What is Capitol Classroom PLUS?
We realize many teachers’ class schedules do not align with the legislature while it is in session, so we created Capitol Classroom PLUS, a flexible alternative to Capitol Classroom. Capitol Classroom PLUS helps you guide students through the legislative process on your schedule. Like Capitol Classroom, Capitol Classroom PLUS centers around a lobbyist tracking actual bills through the legislative session and guiding students through the process to show how it all really works. The difference is that rather than scheduled Zoom meetings, the lessons are divided up into separate content streams to better fit your curriculum schedule and easily share across multiple classes. After the legislative session concludes we package the content from Capitol Classroom+ into lesson plan Curriculum Kits, offering teachers an option to teach the legislature anytime – Curriculum kits are a popular option for FALL CLASSES!!
Meet your Lobbyists: Your Guides through the Legislative Session
The content stream at the heart of Capitol Classroom PLUS is the lobbyist guide who provides updates from an insider’s perspective on the legislative session. The lobbyist covers an important issue and provides intel on actual bills moving through the process, referencing the journey through committee hearings (on TVW) and the politics at play. These lobbyist guided tracks can be easily leveled to fit middle school and high school curriculum. Along the way, students will receive an authentic perspective into the legislative process and learn the importance of public engagement and the tools that are available to do so effectively.
Your Legislative Toolkit:
Supplementing the Lobbyist guided tour through the process, is the Legislative Toolkit. The Legislative Toolkit is comprised of two video series that guide the class through the basics of the legislative process. These videos are integrated into each curriculum kit.
Civics 101 in 120 Seconds with Parliamentarian Mike Hoover, explains the nuts and bolts of the legislative process covering topics from fiscal committees to decorum on the Senate Floor.
The Legislative Navigator, with lobbyist Melissa Gombosky, shows how the public can participate in the legislative process by accessing essential tools on the Washington State legislative website. She covers essentials from How to Look Up a Bill to How to Identify Your Legislator and How to Find a Public Hearing on TVW.
Great for teaching any time!!
Access recent Capitol Classroom+ curriculum to engage students in the issues affecting their daily lives. The Capitol Classroom+ curriculums are available in 6-week Capitol Classroom+ lesson plans.
A little more about the CC+ Curriculum Kits
Curriculum kits are compiled from the Capitol Classroom+ 2022,`23 &`24 year contents with week-by-week lesson plans to guide your students through the legislative process, including the Lobbyist Updates, Civics 101 and the Legislative Navigator videos, weekly student notebooks, and links to relevant TVW coverage, such as highlights from public testimonies, executive actions and floor debates.
Check out a SAMPLE of one of our curriculum kits.
All of the curriculum kits are available for FREE and are designed to easily adapt to middle or high school level learning:
- Each Curriculum kit is available on Google Drive. You will be given access to the entire curriculum folder on Google Drive after signing up with your email. Feel free to download the course materials and customize them as you wish before sharing them with your students. **All we ask is: If you would like to share our FREE content with fellow teachers please ask them to sign up for access so that we know how many teachers are using the materials.