6.2B – Read the Text #2: Building Comprehension
Read the module text again as a class.
Students take turns reading a paragraph (or a few sentences).
After each paragraph, STOP to go over vocabulary and questions about the reading as a class.
READING TEXT
Module 6: Bill of Rights and Constitutional Amendments
PARAGRAPH 1
The United States Constitution was written in the late 1700s. There have been 27 amendments (additions and changes) to the original document. The first ten amendments are named the “Bill of Rights”. These amendments protect individual rights and limit the power of the federal government. The next 17 amendments explain voting rights, citizenship, and presidential power.
- Let’s review: what does protect mean?
- How many amendments have there been to the U.S. Constitution?
- What do we call the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution?
- Past module review questions: What does the word “bill” mean? What does the word “rights” mean?
- What do you think Bill of Rights means?
- Why were the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?
PARAGRAPH 2
The United States Constitution was ratified by the states in 1789. It created a strong national government, but some leaders wanted more protection for an individual’s rights. These early American leaders wanted to see these rights added to the Constitution. Therefore, the leaders wrote the first ten amendments. States then ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791.
- Learn the word NATIONAL: (adjective) comes from the word nation: describes the whole country
- What is the word in your home language?
- Example:
- A strong national government is a government that is for the whole country, not just for a state. In the U.S., it is the federal government.
- Who ratified the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
- Along with a strong national government, what else did leaders want to add to the U.S. Constitution?
The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. [Credit]
PARAGRAPH 3
The first amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees certain freedoms for all people living in the United States. It allows for the freedom of speech, religion, and the right to meet together to discuss political ideas (“freedom of assembly”). Other amendments in the Bill of Rights include the right to own a gun, and the legal protection that the police can’t search a person or a place without a good reason. If a person is accused of a crime, they must have a trial quickly, with a lawyer. If a court decides they are guilty of a crime, people are also protected from receiving extremely cruel punishment.
- Learn the word ALLOW: (verb) to let someone do something
- What is the word in your home language?
- Examples:
- The government allows people to protest peacefully.
- What does the Bill of Rights allow?
- Learn the word ACCUSED: (verb) to make a legal complaint that somebody broke the law
- What is the word in your home language?
- Examples:
- If a person is accused of a crime, they must have a trial quickly.
- What right do accused people have?
- Let’s review: what does guarantee mean? What does the first amendment guarantee?
- Let’s review: what does trial mean? Have you heard about any famous trials, maybe in the recent news?
- What freedoms are in the Bill of Rights? What rights are in the Bill of Rights?
PARAGRAPH 4
After certain events in American history, lawmakers and citizens fought to make amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Many of the remaining 17 amendments help make our laws more fair to all people living in the U.S. For example, after the American Civil War, important amendments were added. These amendments said that no person can be enslaved or owned by another person and that all people must be treated equally under the law. Other amendments defined voting rights and some are about the government’s powers. For example, one amendment gives the government the power to tax the people, while another says that the president can only serve two terms.
- Why were more amendments added to the Constitution?
- Who fought to make amendments to the Constitution?
- What amendments were added after the American Civil War?
- Can you think of any other amendments?
The 16th Amendment gives the government the power to tax the people. [Credit]
PARAGRAPH 5
The Constitution guarantees certain rights to everyone in America, but sometimes people’s rights can be violated or taken away. When this happens, people have the power to fight for their rights by protesting, getting help from community organizations, or by getting help from the legal system. Women, minorities, the disabled, people of all sexual orientations, and many others have used these methods to protect and expand their rights. For example, women fought for the right to vote for many decades before it became an amendment to the Constitution in 1920. The U.S. Constitution is called a “living document” because it grows and changes over time as society evolves.
- Learn the word HAPPEN: (verb) an event has taken place
- What is the word in your home language?
- Examples:
- The accident happened so fast.
- In the text it says, “When this happens”. What is “this” in the sentence?
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- What can people do if their rights are violated or taken away? Who has used these methods to protect their rights?
- Why is the Constitution called a “living document”?
The Chicago League of Women Voters organizing voting registration for women in 1920 [Credit].
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