I'm Your MLA—Here's My Card!

Suggested Activities

In this challenge, students investigate the roles and responsibilities of Members of the Legislative Assembly and their accountability to the citizens of Alberta through an in-depth examination of the information provided on their business cards, in interviews and in online resources.

Identify information on a business card
You may wish to introduce the purpose of a business card by bringing a variety of business cards into the class. Alternatively, ask students to bring in a business card of someone they know.  Invite students, individually or in groups, to identify the elements and kinds of information contained on a business card to determine the purpose of the card. You may wish to brainstorm the purposes of a business card or you may wish to prompt students to identify  information on the business card by asking questions such as, “Who is he or she?”, “What does he or she do?” and  “How do you contact him or her?”. 

Determine the important responsibilities of a Member of the Legislative Assembly
Have students research and compile a list of top 5–8 duties and responsibilities of an MLA. You may wish to have students analyze the business cards of three MLAs, view the three interviews with the MLAs and access additional information about the important duties and responsibilities of an MLA (see References). Students could work individually to compile a list of duties and responsibilities or you may wish to assign students to three groups, with each group focusing on a particular role—MLA, cabinet minister or Leader of the Opposition.

You may wish to adapt one of the charts and strategies in Webbing Ideas (Support Material) to structure and assess this activity.

The criteria for judging the importance of a particular duty or responsibility might include:

• essential to a democracy
• valuable to constituents
• is uniquely or best done by these officials.

You may wish to adapt one of the charts and strategies in Considering Options (Support Material) to structure and assess this activity.

Create a visual representation or design a business card that represents some of the roles and responsibilities of an MLA
Have students create a visual representation or design a business card that represents the most important roles and responsibilities of an MLA, a cabinet minister or the Leader of the Opposition. The criteria for an effective business card might include: 

• captures the most important ideas/details
• is informative
• is clear and concise
• is visually appealing.

Extension: Identify similarities and differences among roles or create a personal business card
As an extension activity, students could be asked to identify the two most significant differences and similarities among each of the three roles.

You may wish to adapt one of the charts and strategies in Comparing Differences (Support Material) or Venn Diagrams (Support Material) to structure and assess this activity.

As another extension activity, students could create a personal Citizen of Alberta business card in which they identify their most important roles and responsibilities as citizens of Alberta.