Learning to Give, Curriculum Division of The LEAGUE

Purpose:

• To introduce parliamentary procedure in an active, fun way.
• To make a formal board process informal and educational.

 

Activity:

1. Divide the group into teams. Give each team a set of index cards using words in the parliamentary story. Cards should be “out of order.”
   
   
2. Direct participants in the object of the relay: for the teams to arrange themselves (and the index cards) in the correct order for making a motion.
   
   
3. Ask team members to establish the correct parliamentary order, and line up accordingly. Draw a line across the room in front of the table or podium. Place a gavel on the table or podium and stand behind it.
   
   
4. Explain the game’s procedure: The first person in the team runs to the line, checks with the facilitator that the team is proceeding in the correct order, raps the gavel and replaces it.
   
   
5. The next person, upon hearing the gavel rap, runs to the line and repeats the procedure listed in 4. This continues until team members are across the room and in the correct parliamentary order for making a motion. The team that wins gets the Robert Rules medal or pocket guides to parliamentary procedure.
   Note: If participants have difficulty getting the cards in the right order, review the parliamentary story with them. The story follows the correct order used in the Gavel Relay game.

 

Variations/Options:

Teams could put all the cards in order; choose a “runner” who runs to the table or podium and raps the gavel. Facilitator would check the order of the cards for correctness. If they are “out of order,” runner returns to team to correct mistakes and tries again with a different designated runner.