Download Constitutional Expert: US Senator Robert Byrd

Session 11
Performance Task
Standard:
RI5.6 – Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences
in the point of view they represent.
RI5.9 – Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the
subject knowledgeably.
5.C&G.2.4 – Explain why civic participation is important in the United States.
Materials:
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Constitutional Expert: U.S. Senator Robert Byrd By Alonzo Webb
Kids Make a Law! By Zach Jones
Performance task chart
You have been working on annotating a text, identifying text structure, determining main idea, writing a
summary, and determining the author’s point of view to better understand what you are reading.
Today you will independently read two different articles and complete the performance task to show your
ability to apply these strategies.
Provide students a copy of Constitutional Expert: U.S. Senator Robert Byrd and Kids Make a Law! Based on
student needs, either read aloud or allow students to read independently. Remind students to annotate the
text as they read.
Explain to students that they are to write a summary of each text after reading.
Working independently you will complete the Performance Task Chart. Make sure to use evidence from the
text to support your responses.
Provide students the performance task chart to complete.
Rubric for Assessment
LEVEL
4 - Exemplary
3 - Proficient
2 – Approaching
Proficiency
1 –Non-Proficiency
DESCRIPTOR
Student consistently demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the
standards, concepts, and skills.
Student consistently demonstrates an understanding of the standard,
concepts, and skills.
Student is approaching an understanding of the standards, concepts, and
skills.
Student does not yet demonstrate an understanding of the standards,
concepts, and skills.
Wake County Public Schools
2013
Constitutional Expert: U.S. Senator Robert Byrd
Scholastic News Online talks to the senator who wrote the law establishing September 17 as Constitution Day
By Alonzo Webb | September 14, 2006
Senator Robert Byrd displays a copy
of the U.S. Constitution on Friday,
June 24, 2005. (Photo: Scott McCloskey/The
Wheeling Intelligencer/AP Wide World)
Scholastic News Kid Reporter Alonzo Webb
of Maryland interviewed U.S. Senator Robert
Byrd of West Virginia about Constitution
Day. (Photo: Photo by Suzanne McCabe)
I recently interviewed U.S. Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia. It was a very exciting experience.
We talked about a new law that establishes Constitution Day on September 17 every year. The law
was written by Senator Byrd and was passed by Congress in 2004. This year is the first year that
schools and federal agencies will set aside a day to celebrate the Constitution.
"There's nothing more important than the Constitution," Senator Byrd told me. "We have all kinds of
holidays. We have George Washington's birthday, Lincoln's birthday, the Fourth of July, Labor Day;
we have Flag Day. But none of these—not one—is as important as the Constitution of the United
States."
Some of you may not know what Constitution Day is all about. Constitution Day is an American
federal holiday that recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution. It is observed on
September 17, the day in 1787 when the Founding Fathers attending the Constitutional Convention
signed the document into law. When Constitution Day falls on a weekend or on another holiday, it is
to be observed on the preceding or following week. This year, it falls on a Saturday, so schools will
observe it on Friday, September 16.
"This will help our young people understand the Constitution," said the Senator. "If they learn that,
they will learn more about the history of this country."
Byrd said he wrote the bill to honor the Constitution as America's most basic founding document.
"There are several founding documents, like the Declaration of Independence, for example; but the
Constitution of the United States is the single most important founding document that we have,"
Wake County Public Schools
2013
Senator Byrd said. "It's the oldest constitution in the world and it is a constitution that sets forth the
structure of government and the rights of the American people."
The U.S. Constitution is short and easy to read, he said. He encouraged everyone to memorize part
of it, especially the preamble, which begins "We the People ... "
"I hope that kids understand that in this country, everything that we do in everyday life is touched
upon by the Constitution of the United States," Byrd said. "It protects our liberties and it protects our
freedom of speech. It protects our religion. It protects the freedom of speech so the newspapers can
tell us the news every day."
Because of the Constitution, we don't live under the rule of a king or queen. The Constitution
establishes the three branches of government. It sets up the legislative branch, which is the branch
Senator Byrd serves in, and it sets up the executive branch, which is the President. It also sets up the
judicial branch, which interprets the Constitution and the laws.
