Who Does What Around Here?
A 40-minute Grade 1 lesson on the roles and responsibilities of the people who keep a neighborhood running.
Who Does What Around Here? is a free 40-minute Kindergarten to Grade 2 social studies lesson plan for C3 Framework indicator D2.Civ.1.K-2 — say what the people in charge are supposed to do. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the claim, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Kindergarten to Grade 2
- Length:
- 40 minutes
- Standard:
- D2.Civ.1.K-2
Kindergarten to Grade 2 · Civics
D2.Civ.1.K-2
Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority.
Objective
Students will be able to name four local workers and what each is responsible for.
Students are successful when they can
- Names the worker and the job.
- Says what they are responsible for.
- Says who to contact about a given problem.
What you need
- Photographs of local workers
- Problem cards: a broken street light, an overflowing trash can, a missing library book
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — who did you see on the way in?
5 min- List the workers the class saw between home and school.
- Do not say what they do yet.
Teach — responsible for, and reachable
13 min- Take the garbage truck crew. Name what they are responsible for.
- Ask who you would tell if a trash can were missed. Not the crew — the council.
- Say the new idea: some responsibilities belong to a person you can see, some to an office you write to.
- Do the librarian, who is both visible and reachable.
- Match three problems to who to contact.
“You cannot stop the truck and complain. You have to reach the people who send it.”
Guided practice — who would you tell?
12 min- Pairs match six problems to who to contact.
- They say what that person or office is responsible for.
- Two problems have more than one right answer.
Independent practice
8 min- Students complete the who-does-what page.
- Read each person aloud.
Close
2 min- Name one worker and what they are responsible for.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Thinks the person doing the job also decides it.
Why: They are the visible one.
Fix: Ask who sends them. The trash crew empties trash cans; the council decides which day.
Names a worker with no responsibility attached.
Why: The person is concrete and the responsibility is not.
Fix: Ask what would go wrong if they stopped for a week.
Thinks you cannot contact the council.
Why: It is not a person you see.
Fix: Show the letter it sent about the playground. It writes to people and can be written to.
If they are not there yet
- Four workers rather than eight.
- Give the responsibility and name the worker.
If they finish early
- Name a worker the class has not thought of.
- Say who to contact when nobody obvious is responsible.
- Say what a worker cannot decide themselves.
Exit ticket
The street light on the corner is broken. Who would you tell, and why them?
What to look for: The council, with a responsibility named. Naming the person who changes the bulb misses who decides.
Printable practice for D2.Civ.1.K-2
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- Who Does What Around Here?Draw a line from each person to what they do.
Questions about Who Does What Around Here?
How long does the Who Does What Around Here? lesson take?
40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which indicator does Who Does What Around Here? teach?
D2.Civ.1.K-2 — D2.Civ.1.K-2, Civics for Kindergarten to Grade 2: “Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority.” In plain terms, say what the people in charge are supposed to do.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
Photographs of local workers, problem cards: a broken street light, an overflowing trash can, a missing library book and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: thinks the person doing the job also decides it; names a worker with no responsibility attached and thinks you cannot contact the council. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “The street light on the corner is broken. Who would you tell, and why them?.” The council, with a responsibility named. Naming the person who changes the bulb misses who decides. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with Who Does What Around Here??
Yes — 1 printable D2.Civ.1.K-2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is Who Does What Around Here? free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on September 7, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D2.Civ.1.K-2 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.