constitution Story for 5th graders By Alison Nester and Reganne Haley (1)

The 3 Branches of the

Government and The

Constitution

By: Alison Nester and Reganne Haley

Chapter 1: In 1706 there were 13 british colonies
The Declaration that we know today as the 13 original
of independance colonies. These colonies were formed
when people from great britain
wanted to start a new life. Soon
enough britain started taxing people.
The townspeople did not like this very
much so they started to rebel against
britain. Great britain didn’t like the
fact that they rebelled so they started
a war with the 13 colonies. Eventually,
some of the men that lived in those
colonies wrote the Declaration of
independance.

Chapter 1: The declaration of independance was
The Declaration a letter that people wrote saying that
of independance they wanted to be independent from
Great britain. In the letter that they
wrote they explained to the king that
they wanted to be an independant
country.This document was made by
Thomas Jefferson. It was signed by
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger
Sherman, Robert Livingston,Thomas
Jefferson, John Hancock, Robert Morris
and George Read.

Chapter 2: The Legislative Branch is also called the
Legislative Congress. There are actually two parts of the
Branch Legislative Branch the House of
Representatives and the Senate. The legislative
branch is the part of the government that
writes up and votes on laws. Some other jobs
of the legislative branch has are declaring war,
confirming Presidential appointments for
groups like the Supreme Court and the Cabinet,
and investigating power. First you are going to
learn all about the House of Representatives.
There are 435 total Representatives in the
House. Each state has a different number of
representatives depending on their total
population, so states with more people get
more representatives. Representatives are
elected every two years.

Chapter 2: To qualify they must be 25 years old, have
The Legislative been a US citizen for at least 7 years, and live
branch. in the state they represent. Next you are
going to learn all about the Senate. The
Senate has 100 members. Each state has two
Senators, Senators are elected every 6 years.
To become a Senator a person must be at
least 30 years old, have been a US citizen for
at least 9 years, and must live in the state
they represent. Lastly you are going to learn
about making a law and the process it goes
through to become an enforced law. For a
law to be made it must go through a bunch
of steps called the Legislative Process. The
first step is for someone to write a bill.
Anyone can write a bill, but only a member
of Congress can present it to the Congress.
Next the bill goes to a committee that is an
expert on the subject of the bill. Here the bill
may be rejected, accepted, or changed.

Chapter 2: Anyone can write a bill, but only a member
The Legislative of Congress can present it to the Congress.
branch. Next the bill goes to a committee that is an
expert on the subject of the bill. Here the bill
may be rejected, accepted, or changed. The bill
may go to a number of committees. Experts
are often brought in to witness and give
their opinions on the pros and cons of a bill.
Once the bill is ready and the committee
agrees, it goes before the entire Congress. Both
the House and the Senate will have their
own debates about the bill. Members will
speak for or against the bill and then the
Congress will vote. A bill must get a majority
of the votes from both the Senate and the
House of Representatives to pass. The next
step is for the President to sign the bill.

Chapter 2: The president can sign the bill
Legislative into law or choose to veto the
bill. Once the president vetoes
branch a bill, congress can then try to
override the veto by getting
two thirds of the vote from
both the House and the Senate.

Chapter 3: Just like the legislative branch
The Executive the Executive Branch also has
Branch -branch. a job. The Executive branch’s
job is to enforce laws made by
the legislative branch. The
president is the head of this
branch. He also gets help from
his advisors. Advisors are
people that help make big
decisions. Basically, the
president makes sure that
laws are being followed. Also,
the president can veto laws. To
veto means to say no to or to
reject a law.

Chapter 3: Since the president is the head of
The executive the executive branch he can
pardon anyone from jail if they
branch break a law against the united
states. He also works out treaties
with other countries. A treaty is an
alliance or negotiation.Also, the
president can send the military to
any country he wants to. When
the president is elected he takes
an oath of responsibilities and if
he doesn’t stay on his
responsibilities then he could be
impeached. Impeached basically
means to be fired.

Chapter 4: The Judicial Branch of the government is
The Judicial made up of judges and courts. A type of
judge is a federal judge. Federal judges
branch. are not elected by the people. They are
appointed by the president and then
confirmed by the Senate. Federal judges
are appointed for life. They can only be
removed from office by death or by
impeachment from Congress.
Impeachment is when a charge of
misbehavior is filed against the
president. This is to allow judges to make
decisions based on their conscience and
not on what they feel they need to do to
get elected. The job of the courts is to
interpret the laws of the Congress. They
do not make laws.

Chapter 4: They also only make decisions on actual
The Judicial cases where someone has shown that
branch. they have been harmed. Now you will

learn about the Supreme Court. The highest
court in the United States is the Supreme
Court. The Constitution doesn't say how many
Supreme Court Justices there should be. There
have been as few as 6 justices in the past, but
since 1869 there have been 9 justices. The
President nominates all the Supreme Court
members and the Senate confirms them. They
hold their offices for life. The Supreme Court
doesn't have a lot of trials. What they mostly
do is review cases that have been appealed
from the lower courts. Not all cases that are
sent to the Supreme Court are reviewed.
Around 7,500 requests are sent to the
Supreme Court each year and they only
consider around 150 important enough to

Chapter 4: Also there is something called the Judicial
The Judicial Process. This is when The Constitution states
branch. that every person has the right to a fair trial
before a competent judge and a jury of their
peers.The Bill of Rights adds to this
guaranteeing other rights such as a speedy
trial, the right to legal representation, the
right not to be tried for the same crime twice,
and protection from cruel punishments. Once
arrested for a crime, the accused will get to
appear before a judge to be charged with the
crime and to enter a plea of guilty or
not-guilty. Next the accused is given a
lawyer, if they can't afford their own, and is
given time to review the evidence and build
up their defense. Then the case is tried before
a judge and a jury. If the jury determines that
the defendant is not-guilty, then charges are
dropped and the accused goes free. If the jury
has a guilty verdict, then the judge
determines the sentence.

Chapter 4: If one side feels that the trial
judicial branch wasn't handled correctly or
fairly, they can appeal to a
higher court. The higher court
may overturn the decision or
keep it the same.The higher
court may overturn the
decision or keep it the same.
The highest court is the
Supreme Court. There is no
appealing a Supreme Court
decision.

Chapter 5: The The constitution is basically the highest
constitution/ law. Amendments are laws that have
Amendment been added to the constitution. Here are
the first 10 amendments.
1.Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the
Press. This means that you can believe
what you want and express it in any
way you want
2 - The Right to Bear Arms. This means
that you can carry weapons.
3 - The Housing of Soldiers. This means
that the military can not make you let
them stay and sleep in your house.
4 - Protection from Unreasonable
Searches and Seizures. This means that
no one can search your house without a
judge saying it’s okay.

Chapter 5: The 5. Protecting of rights to life,liberty,and property. This
Constitution/ means that you don’t have to go to court unless judy sees
Amendments evidence that you are guilty. You also don’t have to talk
to police officers without an attorney present.

6. Right to speedy trial

This means That the person accused has the right
to a speedy and public trial

7. Rights in civil cases

This means that the value in an argument cost more than

twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury must be private,
and no fact tried by a jury shall must be thought through
differently in any Court of the United States

8.no excessive bail or fine; no cruel or unusual
punishment

This means that no one should be treated cruelly.

Chapter 5:The
constitution/
amendments

9.people retain rights This means that
there are more rights than the
constitution.

10.powers not delegated to the US to
states or people. This means that any
laws the constitution does not cover is
covered by the state.