reliability of primary and secondary source information and uses information accordingly in reporting on a research topic
Language Arts Standard 7- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational texts. Benchmarks: Determines the effectiveness of techniques used to convey viewpoint; Supports inferences about information in texts by referring to text features
Language Arts Standard 8- Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning. Benchmarks: Evaluates own and others’ effectiveness in group discussions and in formal presentations; Asks questions as a way to broaden and enrich classroom discussions; Adjusts message wording and delivery to particular audiences and for particular purposes
This lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed above. These standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education; 3rd and 4th Editions and have been provided courtesy of the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado.