level u/50 dred scott and the supreme court · says that dred scott was a slave who was owned by a...

B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Theme: The Constitution• Shaping the Constitution• Amending the Constitution• Dred Scott and the Supreme Court

Social Studies

Dred Scott and the Supreme CourtLevel U/50

Skills & Strategies

Anchor Comprehension Strategies

• Make judgments

Comprehension • Stop/think/write

• Summarizeinformation

• Usetextfeaturestolocateinformation

Word Study/Vocabulary • Usecontextcluestodetermine

wordmeaning

Social Studies Big Idea • Asanewnation,theUnitedStatesmade

steadyattemptstoabolishslaveryandrealizetheprinciplesoftheDeclarationofIndependence.

TeACher’S GuiDe

Synthesize Information • Administer Ongoing Comprehension Assessment

• Summarize Information

D ay

1

2

3

4

5

A c t i v i t i e s

Using Navigators Chapter Books

Explicit Strategy InstructionUse the complete guide to model, guide, and support students as they apply comprehension and word-study strategies. Use portions of the guide to scaffold reading instruction for students who do not need modeled instruction.

Small-Group DiscussionsIntroduce the book and model strategies. Have the group set a purpose for reading based on the introduction. Students read the book, or parts of the book, independently. Then have them use the Small-Group Discussion Guide as they discuss the book together.

Independent ReadingHave students select titles at their independent reading levels. After reading, have students respond to the text in reader response journals or notebooks.

Core Lesson Planning Guide

Copyright © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4108-6306-52

Pages 4–6: Model Strategies: Introduction–Chapter 1• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write

• Comprehension Strategy: Make Judgments

• Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Direct Definitions

Page 3: Prepare to Read• Build Content Background

• Introduce the Book

Pages 7–8: Guide Strategies: Chapters 2–3• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write


• Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Direct Definitions

Pages 9–10: Apply Strategies: Chapter 4–Conclusion• Monitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write


• Use Text Features to Locate Information: Sidebars

This five-day lesson plan shows one way to use the chapter book for explicit strategy instruction.

Build Content Background • Write the word slavery on the board. Ask students to

define the word and explain how it is related to American history. Help students define the word by repeating any parts of students’ definitions that are correct. Have other students build on the definition, adding any facts they know about the word.

• Before students read, preview some additional key words that are not found in the glossary of Dred Scott and the Supreme Court. Make sure that students can use each word in a sentence. If they have difficulty, use a dictionary to define the word.

abolish economy rights Supreme Court • Tell students that most of the difficult words in the book will

be defined in a glossary at the back.

Introduce the Book• Give students a copy of the book. Have them read the title

and skim through the book.

• Ask: What will this book be about? How do you know? What pictures might help you tell what the book will be about?

• Tell students that Dred Scott and the Supreme Court tells about a Supreme Court case involving the rights of a slave who was moved from a slave state to a free state and then to a slave state again.

• To introduce key words and text/graphic features found in this book, use the inside front cover of the book.

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC 3

Prepare to Read

Use the map on page 12 to reinforce the notion of slave states and free states. Let students know that Dred Scott was a slave who moved with his owners to a free state. Encourage discussion of how the map of the United States in 1820 differed from the map of today.

Write the word court on the board and define it as a meeting where legal decisions are made. Students can discuss their knowl-edge of courts and what happens at court. Prompt discussion on what a judge would think about when he or she makes a decision.

Have students locate the picture on pages 2–3. Identify the setting as a southern plantation. Have students define plantation based on the picture and discuss the jobs that the slaves did there.

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Informal Assessment Tips

1. Assess students’ ability to answer questions by previewing a book’s contents.

2. Document informal observations in a folder or notebook.

3. Keep the folder or notebook at the small-group reading table for handy reference.

Meeting Individual Needs

For students who struggle with previewing a book’s contents and asking questions about it, point out specific headings, boldfaced words, illustrations, and special features and show how they make you think of questions that the contents might answer.

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write• Say: Good readers think while they read and stop to write details

or main ideas about the text they’re reading. Doing this can help you to remember more information.

• Use a real-life example of stopping to think and write.

Say: I recently read an article about the creation of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. The article contained many details that I wanted to remember. As I read the article, I stopped to write down details about each of the amendments in the Bill of Rights. By stopping to think and write, I knew I would better remember the information from the article.

• Read pages 2–3 aloud while students follow along. Anticipate words and ideas in the text that might cause students to stop and think. Stop and think as you read, and share your thought process aloud. Write your ideas on self-stick notes and place them in the book as students observe.

Say: One thing the introduction tells me is the fact that the slaves had no rights. They were bought and sold and could not learn to read or write. I want to remember these details, so I will stop and write them on a self-stick note. I’ll place this note on the page where I found the information.

During Reading Set a Purpose for Reading• Ask students to read pages 4–9 silently. Have them practice

stopping to think and write as they read. Tell them to write any details they’d like to remember or main points from the reading in their reading journal or on self-stick notes.

4 © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

ABOUT THE STRATEGY Stop/Think/Write

What? Good readers stop and think about what they are reading as they are reading. Then they write down their thoughts. Because this strategy is so simple, many readers forget to use it. Remind students that stopping, thinking, and writing is the beginning step to using all other monitor-reading strategies.

Why? When good readers stop and think, they are able to make connec-tions, ask questions, visualize, make inferences, determine what is important and what is not, and synthesize infor-mation. When readers write down their thoughts or write about their thoughts and how those thoughts apply to them, they clarify their thinking and keep track of their thoughts.

When? Good readers stop, think, and write about what they are reading during and after reading.

How? Good readers stop and think about the text. They keep track of their thoughts in a journal or on self-stick notes. After reading, they reflect on their thoughts and synthesize informa-tion.

Model Strategies: Introduction–Chapter 1

After Reading Discuss the Reading• Have students share the notes they took while reading. Ask

students to give examples of details or main points from the Introduction and Chapter 1 that they wrote during reading.

• Discuss with students how the practice of stopping to think and write can help them remember information from the text.

• Ask students to recall the definition of slavery they discussed before reading. Discuss the details they learned about the slavery in the Introduction and Chapter 1.

Ask: What was a slave’s way of life like? (A slave worked in the house or in the fields of his master. Slaves were bought and sold; they could not be educated.)

• Ask students to read the checkpoint on page 4. Explain that visualizing a situation is a good way to understand and remember it. Students can discuss the questions in pairs.

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for the Introduction and Chapter 1 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning card for this chapter book.

Comprehension Strategy: Make Judgments• Explain to students that they can make judgments or decisions

about people, events, and facts as they read. They may make a judgment about Dred Scott and his case. For example, they might say that once Dred Scott had lived in a free territory, he should have been considered free rather than a slave.

Say: You might think that judgments and opinions are the same thing. Keep in mind that judgments can be proven with facts, also called clues and evidence. An opinion can be based simply on what you think or believe about something.

• Say: When I read a paragraph or passage in a book, I think about what I read and form ideas about the people, events, and facts. I use the facts in the text and my own knowledge and experiences. One way I make judgments is to decide which information is most important. Making judgments about what I read helps me better understand the text.

• Pass out the graphic organizer “Make Judgments” (blackline master, page 14). You may want to make a chart-sized copy of the graphic organizer or use a transparency.

• Explain that as students read, they will complete the first two rows together. They will complete the last row independently.


1. Check to see that students are stopping to think and write notes as they read.

2. In a folder or notebook, jot down what you see each student doing.

3. Students should be writing key points and details from the text as they read. Document students who are and are not using the stop/think/write strategy.



For students who struggle with stopping to think and write, suggest that they pause at the end of each paragraph and scan the paragraph for any important details they want to recall later.

Rapid readers can organize the notes they have written during reading according to topics in their journals.

Introduction–Chapter 1 (continued)


Comprehension Strategy: Make Judgments (continued)• Have students follow along as you show them how to make

judgments in Chapter 1. Read pages 6–7 aloud and say: says that Dred Scott was a slave who was owned by a man who lived in Missouri. Then he was sold to an army doctor. On page 7, the author explains that Scott’s new owner, Dr. Emerson, moved to Illinois and Wisconsin. I’ll write these facts in the Clues/Evidence column. I know that Missouri was in the south, so it was a slave state. Illinois and Wisconsin were free states. I’ll write that in the Prior Knowledge col-umn. When I look in the text, I see that the text verifies that Illinois and Wisconsin were free. I think that, because Dred Scott moved from a slave state to a free state and a free territory, he should have been considered free. I’ll write that in the Judgment column.

• Say: When we make a judgment, it is important to remember to use information from the text along with previous knowledge and experience.

• Tell students they will continue making judgments as they continue to read the book.

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Direct Definitions• Read aloud the fifth sentence on page 4. Explain that the author

gives a direct definition to help readers understand the meaning of the word abolitionists.

Say: The word abolitionist is in the glossary, but I can figure out its meaning without looking it up. The words were called and because signal that the meaning of abolitionist is in the sentence. Reading on, I find out that an abolitionist is someone who “wanted to abolish, or outlaw, slavery.”

• Call students’ attention to the word territory in the second column on page 7.

Say: I see the word territory in this sentence. The next sentence says A territory was. These words signal that the sentence is a definition for territory. I read on to find out that a territory was “land that belonged to the federal government but was not yet a state.”

• Tell students that they will continue to use context clues to determine the meanings of unknown words as they read Dred Scott and the Supreme Court. Finding and learning the definitions of these words will help them understand the other new information in the book.

Reader Response

How would you describe Dr. Emerson’s treatment of the Scotts? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.

Dred Scott was owned by a man in Missouri. He was sold to a new owner who moved to Illinois and Wisconsin.

Missouri was a slave state. Wisconsin and Illinois were free.

Chapter My Prior Knowledge

Clues/ Evidence

in the Text

My Judgment

1

(pages

6–7)

Dred Scott moved from a slave state to a free state, so he should have been considered free.

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write• Have students review the notes they made for Chapter 1 on

their self-stick notes or in their journals. Ask for a few exam-ples of details they recorded from the first chapter.

• Tell students they will continue to practice the strategy of stopping to think and write as they read Chapters 2–3.

Say: When we stop to think and write during reading, we pause to record important details from the text. Think about what you’d like to remember about these chapters as you read, and stop to write on your self-stick notes or in your journal.

• Read pages 10–11 aloud as students follow along.

Ask: What are these pages about? (the Northwest Ordinance)

Encourage students to write down the important facts about the Northwest Ordinance on self-stick notes or in their journals before they continue to read.

During Reading Set a Purpose for Reading • Tell students to read pages 12–23 silently. Remind them to

stop, think, and write as they read. Point out that section heads provide clues about the topics of sections and are a good guide for key ideas.

After Reading Discuss the Reading • Have students provide examples of the notes they took while

reading. Ask them to explain why they thought particular details were important to remember.

• Ask students to share notes they made about Dred Scott’s court case.

Ask: What was the outcome of Dred Scott’s case in the Supreme Court? (The Court ruled that Scott, as a slave, was not a citizen and did not have the right to sue for his freedom in court.)

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for Chapters 2–3 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning card for this chapter book.


Allow ELL students to copy main ideas directly out of the text rather than paraphrasing. Monitor them to see that they are able to determine the main ideas and key details in the text. If students are unsure of what to write, model the strategy for them again.


For students who struggle with this strategy, model it again. Encourage them to write each section head as a guide. Then have them look for details related to the section head that they can stop and write as they read.

Rapid readers can organize their notes and rewrite them in outline format. Show them an outline and tell them that this is another way to record main ideas and important details in a text. Explain that an outline presents ideas in the same order as they appear in the text.

Guide Strategies: Chapters 2–3


Chapters 2–3 (continued)

Reader Response

What do you think might have happened in the United States in 1857 if the Supreme Court’s decision had been in favor of Scott and granted him his freedom? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.


Comprehension Strategy: Make Judgments• Review the first row of the “Make Judgments” graphic organizer.

Remind students that when they make a judgment, they use information from the text along with previous knowledge and experiences.

• Read aloud pages 12–13 and page 23. Ask: The text says that the United States was facing a crisis in

1819 because if Missouri became a state, slave states would be in the majority. Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise. How did the Missouri Compromise solve the problem? (Missouri was admitted to the United States as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state, so the balance between free states and slave states remained even.)

