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2nd grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 14

Citizens & Leaders

Voting, leaders and solving problems

What your child practices

Who can vote, how communities choose leaders, and how groups and nations work out problems, from classmates to countries.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 2.4b; 2.4c · community leaders, citizens and the ways people serve their community

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Leaders: a mayor runs a city, a principal leads a school.
  2. People choose many leaders by voting.
  3. Changemakers, like Cesar Chavez, work to make things fairer.

Example: Who leads a public school? A school has one main leader. That leader is the principal. Answer: the principal

Citizens & Leaders in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 5 of 14 in 2nd grade Social Studies, after Working Together Fairly and before Then & Now.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A public library helps…

    • only teachers
    • everyone in the community
    • only one family

  2. Question 2

    In an election, the person with the most votes…

    • wins
    • loses
    • must move away

  3. Question 3

    Which is a fair way to pick a name for the class fish?

    • nobody chooses
    • everyone votes
    • one student decides alone

  4. Question 4

    A city council…

    • makes rules and plans for a city
    • runs the whole country
    • teaches classes

  5. Question 5

    A rule is fair when it…

    • treats everyone the same way
    • helps only one person
    • changes every minute

  6. Question 6

    People who move to the United States from another country can…

    • not go to school
    • never be citizens
    • become citizens

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