Scheme of work for Constitution topic taught at AS for Edexcel Unit 2; Governing the UK

Lesson examining Congress - will need to be updated for 114th Congress

Mock exam questions, learning objectives for a peer assessment/feedback lesson, including marking feedback form and indicative content for exam questions.

Lesson and supporting materials examining the role and powers of the US president

Revision aid articles for Unit 4 Governing the USA covering presidency, cabinet, congress, constitution etc. Can be combined as part of a revision booklet or used individually to supplement lesson materials.

Lesson introducing the hung parliament and the resulting coalition government

Lesson examining the legislative process in the UK

Lesson examining the use of the filibuster and to what extent the legislative process is difficult - using past exam question and a Virtual Learning Environment Task - but this can easily be adapted for paper within the lesson simply by printing copies of the articles pupils can share.

A series of mini-guides for students to 'hot topics&' or key issues in UK politics

Lesson examining the role and powers of the Supreme court and its jurisdiction. Activity encourages pupils to construct their own indicative content for the practice exam question (pupils need to be familiar with what an indicative content is and how it is used by examiners to mark their answers)

Last lesson of the constitution topic recovering content and exam skills through pupil assessment of a sample exam question, discussion of assigned marks and how the exam answer can be improved.

Lesson examining how difficult the legislative process in the US political system is

A lesson recapping the constitution and asking pupils to reflect on what aspects of politics they struggle with and how to overcome - good for classes struggling with transition to AS.

Lesson examining how accurate Clinton's claim that the era of big government is over was, looking at federalism in the US since 1992. Accompanying handouts give pupils a basic understanding/overview of the phases of federalism, which is essential before progressing through the lesson.

Lesson examining the US presidential system of government - good for helping students to identify key differences from UK system

Lesson examining the factors that influence how members of congress decide to vote - pupils can examine the pressures members of congress face and examine which factors are the most important in deteriming how a congressman may vote on a certain issue. This can be adapted by using specific examples - especially on wedge issues.

Lesson examining different theories of executive power. Collaborative Essay can be used via Google Drive to allow students to collaborate in producing an essay in response to an exam-style question.

Lesson examining the Bill of Rights and supplementary lesson exploring Bill of Rights issues.

Lesson examining the role and powers of the various congressional committees - used to develop skill of scanning large text for information (using Phillip Allan textbook) with teacher generated 'core notes' on roles and powers of the different types of committees and committee chairs.

Information sheets examining how many candidates and votes ratio on presidential ballot paper in 2008 with a focus on third party candidates and their relative success/failure.