Should There Be Presidential Term Limits?

GUIDED reading PersuasiVe 1190L Should There Be Presidential Term Limits? Written by Caroline Leavitt KeY idea This FlipSides book covers the history of term limits and gives full range of arguments on both sides of the ongoing question: Should there be presidential term limits? LiTeracY standards addressed in THis PLan ISBN 978-1-62889-220-8 ri.4.1 Main Focus Key ideas & Details Sessions 1, 2, 3 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. ri.4.4 Main Focus craft & structure Sessions 1, 2, 3 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area. ri.4.8 Main Focus integration of Knowledge & ideas Sessions 1, 2, 3 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text. ri.4.10 range of reading & Level of Text complexity By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4 5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. sl.4.1a comprehension & collaboration Sessions 1, 2, 3 Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion. L.4.4a Vocabulary acquisition & use Session 2, Additional Instruction Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. L.4.4c Vocabulary acquisition & use Additional Instruction Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases. rf.4.3a Phonics & Word recognition Additional Instruction Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context. rf.4.4c Fluency Session 2 Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. W.4.1 Text Type & Purposes Writing Task Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. W.4.8* research to Build & Present Knowledge Sessions 1, 2, 3 recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. *Standard adapted from another grade W.4.10 range of Writing Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of disciplinespecific tasks, purposes, and audiences. MONDO BOOkShOP GrADE 4 1

Session 1 Text Selections: pp. 5 10 (YES!), pp. 5 9 (NO!) Learning Focus RI.4.1 Students read closely to identify details and examples to understand what the text says explicitly and to draw inferences from the text. Key Idea: Text Selection Introductions for each side of the issue give historical information about term limits. Argument One for both sides is also presented. PREVIEWING THE TEXT 5 minutes Have students read the front and back cover text for the two titles of this FlipSides book. Discuss the unusual format. It s crucial for students to understand the book s structure. What do you notice about this book? There are two front covers. One says YES! The other says NO! One side of the book is upside down. Yes, this book is unique. It is a FlipSides book. When we read it one way, we ll read arguments that support presidential term limits. When we flip it, we will read arguments against term limits. VOCABULARY RI.4.4 As students encounter domain-specific terms, guide them to the glossary in the middle of the book. If a word isn t included, guide students to use print or digital dictionaries. TEACHER TIP The glossary doesn t include page numbers for the defined terms. Have students use self-stick notes to add page numbers to glossary terms as they reference them while reading. Corrective Feedback Have students closely reread the first page of both introductions to find explicitly stated details. Encourage them to silently reread, stopping at key points to think and talk together about their understandings. READING THE TEXT CLOSELY 10 minutes Invite students to read both introductions. Suggest that as they read, they take handwritten notes or use self-stick notes to track specific statements the author makes, questions she asks, and important details she cites. Discuss the introductions together. Let s read the first page of both introductions (starting on page 5 of YES! and on page 5 of NO! ). Take notes or use self-stick notes to track ideas from each side as you read.... What did you learn? Both introductions say that term limits are the total number of terms a president can serve. Both sides say presidents can only run for two terms. The YES! side seems to say term limits are good for the country as a whole. The NO! side says it s better for a good president to be able to run again. Explain the learning focus for students. Have them read pages 5 10 of the YES! side. Check in on their application of the focus. Provide support if needed. Then have them read pages 5 9 of the NO! side. Today we will read closely to discuss what is stated explicitly in the text and to draw inferences based on those details that are directly stated. Can someone identify some details in the text we ve read so far? Sure, page 9 of YES! says Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush wanted to get rid of term limits, and President Bill Clinton wanted to change them. Well done. This information is stated directly. Now let s see if we can draw an inference from these details. An inference is an idea not stated directly but supported by the details directly stated. Who can volunteer making an inference? One inference is that there are a lot of ways to think about it because even presidents look at it differently. I can guess that a lot of people probably want to change term limits, because three presidents who are mentioned wanted to change them. If you are satisfied that students can apply the focus, set the reading assignment for the session. If you are not, have students reread the two introductions to think through explicit information and to draw inferences based on it. Students may not read the entire selection during this session. 2 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?

Our work today is to understand and explain the information stated in the text directly and to draw inferences based on this information. Now let s read the introduction and Argument One from the other side of the issue. DISCUSSING THE TEXT 10 minutes Invite students to identify details and examples from Argument One of both the YES! and NO! sides. Guide them to draw inferences based on the details. Remind students of the notes they wrote or self-stick notes they used to track information as they read. We re going to talk about information we read in Argument One of YES! and in Argument One of NO! Then we ll draw inferences from it. It s important to be prepared so we can all participate and share ideas, so please refer to the notes you made while reading. Who would like to start? I put a self-stick note on the YES! side where it says career politicians might focus on reelection rather than on their jobs. The NO! side says presidents need to know how to get things done. Based on this, my inference is that an experienced president could become what they call a career politician. So removing term limits could help a politician become more experienced, but it might also mean that he or she might become less focused on the job and more focused on getting reelected. That is a very interesting inference. Focus on the word campaigns on page 10 of the YES! side. Let s talk about the word campaigns on page 10 of the YES! side. Does anyone know the meaning of this word? It s what politicians do to get elected. That s right. And how can we check the precise meaning if we needed to? We can look in the glossary of this book. I m looking it up now.... It says a campaign is a series of activities aimed at winning an election. Confirm students good use of the focus and encourage them to keep it in mind whenever they read to analyze and evaluate arguments. You explained information stated directly in the text and were able to draw inferences about the topic from this information. Think about the work we did here whenever you are reading an argument and especially as we read more of this book. E-RESOURCE Formative assessment: comprehension Using the Quick Start Planner, note this session s learning focus. Observe each student s articulation and reasons of text evidence to evaluate individuals effective use of the learning focus. sl.4.1a Discussion collaborative comprehension share Make self-stick notes to point out details and examples of important things that happen in the text. That way you can refer to them when you are discussing what the text says. L.4.4.c use a glossary CHOICE COMPREHENSION: MAKING INFERENCES E-RESOURCE Formative assessment Have students use the blackline master on page 10 to make inferences based on information they learn from the text of Should There Be Presidential Term Limits? Review students answers as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. ri.4.1 comprehension Making inferences CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: COLLECT TEXT EVIDENCE E-RESOURCE Formative/summative assessment Have students use the blackline master on page 11 as they read. Students will collect details from the text to answer the questions: What are some of the arguments in the book? What reasons and evidence does the author use to support them? Review students collected evidence as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. W.4.8*, ri.4.8 WriTing gather information MONDO BOOkShOP GrADE 4 3

Session 2 Text Selection: pp. 5 10 (YES!), pp. 5 9 (NO!) LEARNING FOCUSES RI.4.1, RI.4.4, RI.4.8 Students return to the text to consider domainspecific vocabulary and how the author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in the text. They also continue to develop inferences about the topic based on explicitly stated details and examples in the text. ELL SUPPORT RI.4.1 Discussing the Text Ask questions at students language proficiency levels and provide the following sentence frames for student responses: The author says. The text says. RETURNING TO THE TEXT 5 minutes Ask students to reflect on the text read previously. Guide them to recall how they applied the learning focus to their reading. Let s quickly review our discussion from last session. Who would like to start? We talked about the introductions to the two sides of the argument. In Argument One, the YES! side pointed out that not having term limits can cause problems, like creating career politicians. The NO! side pointed out that a president needs more than two terms to get enough experience to run the country. Also, we talked about what we read directly and drew inferences based on the details. READING THE TEXT CLOSELY 10 minutes Explain the learning focuses. Invite students to reread pages 5 10 of YES! Check in to see how well they have understood the focuses. If you are satisfied that students can apply them, set the reading assignment for the session. If not, provide corrective feedback as suggested on page 2 of this lesson plan. Today we re going to reread pages 5 10 of the YES! side and think about the reasons and evidence the author uses to support her arguments. After we read a point the author makes, let s look for the reasons she gives for this point and how she supports her argument.... Who can talk about a point the author makes and the reasons and details she uses to support it? On page 6 of YES!, I found a point the author makes. She says that certain federal justices serve for life, but not other politicians. Now that I m looking for it, I can see that the author gives reasons and evidence about this. One reason she gives is that with a life term, justices will make decisions that aren t affected by politics. The author gives more details too like how the Supreme Court justices make decisions that are supposed to be based on the Constitution and not what they think will make the president happy. Focus students attention on drawing an inference using the author s points and reasons as well as explicit information in the text. Now that we ve looked closely at one of the author s points and supporting reasons and details, let s see if we can use all of this to develop our own inferences. Did anyone draw an inference about term limits or the Supreme Court? My inference is that I think the writers of the Constitution must have thought presidents might use their power against Supreme Court justices who made a decision against what the presidents wanted. That s why they made sure these justices could serve for life. That is my inference. And I think it s a good point the author is making. Yes, that s good thinking. This point from the author really makes me wonder about term limits for presidents. If the Founding Fathers thought a justice might be pressured by a president, then I wonder what could happen if a president was able to be elected over and over again. Now let s think about these same things as we reread pages 5 9 of the NO! side. 4 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?