On page 23, we find out that as part of the Dred Scott decision in 1857, Chief Justice Taney ruled the Missouri Compromise unconsti-tutional. What judgment can you make about the effectiveness of the Missouri Compromise? (Possible answer: The Missouri Compromise was effective because it solved the problem for nearly forty years.)

• Write students’ answers on the graphic organizer. Use the information on the graphic organizer on this page.

Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Direct Definitions• Remind students that sometimes they can figure out the

meanings of unfamiliar words by reading other nearby words or sentences. Read aloud the first paragraph on page 12.

Say: The word compromise is in boldfaced type, so I could look it up in the glossary. But reading on, I see that the author defines the word. The last sentence starts with A compromise is. These words signal a definition. The definition of compromise is “an argument that is settled when both sides agree to give up something they want.”

• Read aloud the last sentence on page 18. Say: A comma right after a word is sometimes a signal that the

words following the comma are a direct definition. Look at the phrase that follows the comma after the word versus. The phrase defines the word. The phrase tells me that versus is “a Latin word that means ‘against.’”

• For additional practice, have students complete the blackline master on page 16.

1. convention a meeting of people with a common purpose

2. secessionists people who thought states had the right to separate from the rest of the country

3. delegates members of a convention

4. unanimous a vote in which everyone agrees

5. confederacy a group united in a specific cause

The Missouri Compromise solved the problem of Missouri’s statehood by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. The Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitu-tional in 1857.

The slavery issue was not finally settled until after the Civil War was fought.

Chap-ters

My Prior Knowledge

Clues/ Evidence

in the Text

My Judgment

2–3

(pages

12–13, 23)

Although the Missouri Compromise did not settle the slavery issue for good, it was effective because it solved the crisis of 1819 and kept a balance of free states and slave states for nearly 40 years.


Apply Strategies: Chapter 4–Conclusion

Before ReadingMonitor-Reading Strategy: Stop/Think/Write• Have students look at their self-stick notes or in their journals

to review the notes they took yesterday. Remind them that stopping to think and write during reading is one way to remember important details from the text.

• Read pages 24–25 aloud as students follow along.

Say: Northerners and Southerners had very different reactions to the outcome of Scott’s case. Let’s stop and write a few details about their reactions to help us better remember the different viewpoints about slavery.

• Remind students that because authors put important words in boldfaced type, these words indicate key ideas. Encourage students to stop, think, and write notes when they encounter the boldfaced word that appears in Chapter 4.

During ReadingSet a Purpose for Reading• Have students continue to read Chapter 4 and the Conclusion

silently. Tell them to place their self-stick notes in the text at the places where they decided to stop and write a detail they wanted to remember from the text.

After Reading• Have students share their notes for the chapter and the

conclusion with the group. Ask them to explain why they chose to record particular details.

• Discuss the various reactions to the Dred Scott case.

Ask: How did the Dred Scott case affect relationships between Northern and Southern states? (The gulf between the groups of states widened. Abolitionists in the North worried that slavery might move to the North, and pro-slavery Southerners wondered if they could stay part of the United States.)

• Have students read the checkpoint on page 25. Explain that thinking about issues suggested by the text is another way to understand and remember the information. Have students discuss the question with partners.

• For text-dependent comprehension practice, ask the questions for Chapter 4 found on the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning Card for this chapter book.

Teaching Tips

After discussing the reading, have students remove the self-stick notes from their books and place the notes in their journals on a page titled “Stop/Think/Write.” Use this page to review the practice of stopping to think and write throughout the year.

Comprehension Strategy: Make Judgments• Review the graphic organizer that students have been complet-

ing. Explain that they will make judgments of their own on facts in Chapter 4 in pairs or independently.

• Ask if students have any questions before they begin. Monitor their work and help them with any difficulty. Discuss students’ responses together.

• For more practice on making judgments, have students complete the blackline master “Make Judgments” on page 15.

Use Text Features to Locate Information: Sidebars• Explain to students that authors use sidebars to give additional

information that does not appear in the main text. Sidebars are used in many different kinds of publications.

• Have students locate the sidebars on pages 24, 26, and 29. Point out the titles of these features.

• Ask students to explain what additional information the author gives in these sidebars.

Ask: What are the sidebars about? How is this information connected to the information in the main text? (The sidebars include the words of people living at that time, reacting to the Dred Scott decision. They show why people agreed or disagreed with the decision. They show that opinions about the case were very different and strong.)

