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Open Meeting Laws and the Unlocked Door

8th grade nonfiction passage about open government meetings: 257 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction open government meetings 257 words

Open Meeting Laws and the Unlocked Door

When a city council or a school board makes a decision, it is spending public money and making rules for the people who live there. For that reason, most states have open meeting laws, which require many government groups to do their business where the public can watch. The idea is that people can only judge their leaders fairly if they can see how decisions are made.

These laws usually include several rules. A group must announce the time and place of a meeting ahead of time, often by posting a notice and an agenda, which is a list of the topics to be discussed. The meeting must be held in a place that residents can reach, and anyone may usually attend and listen. The group also keeps minutes, which are a written record of what was discussed and what was decided.

There are limits, because some topics need privacy. A board may close part of a meeting to talk about a worker's job performance or to get legal advice, since sharing those details could hurt someone or weaken the town's position in a dispute. Even then, the group is usually expected to state the reason for closing the door, and final votes are often taken in public.

The exact rules differ from state to state, so a resident who wants details should check the law where he or she lives. But the principle is shared widely. Government belongs to the people it serves, and a locked door should be the rare exception rather than the habit.

Questions

  1. What do open meeting laws require? in the text

  2. What is an agenda? in the text

  3. What are minutes? in the text

  4. Why might a board close part of a meeting? in the text

  5. Why do open meeting laws help residents judge their leaders? think about it

  6. Why should a resident check the law where he or she lives? think about it

Words to know

agenda
a list of the things a meeting will talk about
minutes
the written notes that record what happened at a meeting
residents
people who live in a certain place
legal
having to do with the law
principle
a basic idea that people agree is right
Share

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 · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

A city council or a school board spends public money. It also makes rules for the people who live there. So most states have open meeting laws. These laws say that many government groups must do their work where the public can watch. People can only judge their leaders fairly if they can see how choices are made.

These laws usually have several rules. A group must tell the public the time and place of a meeting ahead of time. Often it posts a notice and an agenda. An agenda is a list of the topics to be discussed. The meeting must be in a place people can reach, and anyone can usually come and listen. The group also keeps minutes. Minutes are a written record of what was said and what was decided.

There are limits, because some topics need privacy. A board may close part of a meeting to talk about a worker's job or to get legal advice. Sharing those details could hurt someone. It could also weaken the town in a dispute. Even then, the group should say why it is closing the door. Final votes are often taken in public.

The rules are different in each state. A resident who wants details should check the law where he or she lives. But the main idea is shared. Government belongs to the people it serves. A locked door should be rare.

▲ This passage · 257 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.1

When a city council or a school board makes a decision, it is spending public money and making rules for the people who live there. For that reason, most states have open meeting laws, which require many government groups to do their business where the public can watch. The idea is that people can only judge their leaders fairly if they can see how decisions are made.

These laws usually include several rules. A group must announce the time and place of a meeting ahead of time, often by posting a notice and an agenda, which is a list of the topics to be discussed. The meeting must be held in a place that residents can reach, and anyone may usually attend and listen. The group also keeps minutes, which are a written record of what was discussed and what was decided.

There are limits, because some topics need privacy. A board may close part of a meeting to talk about a worker's job performance or to get legal advice, since sharing those details could hurt someone or weaken the town's position in a dispute. Even then, the group is usually expected to state the reason for closing the door, and final votes are often taken in public.

The exact rules differ from state to state, so a resident who wants details should check the law where he or she lives. But the principle is shared widely. Government belongs to the people it serves, and a locked door should be the rare exception rather than the habit.

■ Harder · 280 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 11.6

Whenever a city council or a school board reaches a decision, it is spending public money and establishing rules for the people who live in the community. For that reason, the majority of states have enacted open meeting laws, which require many government bodies to conduct their business in a setting where the public can observe. The underlying idea is that citizens can evaluate their leaders fairly only if they are able to see how decisions are actually made.

These laws typically contain several requirements. A group must announce the time and place of a meeting in advance, frequently by posting a notice along with an agenda, which is a list of the topics that will be discussed. The meeting must take place somewhere residents can reasonably reach, and anyone is usually permitted to attend and listen. The group is also expected to keep minutes, which form a written record of what was discussed and what was decided.

There are limits, because certain subjects call for privacy. A board may close part of a meeting to discuss a worker's job performance or to obtain legal advice, since revealing those details could harm an individual or weaken the town's position in a dispute. Even in those cases, the group is normally expected to state its reason for closing the door, and final votes are often cast in public.

The precise rules differ considerably from state to state, so a resident who wants the details should consult the law where he or she lives. Nevertheless, the guiding principle is widely shared. Government belongs to the people it serves, and a locked door ought to be a rare exception rather than a habit.

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 agenda, minutes, residents, legal and principle 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 3 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 "Open Meeting Laws and the Unlocked Door"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 257 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 9.1. 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 3 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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