Three Branches of Government Reading Passage

3rd Grade Social StudiesBranches of Government8 pages

About this worksheet

A five-part passage for 3rd grade opens with a soccer game where one player makes every rule. It then covers Congress and its two houses, the President with the Vice President and Cabinet, the nine Supreme Court justices and the Constitution. Students answer six questions on key details and vocabulary, including the words bills and advisors. A main idea chart, a true or false item about senators, and two opinion questions follow. The answer pages quote the passage where it helps. It covers C3 Framework standards D2.Civ.1.3-5 and D2.Civ.3.3-5.

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Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 1
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 2
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 3
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 4
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 5
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 6
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 7
Three Branches of Government Reading Passage: Branches of Government - page 8

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Curriculum objectives covered

D2.Civ.1.3-5

“Distinguish the responsibilities and powers of government officials at various levels and branches of government and in different times and places.”

Questions 1 to 3 ask who serves in Congress, who helps the President and how justices are chosen.

D2.Civ.3.3-5

“Examine the origins and purposes of rules, laws, and key U.S. constitutional provisions.”

Questions 9 and 10 ask why the Constitution makes the President and the Senate share the choice of justices, and why power is split three ways.

What's inside this worksheet

The Three Branches of the United States Government

The passage, with headed sections for the lawmakers, the leaders, the judges and the Constitution as rulebook.

Part 1: Key Details & Vocabulary

Questions on the two parts of Congress, the President's helpers and how justices get their jobs, a branch-and-job table, and two word questions.

Part 2: Main Idea, Inference & Thinking Deeper

A main idea chart with two supporting details, a true or false on whether big states get more senators, and questions on choosing justices and splitting power.

Answers

Answers to all ten questions, with lines quoted from the passage.

How teachers use it

Act out the hook

Before reading, run the soccer game from the first paragraph with one student as player, referee and scorekeeper. The point of three branches lands quickly after that.

Mark the numbers

Have students circle 100, 435 and nine as they read. Questions 1, 3 and 8 all depend on them.

Question 8

Most 3rd graders guess True at first. Send them back to the sentence about Texas and Rhode Island and let the text change their minds.

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