Discuss domain-specific words or phrases with students and use their understanding of these words to support their inferences. There are a lot of words in this book specifically about history and politics. Did anyone come across a word that was unfamiliar or that confused you? Let s talk about it. I don t get the word polls on page 10 of the YES! side. I thought polls were questions you asked people to figure out the opinion of a group. Yes, that is one meaning of polls, but this sentence uses the word polls to mean something else. Did anyone notice any context clues that helped them figure it out? It says people went to the polls to vote. So I figure polls are where voting booths are. Well done. That is the meaning of polls in this sentence. And how did understanding this word help you develop your understanding of the topic? Well, now I understand that the author is saying that almost half the people voted against George W. Bush in 2004, but he got reelected anyway. So it sounds like the person who is elected president isn t necessarily a really popular president. You know, I have an inference about this. My inference is that without term limits, a president who is just slightly more popular than an opponent could govern the country for a long time and maybe almost half of our citizens could end up for many, many years with a president they didn t vote. Formative assessment: Fluency Listen to each student read a portion of the text. Observe students fluency. If students need additional practice with fluency, provide the necessary support at the end of the session. Ask students to note words or phrases they find challenging for discussion after reading. L.4.4a context clues DISCUSSING THE TEXT 10 minutes Facilitate a discussion in which students identify the author s points and reasons the author uses to support those points. Have them focus on pages 5 9 of the NO! side. Remind students of the importance of coming to discussions prepared. We re going to talk about the main points and the evidence the author uses to support those points on pages 5 9 of the NO! side. Remember to refer to any notes you made to help you participate in the discussion. Who ll share how the author uses reasons and evidence to support a point? Well, I noticed here on page 8 of NO! that the author makes the point that politicians need more than two terms to learn how government works and to get experience. Then I read some reasons she provides, like how the job of president could be the most challenging job in the country. A detail that supports this is that the president will need to learn how to work with Congress, other politicians, and world leaders. Focus students attention on drawing more inferences using the author s points and reasons as well as explicit information in the text. Can someone draw an inference from the information and points we just heard? It sounds like the author wants the president to get training while doing the job in the first term. My inference is that she thinks presidents shouldn t be expected to do their jobs that well as soon as they get into office. sl.4.1a Discussion collaborative comprehension share Use self-stick notes or bookmarks to make notes about important points an author makes. Use your notes to help connect the reasons and evidence with important points in the text. MONDO BOOkShOP GrADE 4 5

L.4.4a context clues So, based on your inference, what do you think about the strength of the author s point? I don t think this is a very strong point. I think presidents should have some political experience before they become presidents. You are really using the details and points in the text to develop your own inferences. Not everyone would agree with that inference but that is what makes this topic so interesting. Discuss domain-specific words or phrases with students and use their understanding of these words to support their inferences. There are some unusual words in this book that are specifically about history and politics. Let s share any words that were unfamiliar or challenging. On page 7 of NO!, I came across the word democratic. I know there are Democrats and Republicans, so I wasn t really sure what democratic meant here. Let s try to figure it out together. Can anyone find any context clues that could help? Yes. The next sentence says people are supposed to be the ones who decide who becomes president. So I think that democratic describes a government based on how most of the people vote. Well done. That is the meaning of democratic as it is used here. How does understanding this word help us develop the inferences we were making earlier? I think that if the country is democratic, then people should vote on whether or not to keep term limits. It shouldn t just be whether a certain president or someone else wants term limits gone. That is an interesting idea. You really used your understanding of this word to deepen your understanding of the topic overall. E-RESOURCE Formative assessment: comprehension Using the Quick Start Planner, note the session s learning focuses. Observe each student s articulation and use of text evidence to evaluate individuals effective use of the learning focuses. rf.4.4c FLuencY confirm and self-correct Word recognition CHOICE FLUENCY FOLLOW-UP Fluency Practice Model using context to strengthen fluency. Follow this procedure: 1) Read aloud a passage containing a difficult word, stopping to use text and/or illustrative clues to think aloud about the meaning of the word. 2) Reread the passage fluently. 3) Students read aloud the passage. W.4.8*, ri.4.8 WriTing gather information CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: COLLECT TEXT EVIDENCE E-RESOURCE Formative/summative assessment Have students continue to use the blackline master on page 11 for collecting evidence as they read. Students will continue to collect details from the text to answer the questions: What are some of the arguments in the book? What reasons and evidence does the author use to support them? Students may need multiple copies of the organizer. Review students collected evidence as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. 6 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?