"All of these things are set forth in that basic document, the Constitution of the United States," Byrd
said. "That's why it's so important for young people like you to study the Constitution. It protects your
rights and it affects every aspect of your life: while you're young, you’re middle aged, or old, whatever
profession you undertake. The Constitution protects you in doing in whatever you have to do. If it
weren't for that Constitution, we wouldn’t have those rights."
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7477
Summary:
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Wake County Public Schools
2013
Kids Make a Law!
Students from Washington State put democracy into action as they help make marmots an official
state symbol
By Zach Jones | September 14, 2009
This map shows the Olympic marmot's habitat, or home. (Jim McMahon)
A group of fourth-graders at Wedgwood Elementary School in Seattle, Washington, recently got their
first taste of politics. These students helped make a law that turned the Olympic marmot into an
official symbol of their state.
Each of America's 50 states has a set of official symbols, like birds, flowers, and slogans. One of
these symbols may be an endemic animal, a type that lives in only one area. The Olympic marmot is
named after its homeland, Washington's Olympic National Park. This park is the only place these rare
marmots live in the wild.
As a class project, students had to argue to lawmakers why the marmots should be recognized as a
state symbol. Students e-mailed their opinions to lawmakers and later testified, or spoke, before
lawmakers in the state capital of Olympia. They even appeared with Washington Governor Christine
Gregoire when she signed the bill that turned their furry friends into an official symbol.
Law of the Land
In each state, a law must be passed to approve the naming of an official symbol. Wedgwood students
would not have been able to name the marmot their state's official endemic animal without help from
the Constitution, which provided a model for state governments to pass laws. On Thursday,
Americans will celebrate Constitution Day, when this important document was signed on September
17, 1787.
The Constitution spells out the U.S. system of government. It divides the government into three
branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. The President is the head of the executive branch. The
Supreme Court is the most powerful court of the judicial branch. Congress is the legislative, or
lawmaking branch. It contains two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Constitution sets rules for making laws in Congress. A bill, or plan for a law, must first pass both
the House and the Senate by a majority vote. The President has the option of signing a bill or vetoing
(saying no to) it. If a bill is vetoed, it can still become the law of the land if Congress overrides the
veto.
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2013
State laws come about in a similar way. As in Congress, the state of Washington has two groups of
elected lawmakers to help create laws: the Senate and the Assembly. The Governor, who is the
state's elected leader, signs a bill into law only after both houses of the Washington Legislature vote
to pass the bill.
With help from teachers, Wedgwood students asked State Senator Ken Jacobsen to write a bill to
make the Olympic marmot their new state symbol. "I commend these fourth-graders for taking the
time to learn about this state mammal and learn about the process of proposing a bill," Jacobsen
said.
State Law, State Pride
Students felt confident that the bill would pass the Legislature, but some lawmakers wanted first to
focus on issues other than state symbols. "Maybe they just don't like the Olympic marmot," said 10year-old Garrett Lawrence to The Seattle Times. Garrett is one of 50 students from Wedgwood
Elementary School who helped persuade lawmakers to pass the bill.
Many people in the state were excited when Governor Gregoire finally signed the bill into lawespecially the students who helped make it happen. "The whole school was abuzz," said Kelly Clark,
a teacher at Wedgwood Elementary School.
"It's not every day kids make a bill and get this experience," student Caroline Malone told The Seattle
Times.
To celebrate the school's success, Washington's Secretary of State Sam Reed threw a party for all
the students involved. All the kids wore marmot masks, and some even wore marmot costumes! But
they were celebrating more than just the marmot. They were also joyful over the freedom kids have in
the United States to participate in government.
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752607
Summary:
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Wake County Public Schools
2013
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Performance Task Chart
Constitutional Expert: U.S. Senator
Robert Byrd
By Alonzo Webb
Kids Make a Law!
By Zach Jones
How is the
information
organized?
What does the
author want the
reader to
understand
about the topic?
What is the
point of view or
perspective on
the topic?
What is the
overall theme of
these two texts?
Wake County Public Schools
2013