Read Skillfully Write about What You Read Learn More
Learn about Elections
CCSSR2. Figure out ideas when you read.
In the last Presidential election, students at one school made a great
difference. They got people registered to vote. To be able to vote, you need to
be 18 years old. And you need to be a registered voter. It is easy to register.
You bring something that shows you live in the community. You can bring a
bill. You can bring a driver’s license.
Many people do not register to vote. Why don’t they register? Some
people think that their vote is not important.
The seventh grade class at the school learned about what is called voter
apathy. Apathy means not caring. They learned that in their own community
there were many people who were not registered to vote. They wanted to
change that. They said they would like to vote, but since they were not old
enough they wanted to get other people to vote.
They started a campaign. They would get more people registered to vote.
They made a plan. They would begin by getting people in their families
registered. Then they would get parents of other students to register.
Their teacher called the Registrar’s Office. That is the part of government
that gets people registered. The teacher asked if they would send a registrar to
the school on the school’s open house day. A registrar is a person who
registers voters. That way people could register to vote while they were at the
school. The answer was yes. A registrar came.
That day, 172 people registered to vote. The students were proud. But
they had more to do. So they went and talked with students in other classes.
They asked the students to tell their families how important it was to register to
vote.
Then they held another registration day. This time, 102 more people
registered to vote. They came to the school again. People were getting excited
about the election.
After the election, the students were proud. They could not vote. But
they had made sure that more people were registered. And they had reminded
them to vote. They were sure they had made a difference.
EXPLAIN WHAT YOU LEARNED
1. Underline the most important information in each paragraph.
2. Write a short summary that tells what the passage explains. Include only the most
important information.
Start your summary this way:
The main idea of the passage is _________________________________________.
Here is information that helps you understand that idea.
Then finish the summary. Include the information that helps explain the main idea.
Center for Urban Education at DePaul University © 2005 [Link]