• Remind students to read the sidebars throughout the text for additional information related to the topic of each chapter.

Chapter 4–Conclusion (continued)



1. Watch students as they make judgments. Ask yourself: How have students progressed with this strategy? What problems are they still having?

2. Watch students as they complete the graphic organizer. Ask yourself: Who is still struggling with this strategy? How can I help them?

3. Jot down your thoughts in your folder or notebook. For students who struggle with making judgments, review the strategy using the Comprehension Strategy Poster: Make Judgments.

Reader Response

In what ways do you think the Dred Scott decision may affect us today? Write a response in your journal and share your thoughts with a group member.

It is against the law to fish from a giraffe’s neck, to hum on Sunday in Cicero, to pronounce Joliet wrong, and to ice skate on an outdoor pond in June and August.

Few people would ever be able to fish from a giraffe’s neck. Ice does not typically form on ponds in the summer. Police officers have important jobs.

The laws described in this article need to be removed. Some don’t make sense. It is a waste of time to write tickets for these crimes; there are more important crimes to solve.

Clues/Evidence in the Text

My Prior Knowledge My Judgment

Frederick Douglass said slavery was “evil” and the Dred Scott decision “devilish.” He saw that the decision would keep Americans’ minds on the issue; he had hopes that slavery would be abolished.

The Civil War was soon fought over the issue of slavery; slavery was abolished as a result of the war.

Chapter My Prior Knowledge

Clues/ Evidence

in the Text

My Judgment

4

(page 25)

Frederick Douglass was wise; he was probably an inspiration for slaves and abolitionists.

Administer Ongoing Comprehension Assessment• Have students take Ongoing Assessment #25 on pages 80–81 in

the Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 5).

Summarize Information• Remind students that nonfiction material often contains many

facts to read and remember. Writing a summary is one way to remember key ideas from the text.

• Have students review the notes they made while reading. Tell them to organize their notes so that they can use them to write a summary of one chapter. You may want to group students and assign each group one chapter to summarize.

Say: When we write a summary, we write the key ideas in our own words. You will use the notes you took during reading to write a summary of one chapter.

• Model the process of summarizing information by picking out the key ideas from Chapter 1 with students. Explain that this is the first step to writing a good summary.

Say: This chapter tells about Dred Scott and explains why he decided to file a lawsuit. What were the key ideas you wrote down from this chapter?

(Dred Scott was a slave who had moved to a free state with his owner. After his owner died and his owner’s wife moved him to a slave state, Scott argued that he should be considered free because he lived for many years in free territory.)

• Encourage students to share their notes with group members and to work together to choose key ideas from their notes and use them to write a summary. When students are finished, have one member from each group read aloud the group’s summary.

• If students struggle with this activity, review summarizing information using the Summarize Information Comprehension Strategy Poster for Grade 3 or 6.



1. Score assessments and determine if more instruction is needed for this strategy.

2. Keep group assessments in a small-group reading folder.

3. Look closely at students’ responses. Ask yourself: Why might this student have answered the question in this manner? For in-depth analysis, dis-cuss responses with individual stu-dents.

4. If needed, reteach this strategy and administer Ongoing Assessment #26 on pages 82–83 in the Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 4).

5. Use ongoing assessments to document growth over time, for parent/teacher conferences, or for your own records.

Allow ELL students to work with a partner in their group to review their notes and determine the key ideas in each chapter. Have ELL students dictate their summary to the partner, who acts as a scribe and records the summary. Ask ELL students to read their summaries aloud. Note whether or not they have included all the key ideas from the chapter they are summarizing.

Synthesize Information


Write a Personal Response Invite students to respond to the book in a way that is meaningful

to them. The prompts below provide a variety of alternatives.• How do you think your life is affected by the Supreme Court

and the decisions it has made in the past and present? (text-to-self)

• Do you think the Dred Scott case and other slavery issues affected world attitudes toward the United States? Explain. (text-to-world)

• Compare this book about the Dred Scott decision to other books you have read about the issue of slavery. (text-to-text)

• What did you think about while you were reading this book? (make connections)

• Did any part of this book confuse you? What was confusing? What could you do to make it clearer? (self-monitor)

• What main ideas were discussed in this book? (synthesize information)

• Did you like this book? Why or why not? Would you recom-mend it to a friend? (evaluate)

• How did you feel about the abolitionists as you read this book? How did you feel about the issue of slavery? (personal response)

Write to a Text PromptUse the prompt below as a timed writing activity. Students have a maximum of one hour to draft, revise, and edit a response. Use the rubric provided in the sidebar to score students’ writing.

