Student Resources: 

• Student Handouts
  • Simulation overview handout 
  • City council member handout  
  • Representative handout 
  • Press handout  
• (Optional) Federalism essay  
• (Optional) Principles and Virtues handout 

• Block grant: a fixed amount of money from the federal government given to state and local governments to assist them in addressing broad purposes, such as community development, social services, public health, or law enforcement. Block grants have been a part of the American federal system since 1966. 
• City council: an elected local governing body with legislative and administrative powers, such as passing laws and appropriating, or deciding how to spend, funds.

Facilitation Notes:

In this activity, students will simulate a city council decision on how to spend a $1 million block grant from the state government. 

Anticipate: 

Facilitation note: The following activities are optional activities to be completed prior to the simulation.  These can be completed independently as homework or during class time. 

• Read the Federalism essay that accompanies this unit for context.  

AND/OR 

• Share the list of civic virtues. Ask students to identify two virtues they think are most important when working with others to build a consensus. Have them explain, in writing or to a partner, how those virtues contribute to productive discussion when trying to solve problems or identify solutions with others who hold different opinions. Ask students to select one of the virtues and write a goal of how they will try to embody the virtue in this simulation. 
• Example goal: I want to practice humility in this simulation. I will do this by listening to others and considering why their opinion may differ from mine. 

Engage: 

• Ask students to individually reflect on how they would improve their communities if they had $1 million to do so. Provide one to two minutes for students to generate some ideas. 
• Break students into small groups, or have them turn to a shoulder partner, to share their ideas on the prompt.  
• Additional guiding questions: How would you approach identifying possible improvements? What groups might you work with to identify those improvements or spend the money to support the community? 
• After allowing students time to share this information with a partner or in small groups, lead a brief class share-out. You may also ask students to write their responses on a sticky note and place them on the board or make a list as students share out. Alternatively, online tools such as Padlet can be used to collect student ideas and responses.  
• Review the class list or sort the sticky note responses into categories. Ask students if there are more similarities or differences in the ways they chose to use the money. What do these responses reveal about community priorities? 
• Tell students they may choose only one of these options. How would they come to a decision that best reflects the interests of the community? 

Explore: 

• Distribute the simulation instructions, and review with students.  
• Assign roles to students.  

Scaffolding notes:  

• It is recommended that you have an odd number of council members (e.g., 3 or 5) to ensure that a majority decision can be reached.  
• Local press corps roles are ideal for students who do not wish to speak during the simulation because they will be observing and interviewing but never addressing the group. You may allow students holding local press corps roles to photograph or use social media (such as live Tweeting) during the simulation, depending on your classroom culture and rules.  
• Interest group member roles give students opportunities to reflect viewpoint diversity. Each interest group should include at least two members.    
• Adjust the number of groups and group size to best suit your classroom. Interest groups can be created as needed to ensure a role for all students. The groups should have at least two members. Suggestions for groups include a property tax group, real estate development group, library supporters, advocates for local parks and recreation, and a local business owner group. 
• Suggested time limits are provided on the student handout; adjust time limits to suit your class schedule. 

Allow students approximately 20 minutes to meet with their assigned groups and prepare for the simulation. 

• Arrange the classroom so the city council is in the front of the room and the special interest groups sit with each other. 
• Review the simulation directions before beginning.  
  • Scaffolding notes:  
    • Establish norms for the discussion before you begin, such as speaking in a respectful tone, not interrupting the speaker, and limits on speaking time. 
    • The teacher can start and end each section of the simulation or have the city council members choose their speaker to run the simulation to allow more student autonomy.  
    • Select a city council chair.  This member will be responsible for selecting speakers and keeping time to ensure each speaker does not go over their limit. 
    • The city council will start the simulation and call on each group to read its statement. 
    • City council members can ask each group up to 3 questions after their statement. 
  • Facilitation note: If time is of concern, limit the city council members to selecting three questions to ask a group rather than allowing individual members to ask three questions each. 
• After all special interest groups have presented, announce the open forum during which each city council member will argue their position on how to spend the block grant money. It is suggested that you set a time limit for this simulation component based on your classroom, such as 5–10 minutes. Ensure the assigned city council member is keeping time. 
• Announce the close of open forum and have the city council members debate and reach their decision. You may choose to do this in front of the class or have them step outside. The local press corps can accompany them if they wish. Set a time limit for the city council to reach its decision. 
• Have the city council announce their explanation and rationale to the class. 
• Close the city council meeting.
   

 

Assess and Reflect: 

Allow students to complete the reflection questions on their handout. If time permits, discuss student responses.  

 

Extension:  

• Have students identify the local governing board for their community and use its website to look at topics of interest to the community. Ask students to compare what they see on the website with topics they believe are of interest to their community.  
• Research the use of block grants in the federal system. What other types of funding is given to local communities through the state and federal governments? What are the strengths and critiques of each?