Lesson Plan - 5 Big Questions About Washington, D.C.

Activate Prior Knowledge
Use the map to review the location of our nation’s capital. Ask if students know what D.C. stands for (District of Columbia).

Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

• federal district
  
• fundamental

Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them identify differences between a federal district and a state.

1. Why did America’s Founders believe that the nation’s capital should be in a federal district that wasn’t part of any state?
The Founders feared that if the capital were in a state, that state would have too much power over the federal government.
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2. Why does the author mention the American Revolution?
At the time of the Revolution, colonists complained about “taxation without representation.” Today, residents of Washington, D.C., say the same thing is happening to them since they pay taxes but don’t get to elect any voting members to the U.S. Congress.
^{R.6 Author’s Craft}

3. What would need to happen for Washington, D.C., to become a state?
Both parts of Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—would need to approve the idea. (The House already has.) Then the president would need to sign it into law.
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FEATURED SKILL: Reading in Small Groups
Use the skill builder “Reading Roles” to facilitate having students read the article in small groups.
^{R.10 Reading Complex Texts}