Session 3 Text Selection: pp. 11 12 (YES!), p. 10 (NO!) Key Idea: Text Selection Students consider further arguments from both sides. RETURNING TO THE TEXT 5 minutes Explain that students will continue to read more arguments from both sides of the book, noting explicit information and drawing inferences from it; identifying and understanding the meaning of domain-specific words and phrases; and explaining how the author supports points with reasons and evidence. We ve identified and explained the meaning of several domain-specific words and phrases and have explained how the author supports points with reasons and evidence. We ve also made inferences supported by all this information. Let s keep using these same strategies today. Learning Focuses ri.4.1, ri.4.4, ri.4.8 Students read closely to consider domain-specific vocabulary and how the author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in the text. They also continue to develop inferences about the topic based on explicitly stated details and examples in the text. READING THE TEXT CLOSELY 10 minutes State the learning focuses and invite students to read page 10, Argument Two of the NO! side. Check to see how they are doing with the application of the focuses. Then have students read pages 11 12, Argument Two of YES! Let s talk about Argument Two in NO! We encountered a new political word here, lame-duck president. What are lame-duck presidents, and what points does the author make about them? A lame-duck president is a president who still holds office in a second term. This president isn t going to be president anymore after the term is over. In this NO! argument, the author says a lame-duck president can have a harder time getting things done, since everyone knows he or she will be leaving office soon. I think the author feels that a president wouldn t be lame during a second term if he or she could get elected again. I agree I think that is the author s point as well. Now let s read pages 11 12 of the YES! side. ri.4.4 Suggest that students look for signal words (for example, means, indicates, suggests) that indicate the definition of an unknown word may be embedded within the text. DISCUSSING THE TEXT 10 minutes Facilitate a discussion that links the three learning focuses. First focus on developing students understanding of domain-specific words, then on discussing the author s points and reasons, and lastly on making their own text-supported inferences. Let s read Argument Two of YES! Were there any unfamiliar political terms you found? Yes, the word constituents on page 11. I figured out its meaning from context clues, like people in the communities they serve. I think constituents for a president are the people who voted for him or her, or even everyone in the country because we re all represented by the president. Well done. And now that we better understand this word, let s think about the author s points and use of reasons. Does the author make any points about constituents? On page 11 of YES!, the author makes a point that career politicians can become blind to their constituents problems. Then the author gives reasons like how presidents have advantages that average people don t have. The president might not understand things average people have to do, like driving to work. sl.4.1a Discussion collaborative Discussion TiP If possible, allow students time to read or study required material before class discussions. You may also want to give them a question to answer based on their reading about the topic. MONDO BOOkShOP GrADE 4 7

Okay, so now that we understand the word constituents and how the author used the word to make a point and share reasons, let s talk about some inferences we can make. Can someone share an inference they drew based on this information? I can. The inference I drew was that presidents do have advantages because of their high office. So even with term limits, they still might not understand average peoples problems. Support students as they finish the text. You ll finish this book on your own. As you read, make sure you understand the vocabulary and author s ideas. Examine arguments for specific points and how they are supported. You can use these techniques whenever you read arguments in the future. W.4.8*, ri.4.8 WriTing respond to Question CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: WRITE TO SOURCE E-RESOURCE Formative/summative assessment Have students continue to use the blackline master on page 11 as they finish reading. Then ask them to write a response on a separate sheet of paper that answers the following questions: What are some of the arguments in the book? What reasons and evidence does the author use to support them? Have students use the text evidence they collected to support their writing. CHOICE CLOSE READING OPTIONS E-RESOURCE summative assessment Print the online blackline master for independent close reading. Ask students to read the selection indicated on the page independently and respond to the prompts (summarize author s message, identify critical vocabulary, respond to constructed response questions) before returning for a small-group discussion. Alternatively, you can use the completed blackline master for summative assessment. CHOICE Writing Task: Opinion W.4.1 WriTing opinion E-RESOURCE summative assessment Review with students the elements of an opinion piece. Invite students to write their opinion in support of one of the arguments they read about. Guide them to use the blackline master on page 12 as they write their opinions. Before they write, have students work in pairs to compare the text evidence they gathered and make any necessary changes. Students will work independently to write their opinions. Consider having them publish their arguments in a YES! and NO! format as they have seen in the book. You have been reading arguments for and against presidential term limits. You have collected evidence about each argument and the reasons and evidence the author uses to support the arguments. Work with a partner to review the evidence you have gathered and make necessary changes. Then it s time to determine your own opinion. Examine the evidence you collected for both sides, decide which side is the strongest and that you agree with the most, and write about it. Use the blackline master on page 12 to help plan your writing. Start by clearly stating your opinion. Then provide reasons and evidence that support your opinion. Be sure to conclude with a restatement of your opinion. 8 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?

