Teaching Sequence

5 minutes – Introduction/Pre-lesson Assessment
15 minutes – Part A: Carousel of Opinions
30 minutes – Part B: What Does the Constitution Look Like?
40 minutes – Part C: Jigsaw Classroom: Find Out About the Australian Constitution
25 minutes – Part D: Connecting the Australian Constitution with Rights and Freedoms
5 minutes – Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Introduction/Pre-lesson Assessment

Step 1.

Start the lesson by informing the class that the learning intention for the lesson is to understand more about the Australian Constitution, the different sections of the Constitution and to think critically about how the Constitution protects our rights and freedoms.

Ask the class to respond to the following on the Student Worksheet:

Rate your understanding of the Australian Constitution on a scale of 0-10 (0 = I know absolutely nothing, 10 = I am an expert).

Students are also asked to explain why they gave this rating.

This introduction could be completed by asking students to indicate their level of understanding in the subject area by raising their hands when you call out the number between 0-10 that aligns with their level of understanding. Once all students have indicated their level of understanding, ask them to turn to the person they are sitting next to and tell them why they chose that number. Ask students to remember the number they attributed to their understanding, as they will use it to gauge their own development later in the lesson.

Part A: Carousel of Opinions

For this part of the lesson, the classroom furniture should be moved to the sides of the classroom so that students have room to position themselves in a two-layered circle.

Step 1.

Invite students to form a two-layered ‘carousel circle’. Divide the class in half and ask one half to form a close circle, facing outwards with no large gaps between students. Ask the remaining students to form a circle outside the first, positioning themselves so that they are facing someone in the inner circle.

Step 2.

Explain to students that they will be sharing their opinions on several questions and statements. They will have one minute to share. Encourage the class to try sharing their thoughts and questions, even if they don’t feel confident, and to support each other when they are doing so. Let students know that the inner circle will speak first and that the circles will take turns to share.

Start by asking this question (write the question on the whiteboard as well):

‘If you could change one rule (at home/school/a law), what would it be and why?’

Keep track of time and remind the pairs to swap speakers after 1 minute. Once time is up invite students in the outer circle to change partners by moving two people to the left.

Step 3.

This time the outer circle will speak first to share their thoughts on the following statement:

‘Rules made in 1890 should still apply today. Why/why not?’

Remind pairs to swap speakers after 1 minute. Encourage students to find different reasons to support their opinion to their partner if they hold the same view.

Once sharing is complete, ask 1-2 pairs to volunteer to share the main points of their discussion with the whole class. This will help to expand perspectives as well as help students to see that others may be finding this activity challenging, which may help to encourage other less confident students to persist.

Step 4.

Repeat the process two more times, using the statements below to prompt discussion:

‘There would be chaos without laws.’
‘Rules and laws should change if society changes.’

Step 5.

Connect Part A of the lesson with Part B by informing students that the questions they have just discussed all link to the Australian Constitution. In the next part of the lesson, students will have the opportunity to become more familiar with the Australian Constitution.

This activity could be adapted for students who require a more calm, quiet classroom environment. Ask students to partner with each other, and respond to each of the prompts by writing for one minute, then inviting partners to swap and read what the other has written. Students would then swap partners for the next rotation.

Part B: What Does the Constitution Look Like?

For this part of the lesson, furniture should be arranged so that students can gather together in groups of four. The groups should be made up of students with different experiences and viewpoints.

Step 1.

Watch this short video that gives an overview of the Australian Constitution:

What is the Australian Constitution? - Australian Human Rights Commission (https://youtu.be/xyOH605fHW8)

Step 2.

Set up the activity by explaining to students that the next challenge involves working in groups to view, describe and analyse an image. Invite students to form groups of four and arrange themselves around a table/work space.

Step 3.

Direct students to the 'See-Think-Wonder' visible thinking routine table on the Student Worksheet, and distribute a printed copy of this image to each group.

Step 4.

Invite groups to take some time to use their senses to notice the details of the image. Encourage students to describe verbally to each other what they notice about the image, then to record the details about the image in the in the 'See/Hear' column of the Student Worksheet. Ask students to then work through the 'Think' and 'Wonder' sections of the visible thinking routine on their own.

Step 5.

Draw the following table on the board to summarise and collate the class’s ideas:

	See/Hear	Think	Wonder
The Constitution

Step 6.

Work as a class to discuss the image, The Constitution Act. Encourage students to share the responses that they came up with for the image. If required, prompt students by asking the questions below:

Which key words stand out in the document? What makes you say that? Students may notice:
- 'An Act' is bigger and capitalised
- 'Australia' is underlined
- The handwritten words are larger
What do we know about the date of the document? Does anything else suggest it is old? Students may notice:
- The date is written in the bottom right hand corner
- The edges are ageing
- It is bound with ribbon

Invite students to share their thoughts about the details and the questions these raise, and record these in the table on the Student Worksheet. Encourage students to add to their tables as new thoughts and questions arise through the discussion.

