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.

_{(RI.4.3 EXPLAINING IDEAS)}

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 voting members to the U.S. Congress.

_{(RI.4.8 AUTHOR’S PURPOSE)}

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.) The president would need to sign it into law.

_{(RI.4.1 TEXT EVIDENCE)}

FEATURED SKILL: What’s the Word?

Use the skill builder “What’s the Word?” to have students explore a civics word from the article.

_{(RI.4.4 VOCABULARY)}