Jan. 18, 2006: Checks and Balances Issue 3
The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).
Activities:
1. Find a picture of President
George W. Bush in the newspaper. Paste it on a piece of paper. Now write
a sentence telling something about Mr. Bush's job as president.
2. Find news stories about
or photographs of U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives.
Paste the stories/photos on a large piece of paper. Under each story/photo,
write the name and party of the person. Write a sentence telling why that
person is in the news.
3. Find a news story about
President Bush meeting with a leader from another country. Write a paragraph
discussing the purpose of the meeting. Write a second paragraph explaining
how the meeting illustrates one of the responsibilities of the president.
4. Who in the U.S. government:
(a) can veto a law, (b) decide whether or not a law fits our Constitution,
(c) override a veto, and (d) declare war against another country?
5. Collect news stories about a topic being discussed by members of Congress and White House officials. Write several paragraphs discussing the issue. Use these questions to guide your writing:
- What is the issue?
- What positions on the issue are taken by different representatives of Congress and the White House?
- What powers do the different branches of government have with regard to the issue?
- How do you think the issue will finally be resolved?
This week's standards:
- Students understand the purpose of government. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and Governance)
- Students identify
key ideals of the United States¹ democratic republican form of
government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practice)
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
