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A Judge Who Cannot Pick a Side

5th grade nonfiction passage about fair and neutral judges: 213 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction fair and neutral judges 213 words

A Judge Who Cannot Pick a Side

A judge in a courtroom has a hard job. Two sides disagree, and the judge must listen to both and help decide what is fair. For this to work, a judge has to be impartial. That means the judge does not favor one side over the other.

Judges follow rules that protect this. Before a case begins, a judge thinks about whether he or she knows anyone involved. Suppose a judge's cousin is on one side of the case. Or suppose the judge owns part of a company that is being sued. In situations like these, the judge must step away, and another judge takes over. This is called recusal.

Judges also may not talk about a case with only one side. Everything said to the judge is said while both sides can hear it, or it is written down and shared with both. The judge then decides using the facts and the law. A decision is not supposed to depend on what is popular or on who has more friends.

Why does this matter? People accept a decision more easily when they believe the judge was fair, even if they lose. Think of a referee in a game. If the referee's brother played for one team, everyone would worry about the calls.

Questions

  1. What does it mean for a judge to be impartial? in the text

  2. When must a judge step away from a case? in the text

  3. What is the word for a judge stepping away from a case? in the text

  4. What does a judge use to make a decision? in the text

  5. Why do people accept a decision more easily when the judge was fair? think about it

  6. Why does the passage compare a judge to a referee? think about it

Words to know

impartial
not favoring one side over the other
recusal
when a judge steps away from a case to stay fair
popular
liked by many people
involved
taking part in something
referee
a person who makes sure a game is played by the rules
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4

A judge has a hard job. Two sides disagree. The judge listens to both and helps decide what is fair. To do this, a judge must be impartial. That means the judge does not favor one side.

Judges follow rules to stay fair. Before a case starts, a judge thinks about who is involved. Say the judge's cousin is on one side. Or say the judge owns part of a company that is being sued. Then the judge must step away. Another judge takes over. This is called recusal.

A judge may not talk about a case with only one side. Both sides hear everything, or it is written down and shared with both. The judge decides using the facts and the law. The choice should not depend on what is popular.

This matters because people accept a decision more easily if the judge was fair. Think of a referee in a game. If the referee's brother played for one team, everyone would worry about the calls.

▲ This passage · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

A judge in a courtroom has a hard job. Two sides disagree, and the judge must listen to both and help decide what is fair. For this to work, a judge has to be impartial. That means the judge does not favor one side over the other.

Judges follow rules that protect this. Before a case begins, a judge thinks about whether he or she knows anyone involved. Suppose a judge's cousin is on one side of the case. Or suppose the judge owns part of a company that is being sued. In situations like these, the judge must step away, and another judge takes over. This is called recusal.

Judges also may not talk about a case with only one side. Everything said to the judge is said while both sides can hear it, or it is written down and shared with both. The judge then decides using the facts and the law. A decision is not supposed to depend on what is popular or on who has more friends.

Why does this matter? People accept a decision more easily when they believe the judge was fair, even if they lose. Think of a referee in a game. If the referee's brother played for one team, everyone would worry about the calls.

■ Harder · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

A judge presiding over a courtroom faces a demanding task. Two sides disagree, and the judge must listen carefully to both before helping to decide what is fair. For that to be possible, a judge has to be impartial, which means refusing to favor one side over the other.

Judges follow a number of rules that protect this fairness. Before a case begins, a judge considers whether he or she knows anyone involved. Suppose a judge's cousin is on one side of the case, or suppose the judge owns part of a company that is being sued. In circumstances like these, the judge is expected to step away so that a different judge can take over. This practice is called recusal.

Judges are also forbidden from discussing a case with only one side. Everything said to the judge is said while both sides can hear it, or it is written down and shared with both. The judge then reaches a decision by relying on the facts and the law, and not on what happens to be popular or on who has more friends.

Why does all of this matter? People tend to accept a decision more readily when they believe the judge was fair, even if they lose. Consider a referee in a game: if the referee's brother played for one of the teams, everyone would worry about every call.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put impartial, recusal, popular, involved and referee on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "A Judge Who Cannot Pick a Side"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 213 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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