CHOICE Additional Instruction WORD STUDY reference Materials Have students look up the meaning of various words in the introductions in the glossary. Just while reading the introduction, we came across several history- and politics-specific words, like amendment, constitution, term, and candidate. While we can sometimes develop an understanding of these words, it helps to confirm our understanding by using a dictionary or glossary. Take a moment to come up with a definition of amendment in your own words.... Who will volunteer to share? a law or something that changes Okay, so now let s look it up in the glossary. What does the glossary say? An amendment is a change, but it is a specific type of change made to the Constitution. Yes. So using the glossary really helped you to have a more specific understanding of an important word. The glossary is a very helpful resource. L.4.4c reference Materials VOCABULARY context clues Help students develop vocabulary by using context clues to determine the meaning of multiple-meaning words in the text. There are several examples of multiple-meaning words in this book. We can often build understanding of a multiple-meaning word by learning its meaning in one context and then understanding it in a new context. Let s try this with the word performance on page 13 of YES! This word sometimes gets used to talk about a show, like a singer or dancer s performance on stage in front of an audience. From reading the text, what do you think performance means here? how well someone does a job; the quality of someone s work How can we check? Well, I looked for context clues. I read the whole sentence and surrounding sentences. I saw the words great jobs and the part about unless they did a terrible job. These clues tell me the word has to do with doing a good job. L.4.4a context clues Keep a class list or word wall of words students find difficult. You may also want to make a list of multiplemeaning words that students often confuse. Model the use of these words during classroom discussions. WORD RECOGNITION Meaning from Word Parts Remind students that sometimes a reader can tell the meaning of an unfamiliar word by looking at the meanings of the word parts. Ask student to look up the word monarchy in the glossary. Help students pronounce the word if they are unable to do so. What are the parts of the word monarchy on page 7 of YES! and page 5 of NO!? mon- and -archy What do you think the word part mono- means? Who has ideas? same, one That s right. Now what about the meaning of the word part -archy? You can look it up in a dictionary if you don t know. to rule Who ll explain how the word parts mono-, meaning one, and -archy, meaning rule, relate to the definition of monarchy? A king or queen is a single ruler of a country, so a monarchy must be a place where there is one ruler. rf.4.3a PHonics & WorD recognition roots and affixes MONDO BOOkShOP GrADE 4 9

Name Date Comprehension: Making Inferences As you read this FlipSides book, you learn information from the words in the text and you also make inferences, or guesses. Use this organizer to make inferences about pieces of information in Should There Be Presidential Term Limits? Be sure to cite details and examples from the text. What I Know from the Text Page number What I Can Infer What I Know from the Text Page number What I Can Infer Mondo Publishing Score: 10 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?

Name Date Collecting Text Evidence What are some of the arguments in the book? What reasons and evidence does the author use to support them? Fill in a row of the chart for each argument you read in the book. Then identify some of the reasons and evidence the author uses to support the argument. Be sure to include page references. Use as many copies of this chart as necessary to collect the evidence you need. Arguments for Term Limits (YES!) Argument / Page Number Reasons and Evidence / Page Number Arguments Against Term Limits (NO!) Argument / Page Number Reasons and Evidence / Page Number Mondo Publishing Score: Mondo Bookshop Grade 4 11

Name Date Writing Task: Planning Your Argument Look at the evidence you collected. Then think about your opinion of presidential term limits. Choose three different points that support your opinion. Write a paragraph expressing your opinion and the details that support it. Plan your paragraph using this organizer. Opening My opinion is. Reason 1: Evidence (detail): Evidence (detail): Reason 2: Evidence (detail): Evidence (detail): Reason 3: Evidence (detail): Evidence (detail): Closing In conclusion, I have this opinion because. Mondo Publishing Score: 12 SHOULD THERE BE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS?