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Town Rule, State Law or National Law?

8th grade nonfiction passage about layers of government: 278 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction layers of government 278 words

Town Rule, State Law or National Law?

A single person lives under several layers of law at the same time. A rule about where you may park comes from your town, a rule about how old you must be to drive comes from your state, and a rule about sending mail comes from the nation. The United States is built this way on purpose. Power is divided between the national government and the state governments, a system called federalism, and states in turn give some powers to cities, towns, and counties.

Local governments make ordinances, which are rules for one community. Leash rules for dogs, the hours a park stays open, and the places where fireworks are allowed are common examples. State legislatures pass laws that apply across the entire state, such as requirements for licenses and rules for public schools. Congress passes federal laws about matters that concern the whole country, including coining money, running the postal service, and national defense.

What happens when two layers disagree? A town rule cannot contradict the law of its state, and a state law cannot contradict the Constitution or a valid federal law. The Constitution says that it, along with federal laws made under it, is the supreme law of the land. A court can decide that a lower rule must give way.

Knowing which layer makes a rule tells you where to take your ideas. If you want a crosswalk at your school, the town council is probably the place. If you want to change the age for a driver's license, you would look to the state legislature. Good citizens learn who is responsible for which decision, so they can be heard by the right people.

Questions

  1. What is federalism? in the text

  2. What is an ordinance? in the text

  3. Which level of government passes laws about the postal service? in the text

  4. What does the Constitution say about itself? in the text

  5. Why is the town council the right place to ask for a school crosswalk? think about it

  6. What happens if a town rule contradicts the law of its state? think about it

Words to know

federalism
a system that divides power between a nation and its states
ordinance
a rule made by a town or city
legislatures
the groups that make the laws for states
contradict
to say or do the opposite of something
supreme
highest, with more power than anything else
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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 · 268 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.9

A person lives under several layers of law at once. A rule about where you may park comes from your town. A rule about how old you must be to drive comes from your state. A rule about sending mail comes from the nation. The United States is built this way on purpose. Power is shared between the national government and the state governments. This is called federalism. States also give some powers to cities, towns, and counties.

Local governments make ordinances. An ordinance is a rule for one community. Leash rules for dogs, the hours a park is open, and the places where fireworks are allowed are common examples. State legislatures pass laws for the whole state. These cover things like licenses and rules for public schools. Congress passes federal laws about matters for the whole country. These include coining money, running the postal service, and national defense.

What happens when two layers disagree? A town rule cannot contradict the law of its state. A state law cannot contradict the Constitution or a valid federal law. The Constitution says that it, with the federal laws made under it, is the supreme law of the land. A court can decide that a lower rule must give way.

Knowing which layer makes a rule tells you where to take your ideas. If you want a crosswalk at your school, the town council is probably the place. If you want to change the age for a driver's license, look to the state legislature. Good citizens learn who is in charge of each decision, so the right people can hear them.

▲ This passage · 278 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

A single person lives under several layers of law at the same time. A rule about where you may park comes from your town, a rule about how old you must be to drive comes from your state, and a rule about sending mail comes from the nation. The United States is built this way on purpose. Power is divided between the national government and the state governments, a system called federalism, and states in turn give some powers to cities, towns, and counties.

Local governments make ordinances, which are rules for one community. Leash rules for dogs, the hours a park stays open, and the places where fireworks are allowed are common examples. State legislatures pass laws that apply across the entire state, such as requirements for licenses and rules for public schools. Congress passes federal laws about matters that concern the whole country, including coining money, running the postal service, and national defense.

What happens when two layers disagree? A town rule cannot contradict the law of its state, and a state law cannot contradict the Constitution or a valid federal law. The Constitution says that it, along with federal laws made under it, is the supreme law of the land. A court can decide that a lower rule must give way.

Knowing which layer makes a rule tells you where to take your ideas. If you want a crosswalk at your school, the town council is probably the place. If you want to change the age for a driver's license, you would look to the state legislature. Good citizens learn who is responsible for which decision, so they can be heard by the right people.

■ Harder · 297 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.8

A single individual lives under several overlapping layers of law at the same time. A rule about where you may park originates with your town, a rule about the age at which you may drive originates with your state, and a rule about sending mail originates with the nation. The United States is constructed in this manner deliberately. Authority is divided between the national government and the state governments, an arrangement known as federalism, and states in turn delegate certain powers to cities, towns, and counties.

Local governments create ordinances, which are rules that apply to a single community. Leash requirements for dogs, the hours during which a park remains open, and the locations where fireworks are permitted are familiar examples. State legislatures enact laws that apply throughout the entire state, such as requirements for licenses and standards for public schools. Congress passes federal laws on matters that concern the whole country, including the coining of money, the operation of the postal service, and national defense.

What happens when two layers of law disagree? A town rule may not contradict the law of its state, and a state law may not contradict the Constitution or a valid federal law. The Constitution declares that it, together with the federal laws made under it, is the supreme law of the land. A court can rule that a lower rule must give way.

Understanding which layer is responsible for a rule tells you where to bring your ideas. If you want a crosswalk installed at your school, the town council is probably the right audience. If you want to change the age for a driver's license, you would turn to the state legislature. Thoughtful citizens learn who is responsible for which decision, so that their voices reach the right people.

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 federalism, ordinance, legislatures, contradict and supreme 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 "Town Rule, State Law or National Law?"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 278 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 8.6. 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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