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2nd grade · Social Studies · Unit 10 of 12

Who Runs Our Community?

Laws, services and public officials

What your child practices

What governments do (keep order, provide security, manage conflict), services such as police, fire protection, libraries, schools and parks, and how a mayor, the governor and the president are chosen and what they do.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 2.8(A); 2.8(B); 2.9(B); 2.9(C); 2.9(D) · functions and services of government, and the roles and selection of public officials

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A legislature makes laws. A judge decides if a law was broken.
  2. Taxes pay for parks, libraries and fire stations.
  3. Citizens share ideas with leaders by voting, writing letters or speaking at meetings.

Example: A judge decides… Judges work in courts. They decide if someone broke a law. Answer: whether a law was broken

Who Runs Our Community? in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 10 of 12 in 2nd grade Social Studies, after Celebrations Near & Far and before Reading Maps.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    Justice means…

    • speed
    • noise
    • fairness

  2. Question 2

    The president leads the…

    • state
    • whole country
    • school
    • city

  3. Question 3

    Which job belongs to a city council?

    • voting on new local laws
    • flying planes
    • teaching math

  4. Question 4

    How do people choose a mayor?

    • they flip a coin
    • they vote
    • the tallest wins

  5. Question 5

    A judge decides…

    • who wins a race
    • where to build a park
    • whether a law was broken
    • what to cook

  6. Question 6

    Texas voters choose their governor in an…

    • race
    • election
    • auction
    • lottery

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