Fantasy Congress & States, for School.
Draft U.S. states or Congress to learn how American politics really works.
Think fantasy politics and fantasy congress, at Fanschool.
If you teach your state’s history, it’s a good way to engage players in that content while learning with current events nationally.
In addition to becoming more aware of the news about states and the legislative process, here are a few fantastic ways we’ve seen All-Star Teachers draft States or Congress to turn students into fans of civic competence:
Study Federalism through $$$ in your states.
If you’ve ever explored the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist debate within the American Constitution, you’ll understand how complex and reflective the American system of federalism is.
All-Star Teacher Stephanie Middleton uses this half sheet to get students researching data like this.
Other relevant questions that coincide with current events:
How much money does your state get for education?
Why is a national healthcare system so controversial?
Why are states still upholding a climate agreement?
What’s all the talk about a “government shutdown” all the time?
Research American history, like Native American rights, in your states.
There were tens of millions of people here before European ‘discovery’. By 1650, however, the native population declined to less than six million.
Utilize data like this to get students thinking more deeply about American history and public policy:
See the folder of shared Activities in Drive to access handout samples to copy and edit however you need.
Organize a Colonial league, a Women’s Rights league, a Civil Rights league, etc…
If you want students to remember the 13 colonies, try drafting them! See how All-Star Teacher Morgan Green does this.
Search the web for “women’s rights by state” or “civil rights by state” and click Images to see more ideas of state-by-state topics to dive into learning about.
Like this interactive map of the gender pay gap by state:
Follow up questions: Do you know how quickly your state gave women the right to vote a century ago? How does it compare to this data? Can you name a few women CEOs?
The Library of Congress wants your help here too, which could be fun:
Or get students publishing about the 15 states in the “Civil Rights Trail” to learn more about the places that made the most history.
You could also use this map to draft all the historic civil rights sites in the National Register of Historic Places. Then redraft and research what was happening in northern cities at the same time.
Is this why Martin Luther King Jr. went to Chicago, Illinois, and replied, “I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I’ve seen here in Chicago”?
How have these places improved? What hasn’t improved as much yet?
These learning leagues would be especially fitting as “Harriet” debuts to teach us all more about the states of Underground Railroad:
Locate and learn about the Federal Court System in your states.
First, locate any and all Federal District or Federal Appeals Courts in your state.
Then, use a state outline to draw a dot and label it with the city name for each court. Color code courts: Red for District, Blue for Appeals
Learn more about state Congressional Districts by researching where you might want to live.
Choose a state and a Congressional District that you would like to live in.
Does it have the employment opportunities that you are looking for? Is it a rural or urban area? Are you looking for warm weather or cold? Do you want to live in the mountains or near the beach? Is it a red district or a blue one?
See how the All-Star Teachers at Halstead High School in Kansas do this!
Get students civically engaged in your state by recognizing positive actions in fun ways.
Draft Congress.
In addition to drafting states, you can also draft U.S. Congress members.
We’re working on gamifying positive student learning habits: Let us know what else you come up as we all turn students into owners of learning!
