Oval Office Simulation / Role-play: North Koreans Cross the DMZ

Students take staff roles in the White House to consider two pieces of legislation sent up from Congress (repeal of Obamacare and recognition of a Kurdish government) when they hear news that the North Koreans have crossed the 38th parallel in a military incursion.

How will the President react? How does the Constitution limit his reaction? What do the South Koreans want?

The idea of this role play simulation is to give students an idea of how the executive branch of the federal government operates in crisis, and it’s a great follow-up to a lesson on establishment of the National Security Council in 1947.

It’s set in the current day federal government, where Republicans control the legislative and executive branches of government. And it’s designed to show the importance of staff (because, everyone will want to be the president) in forming executive policy.

It’s designed for a class of 10-23 students (optional roles are listed in the instructions).

This simulation contains:

Detailed teacher instructions
23 profile sheets for students
9 “news” updates to give to selected students during the simulation
2 rubrics for grading writing and participation

If you’re lucky, your students won’t start world war three (my kids don’t). But expect at least one of the military officials to propose something like my Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff did recently, calling his proposal the “Walmart Parking Lot Act.”

This simulation is designed for students who are relatively mature and have a general idea of the situation on the Korean peninsula, so I only do it with 11th grade and higher. But if you have advanced honors-level sophomores, it might work for them as well.

The simulation takes about two class hours. 79 pages total.