Letters to Your Congressman

Following up on the Lesson Success! post, my class discussed ways that constituents can influence policy. In general, at least at the federal level, it is very difficult. Still, we had a decent conversation in class and then started writing letters to our congressman. It's a good writing assignment because it gives the students reason to achieve perfection beyond pleasing their instructor or trying to get an A. That doesn't mean all of them perfected their letter, it just means there was more effort in getting there.

In addition, I had a couple students send their letters to both Oregon senators and our representative so that we can compare the different responses. Just another thought on how to scaffold the lesson into the future.