Write to a Picture PromptUse the following picture prompt to develop students’ visual writing abilities

Reading/Writing Connections

Teaching Tips

Transfer personal response prompts to a piece of large chart paper and hang it in the room. Students can refer to the list throughout the year.

The prompt is well developed. There is strong evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is developed. There is adequate evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is somewhat devel-oped. There is minimal evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

The prompt is weakly developed. There is little evidence of focus, organization, voice, and correct conventions.

Scoring Rubric

4

3

2

1

The author says that the Dred Scott decision was based on politics and not on law. Explain what this statement means. Use information from the book to support your answer.

Look at the picture on page 27. What types of people attended an anti-slavery speech? How did the audience members respond to the speech? Be sure to use details from the picture to support your answer.


© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Directions: Use this sheet to talk about the book.

Word Study: Write words you did not know. Discuss the meanings with your group. Use the text to clarify the meanings.

Questions:Write two or three questions you had while reading this book. Discuss the questions and answers.

Make Connections:Write three connections you made with the text. Discuss them with your group.

Adapted from Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom, Harvey Daniels (Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 1994).

Rules for a Good Discussion:1. Be prepared.

2. Pay attention to the person who is talking and do not inter-rupt him or her.

3. Think about what others are saying so you can respond.

4. Use inside voices.

5. Let everyone in the group have a turn to speak.

6. Be respectful of everyone’s ideas.

Adapted from Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3–6): Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy, Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing Co., 2001).

Ways to Make ConnectionsText-to-Self: This reminds me of a time when I . . .

Text-to-World: What’s going on in this book is like what’s hap-pening right now in . . .

Text-to-Text: This book reminds me of another book I read called . . . . It was about . . .

Small-Group Discussion Guide


Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Make Judgments

Chapters My JudgmentMy Prior Knowledge


1 (pages 6–7)

2–3 (pages

12–13, 23)

4 (page 25)


Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Make JudgmentsDirections: Read the passage. Complete the judgment chart using your prior knowledge and information from the passage.

Necessary Laws?

Laws are a necessary part of our society. Laws keep us safe. It is

important to obey the speed limit, stop at stoplights, and not steal.

But not all laws are easy to enforce. Some may waste the time of police

officers and judges who enforce these laws.

In Chicago, for example, it is against the law to fish while sitting on a

giraffe’s neck. Other towns in Illinois also have strange laws. In Cicero,

public humming is against the law on Sundays. Joliet lawmakers made a

law against mispronouncing the city’s name. If you say Joliet the wrong

way within city limits, you may get a $5 fine. Another Illinois city has

banned ice skating on an outdoor pond during June and August,

although the weather is very warm then.

Why don’t cities remove these laws? It takes time to change or remove

a law. It might take even more time, however, to enforce a law that isn’t

really necessary.


My Prior Knowledge My Judgment

Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning: Direct Definitions

Directions: Read the passage. Look for direct definitions of the boldfaced words. Complete the exercise at the bottom of the page.

The Union Splits

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina leaders held a convention,

a meeting of people with a common purpose. Many of the leaders were

strong supporters of states’ rights. They were called secessionists

because they thought states had the right to secede, or withdraw, from

the United States. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president of

the United States with little support from the Southern states. The

delegates, members of the convention, would decide whether they

would remain part of a nation that opposed slavery.

After considering the issues, the South Carolina vote was

unanimous, a word meaning that everyone agreed. The delegates

voted in favor of seceding from the United States. Five more Southern

states soon followed, forming the Confederate States of America, or

Confederacy. A confederacy is a group united in a specific cause.

Directions: Write the definitions of the boldfaced words. Use the passage to help you.

1. convention _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2. secessionists _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. delegates _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4. unanimous _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5. confederacy _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

level u/50 dred scott and the supreme court · says that dred scott was a slave who was owned by a...

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