Tennessee General Assembly: Legislators & Legislation

There are 33 members of the State Senate in Tennessee. There are 99 members of the State House of Representatives. Each represents a specific district. Who are your representatives and what are they doing in Nashville? What kind of legislation are your representatives sponsoring? This lesson draws on information found in the Tennessee Blue Book and on the General Assembly website.

Weblink address (URL):

Home Page- source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives:

In the course of this lesson, students will…

Find their state senator and state representative using the Tennessee Blue Book.
See what legislation their representatives in government sponsored or co-sponsored.
Analyze the bills to see if they agree with them or not.
Discuss the impact of each piece of legislation.

Essential and guiding questions:

Who represents me in the State House?
Who represents me in the State Senate?
What bills have they proposed, sponsored, or co-sponsored?
What bills have they passed?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Applying

Extension suggestions:

Look at the personal profile of your representatives (personal information, committee assignments, and community involvement). From that information consider how it has affected their choices of bills to sponsor. Determine if you think there is a correlation.
From this personal information and previous bills sponsored/co-sponsored, consider what bills you think your legislators might consider next.
Either as individuals or in groups, brainstorm ideas for legislation related to issues in your district that might be appropriate and should be considered by your legislators.
Option for extension: Invite state legislators or local elected officials to come speak to the classroom about their role in government.

Helpful Hints

Materials Needed:

Tennessee Blue Book or access to the online version (PDFs provided)
- pgs. 7 – 50, Senate Members
- pg. 52, Senate District Map
- pgs. 55 – 164, House Members
- pgs. 140 – 141, House District Map
Access to the General Assembly website (www.capitol.tn.gov)
- Note to teacher: if internet access is limited, teachers could print out select bills ahead of time for students to analyze
Signs (on chart paper): Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree