4 2 5 a trip to the capitol

Summarize how the executive branch of government provides checks and balances for the other two branches.. The Three Branchesof Government Executive White House Legislative United State

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Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

Genre Comprehension

Skills and Strategy Text Features

Narrative

nonfi ction

• Main Idea and Details

• Generalize

• Summarize

• Heads

• Map

• Diagram

• Sidebar

Scott Foresman Reading Street 4.2.5

ISBN 0-328-13439-2 ì<(sk$m)=bdedjh< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U by Sharon Franklin

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

Genre Comprehension

Skills and Strategy Text Features

Narrative

nonfi ction

• Main Idea and Details

• Generalize

• Summarize

• Heads

• Map

• Diagram

• Sidebar

Scott Foresman Reading Street 4.2.5

ISBN 0-328-13439-2 ì<(sk$m)=bdedjh< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U by Sharon Franklin

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Reader Response

1 What was the main thing the author wanted to

say about the Capitol? What are some details that support this main idea? Use a graphic organizer like the one below to write your answers.

2 Reread page 6 Summarize how the executive

branch of government provides checks and balances for the other two branches.

3 Use a dictionary that tells about word origins to

find out which of these words are related: politics, policy, polish, police, polio, politician What is the

from?

4 Did the fact that this book has a young person as

narrator make it more or less interesting to you?

Explain your answer.

Main Idea

Detail

by Sharon Franklin

Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia • Glenview, Illinois

Coppell, Texas • Ontario, California • Mesa, Arizona

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photographic material The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to

correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.

Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman,

a division of Pearson Education.

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R),

Background (Bkgd)

Cover: ©Joseph Sohm/ChromoSohm Inc./Corbis; 3 ©Joseph Sohm/ChromoSohm

Inc./Corbis; 4 ©Bettmann/Corbis; 5 ©Bettmann/Corbis; 6 ©Wally McNamee/Corbis;

7 ©Joseph Sohm/ChromoSohm Inc./Corbis; 10 ©Roman Soumar/Corbis; 11

©Kelly-Mooney Photography/Corbis; 12 ©Charles E Rotkin/Corbis; 13 Dennis Brack/IPN/

©Aurora Photos; 14 ©Reuters/Corbis

ISBN: 0-328-13439-2

protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher

prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission

in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or

likewise For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department,

Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

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3

Talk about living history! My aunt took me

on a trip to Washington, D.C Before we left, she asked me what I wanted to see most, and I knew

my answer at once I wanted to see the U.S

Capitol Imagine seeing something in person that you have only read about in books My teacher asked me to present a report to the class about

my trip

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The Three Branches

of Government

Executive White House

Legislative United States Capitol

Judicial Supreme Court

4

Before we left, I did some research Here are

some notes I made for my report

The Founding Fathers tried to make sure that

no one person had too much power They also

knew that a growing nation needed a strong

government They wrote the Constitution to deal

with these challenges In it, they outlined three

branches, or parts, of government: legislative,

executive, and judicial

Each branch has responsibility for different

jobs Together, the three branches are designed

to make sure the government runs smoothly and

protects the rights of its citizens Each branch has

the power to challenge the other two branches

This system of checks and balances prevents any

one branch from having too much power

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Legislative Branch

The legislative branch, or Congress, includes the House of Representatives and the Senate

This branch makes the country’s laws Citizens

of each state vote for their own members of the House and Senate

The number of members in the House is based

on population So states with more people have more representatives But all states elect two senators each

Among the powers of Congress are

• writing, discussing, and passing bills;

• declaring war on another country;

• making laws that control trade; and

• making laws regarding taxes and money

5

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Executive Branch

The executive branch makes sure that laws are

obeyed and government policies are carried out

It is made up of the President, the Vice President,

the Cabinet, and agency and department heads

The President solemnly swears to uphold the

Constitution The President

• is commander-in-chief of the armed forces;

• chooses Cabinet members and oversees

federal agencies;

• can veto bills passed by Congress; and

• can nominate federal judges

To run for President, you must be a

natural-born citizen, be at least 35 years old, and have

lived in the United States for at least 14 years

The President is elected for a four-year term and

may be re-elected for one more four-year term

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Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States It is made up of judges called justices The President nominates all Supreme Court justices, including the Chief Justice of the United States The Senate then must approve the President’s choice

The courts decide what laws mean, how they are applied, and whether they uphold the Constitution This is how the judicial branch checks and balances decisions made by the legislative and executive branches

7

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The U.S Capitol Building

We arrived in Washington, D.C., and found

that the many buildings tell the story of our

nation’s history The Capitol building was built

from 1793 to 1826 as the first meeting place of

Congress

First I noticed the big round dome The

original building included the dome, and the

Senate and House wings As the United States

grew, more legislators were needed to deal with

the nation’s politics The Capitol became too

small In 1857 and 1859, new Senate and House

chambers were added

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9

Many important buildings stand along the National Mall:

The Capitol White House Washington Monument Lincoln Memorial

Jefferson Memorial Vietnam Memorial

and other memorials

This Mall stretches two miles from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

Many great museums surround the Mall:

Smithsonian Institution National Gallery of Art National Air and Space Museum

National Archives

The Tour Begins

My aunt and I arrived in Washington, D.C., and headed for Capitol Hill

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Capitol Rotunda

The Rotunda is the round room beneath the

dome The round painting at the top of the

dome, completed in 1865, includes 13 figures

that represent the original 13 colonies A bronze

statue called Armed Freedom stands outside on

top of the dome

The newest work of art was added in 1997

It is a sculpture honoring three women who

promoted the right of women to vote They were

Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan

B Anthony

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11

Library of Congress

If you like to read books, this is the place to visit Imagine a library with about 532 miles of bookshelves; more than 29 million books; and almost 95 million maps, drawings, photographs, recordings, and other materials! There is such a library It is the Library of Congress

The Library is a resource for Congress and the American people People use the Library of Congress to find documents from history

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House Office Buildings

In the original Capitol building, the House of

Representatives had one wing Today, there are

four buildings: the Cannon, Longworth, Rayburn,

and Ford House Office Buildings

The House buildings have offices and meeting

space for the many House committees The

Rayburn building has a bronze statue of former

Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn This building

even has a subway to the Capitol! That must be

very nice, especially on days when it is snowing

and the wind is howling.

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Mountains and Clouds

by Alexander Calder

Senate Office Buildings

The Senate has three office buildings for the senators and staff: the Russell, Dirksen, and Hart Senate Office buildings Mountains and Clouds, a

70-foot sculpture is displayed in the Hart Senate Office Building

Inside the Senate and House office buildings, senators and representatives write and enact laws for the country Senators are elected to six-year terms, representatives to two-six-year terms

13

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Botanic Garden Conservatory

The Botanic Garden is the last stop on our

tour It is not only restful and beautiful, but it is

also the oldest botanic garden in North America

It has an amazing variety of plants that botanists,

or plant scientists, can use for studying and

learning

The botanists who work at the garden keep

track of special historical plants and gifts from

other countries They list rare plants and collect

medicinal plants that can’t be found elsewhere

14

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15

Looking Ahead

For more than 200 years, the U.S Capitol has preserved many reminders of our nation’s

humble beginnings, in the walls, grounds, and

art of the buildings and open spaces Our tour made me feel proud that I am a part of our country’s history

I also learned about all the people it takes to run a country It would be interesting to work

in the Capitol I may sound vain, but seeing the

Capitol buildings made me want to become a great leader myself someday But for now, I will finish this report so I can present it to the class tomorrow

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Glossary

Constitution n

document that

establishes the basic

principles of the U.S

government.

howling adj crying,

wailing, shrieking.

humble adj meek,

modest.

politics n the art or

science of governing or

of policies.

responsibility n job,

duty, task.

solemnly adv seriously,

earnestly

vain adj proud,

inflated.

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