Topic 2: Political Institutions in Germany

Strategy: Small Work Groups and Presentations

Activities

Make copies of Teacher Resource #9 (The Most Important German Political Institutions) and distribute them to the class. Review the handout with the students focusing on the following:

• Bundestag
• Bundesrat
• Bundesregierung
• Bundespräsident

Divide the class into four groups and assign one of the political institutions to each group. Have each group read and discuss its section of the handout and report back to the group. Use the following questions to guide the group discussions:

• What is the main function of this political institution?
• If elected, how is it elected?
• What is the relationship of this political institution to the other German political institutions?

Put Transparency #16 (The Most Important German Political Institutions) and Transparency #17 (The Formation of the Bundesrat) on the overhead. As each group is reporting, have them refer to the information on the appropriate transparency.

Refer to the discussion questions and ask other leading questions of the group to ensure that they have adequately addressed the discussion questions. Allow for questions from the class as well.

To assess understanding, have the students do a journal entry, addressing the three discussion questions. Have them do this on their own and then come back to their group to compare responses. Have the group create a final version of the response to the discussion questions and then make copies to share with the other groups.