Step 7.

Encourage students to write a definition, keywords or key phrases on the space provided on the Student Worksheet that summarise their response and to the prompt below:

What do you think the Australian Constitution is?

A possible response could be: 'A set of rules by which Australia is run'.

Part C: Jigsaw Classroom: Finding Out More About the Australian Constitution

Let students know that the next part of the lesson will involve the class working together like a jigsaw to read and understand more about the Australian Constitution. The steps for this activity are as follows:

Invite students to form four person jigsaw groups (or to remain in their existing groups from the previous part of the lesson). The groups should be made up of students with different experiences and viewpoints.
If necessary, appoint one student from each group as the leader. This person would usually be the most mature student in the group.
Distribute one section of the Parliamentary Education Office's The Australian Constitution in focus to each student in the group. Each should receive a separate section.
Encourage students to read and understand the information in their allocated section. Students should be encouraged to focus only on what they are reading and learning.
Give students time to read over their section at least twice and become familiar with it. Inform students that they don't need to memorise it, and that they could write some notes that summarise the basics of what they have read.
Ask students to move their seats so that they form temporary 'expert groups'. This means that one student from each jigsaw group joins other students assigned to the same section.
Give students in these expert groups time to discuss the main points of their information and to rehearse how they will present what they have understood back to their jigsaw group.
Ask students to re-form into their jigsaw groups.
Ask each student to present the information they have learned to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification and to take any notes on points they find interesting or challenging.
Float from group to group, observing the process. If any group is having trouble (e.g. a member is dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. If possible, it's best for the group leader to handle this task. Leaders can be trained by quietly giving an instruction on how to intervene in a kind way, until the leader gets the hang of it.

Advise students that there is an additional chapter on altering the Constitution (which may be viewed in a future lesson).

Hot tip: Students may feel challenged by the language and meaning of documents they are investigating. Use The Australian Constitution - Chapter Summaries to help you assist students and circulate around to each group to ensure that students are working collaboratively to record their ideas. Reassure students that some of the language in the Constitution is difficult to understand - not least because it was written over a century ago. Encourage them to look up any words they are unfamiliar with and cannot decipher from the context. This will help to ensure that they are ready to share when re-forming their jigsaw groups to share their understanding.

Part D: Connecting the Australian Constitution With Rights and Freedoms

Step 1.

If required, re-watch the overview of the Australian Constitution as a class:

What is the Australian Constitution? - Australian Human Rights Commission (https://youtu.be/xyOH605fHW8)

Step 2.

Give each group a copy of this comparison table – it lists the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and provides a space next to each article for students to note any chapters of the Australian Constitution that are linked. Inform students that in this section of the lesson, they will work in their expert groups to make connections and identify the rights and freedoms that are protected by the Australian Constitution, as well as those that are not.

Guide students to think about what they understood about the Australian Constitution during the Jigsaw Classroom activity, and to then work collaboratively in their groups to create a visual representation of the links between the UDHR and the Australian Constitution. They should use a highlighter to mark the UDHR articles that relate to the chapter/s of the Australian Constitution, and write the part of the Constitution that links to it in the space provided.

Step 3.

Reconvene the class, and hear from each of the groups in turn. Ask groups to highlight the articles identified by other groups on their own comparison table, and to copy down the part of the Australian Constitution that it links to. Once each group has shared their thoughts, draw student's attention to the articles of the UDHR that have not been highlighted.

Step 4.

Invite students to summarise their understanding of the links between the UDHR and the Australian Constitution by completing the following questions on the Student Worksheet:

Does the Australian Constitution protect human rights? If yes, how so?
Which of the UDHR articles does the Australian Constitution not address? Does this matter? Why?
What ideas do you have about what could be added to the Australian Constitution so that everyone’s human rights are protected?

If required, alter the prompts to decrease or increase their complexity, depending on the requirements of your class. Take some time to check in with students about their understanding of the articles of the UDHR, and facilitate a class discussion about any areas of confusion.

Reflection

Invite students to revisit the rating they gave themselves at the beginning of the lesson. They are prompted to do so on the Student Worksheet.

Review the rating you gave yourself of your understanding of the Australian Constitution on a scale of 0-10 (0 = I know absolutely nothing, 10 = I am an expert).
Explain why you gave yourself that rating (and if it has changed since the beginning of the lesson).
Name one thing that you could do to increase your understanding.

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Challenge students to find out more about the wonderments they identified in the 'See/Hear-Think-Wonder' visible thinking routine in Part B of the lesson.

Encourage students to find out more about the consequences for groups who are not recognised or referenced in the Australian Constitution.

Provisional Learning Support

Some students may prefer to communicate their thoughts and ideas through illustration or by finding images online.

Invite students to record their ideas in dot points, or pair them with students to support them to record extended discussion points.

Story of Our Rights and Freedoms - The Australian Constitution

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