Listen Carefully
Read Aloud
An amendment is/ a change/ or addition/ to the Constitution./ The Framers/ of the Constitution/ knew that/ laws can change/ as a country grows./ They did not want/ to make/ it too easy/ to modify/ the Constitution,/ the supreme law/ of the land./ The Framers also did not want/ the Constitution/ to lose its meaning./ For this reason,/ the Framers decided that/ Congress could pass/ amendments/ in only two ways:/ by a two-thirds vote/ in the U.S. Senate/ and the House of Representatives/ or by a special convention./
A special convention has/ to be requested/ by two-thirds of the states./ After an amendment has passed/ in Congress/ or by a special convention,/ the amendment must/ then be ratified (accepted)/ by the legislatures/ of three-fourths of the states./ The amendment can/ also be ratified/ by a special convention/ in three-fourths/ of the states./ Not all proposed amendments are/ ratified./ Six times/ in U.S. history amendments have passed/ in Congress/ but were not approved/ by enough states/ to be ratified./
